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    Naked Man Festival

    When I returned to Japan after Christmas break, I found it only a couple of degrees warmer than I left it. Averaging a high of 13°C a day (about 55°F),…

    February 4, 2015

  • Staten Island’s Alice Austen House

    Staten Island is a dump – literally and figuratively. It used to house the world’s largest landfill before it closed in 2001, and although it is the third-largest borough of…

    February 2, 2015

  • Inside America’s Most Haunted Prison

    “Lesson 4,” a voice blasted from the MP3 player of the man sitting across from me. It was the only noise on an otherwise quiet bus, the bumble of which…

    January 29, 2015

  • Two Days in Chicago, Part 2

    After sleeping off a deep-dish dinner from Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria, we met up with Kyle again and walked to Old Town. The clear skies were gone, replaced with clouds and…

    January 26, 2015

  • Two Days in Chicago, Part 1

    If you’re a fan of the TV show Shameless, then you know that scene in the last episode of season 4 where Carl wheels Frank, who has just left hospital…

    January 25, 2015

  • Christmas Lights in Miyazaki

    For a country that doesn’t really celebrate Christmas, Japan sure knows how to do Christmas lights. They are the romantic backdrop for Christmas Eve – a night celebrated like Valentines Day,…

    December 15, 2014

  • Nyutabaru Air Festival

    I’ve barely left my apartment these past two weekends: a last effort in tightening the purse strings before my big trip to New York later this month (12 days and…

    December 8, 2014

  • Aya Town

    On the fourth day of Matthew’s visit – and the last day we would have time to do sightseeing together – we decided to visit Aya. An hour or so west…

    November 25, 2014

  • Garden of Statues in Heiwadai Park

    One of the history teachers who used to work at my school (he was transferred to Miyakonojo) sent me on a little treasure hunt one typhoon day. The students weren’t at…

    November 14, 2014
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