Author Archives: Curtis
New School, New Teachers! Ch-ch-ch-changes! Turn and Face the Strange!
Nothing’s sad until it’s over, then everything is. Ides of March While the first of April usually only marks a time where you can screw with people and get away with it, in Japan it marks the beginning of everything. New school year, new jobs, new bus schedule, new half, and even a new garbage schedule. […]
Thailand Pt. 2: Ayutthaya, Tigers, and Temples
The next morning Maki and I headed to the station to get breakfast before we all went to Ayutthaya, a city north of Bangkok. We couldn’t really find anywhere, so we got food from 7-Eleven (remember, it’s edible here) and I got some Dunkin’ Donuts (none in Japan). While we were waiting in the hot, […]
So I Went to Tokyo Disney Last Weekend
Friday morning I once again headed to school with my suitcase in tow. When I walked into the teachers’ room, the vice principal asks [Where are you going now?] I smiled and said, “Disneyland,” and she just started laughing since I was just going to Korea the last time I saw her. After work, I took a […]
So I Went to Korea Last Weekend
The first day of spring. For many, it’s an almost meaningless day that is purely symbolic. A day that means, “Soon I won’t have to wear 5 coats every time I go outside!” Japan loves spring more than you do, however, because they made it a public holiday Therefore we just had a 3-day weekend. When deciding what […]
My Job is Better Than Yours
Hello, it’s me. I was wondering if after all these weeks you’d like to meet to go over everything. They say time’s supposed to heal ya, but I ain’t done much healing (or blog work, or most things other than video games and weekend trips, sorry). Hello, is it me you’re looking for? can you hear me? I’m […]
TGC Live! Hand Flute vs. Hand Saw!
Welcome to The Gaijin Chronicles Live, where I come up with a loophole for my normal insistence upon posting things in chronological order and instead talk about something that happened that day. “But Curtis,” you may say, “it doesn’t have to be in chronological order, we won’t know.” I’ll know, and I must follow my […]
Filler Episode! Attack on Sensei!
I wish more shows would just declare filler like that, although just because it’s filler doesn’t mean it’s bad. Overall, there’s not much need for me to cover each class I teach as they repeat themselves and aren’t that exciting to talk about a lot of the time, but here are some of the more interesting […]
Silver Week! The Great Gaijin Migration!
The last full week of September was Silver Week. Silver Week is a magical holiday that happens once every few years (last in 2009, next in 2026) when Respect for the Aged Day (3rd Mon. of September) and the Autumnal Equinox occur within a day of each other, then the day in between them evolves into a holiday […]
Intense Typhoon! Fūjin’s Wrath!
For those unaware of Fujin, he is the god of wind and inspiration for Tornadus. He’s usually blue with a bag of wind around his neck. He’s almost always depicted with the god of thunder, Thor Zeus ThunderJesus Raijin (Thundurus). I prefer Raijin because he just looks cooler (with his Heatmiser hair and ring of drums). […]
Treasure of Osaka! The Greatest Shirt Ever!?!
Let’s talk about trains. Now, before coming to Japan (the first time), my only experiences with trains were the crappy Amtrak to Chicago and of course my main boy Thomas (who has one of the best themes to dance to). Now I could actually talk about how Thomas is even more popular here than he was […]
The Ghostly Gaijin! Enter Kaatis-sensei!
Now, before we begin, I know some of you are thinking, “That’s a kind of weird title.” Others just thought, “Well, the titles are usually kind of weird.” The rest of you have watched anime. Now, while most American tv shows (cartoon and otherwise) tend to use puns or single words for episode titles, Japanese […]