Amy Chavez - The Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

May 10, 2008

One day not so long ago, my husband went out into the forest to cut down some bamboo. He returned about an hour later and said in a smooth, calm voice, "Honey, could you please bring me a Band-Aid?"

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

May 3, 2008

To Gaijin Hell you'll go!

In Christian-predominant Western society, even if you don't grow up in a religious household, you have likely grown up hearing the common threat "You're going to go to hell if you do that!" For example, if you try to play a trick on your neighbor, your mother might say, "You'll go to hell for that!"...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Apr 26, 2008

Stalked by cheesecake

Do you ever feel like you're being followed? Well, I do. And this time I'm definitely being followed, possibly even stalked — by cheesecake.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Apr 19, 2008

A disturbing sign of wildlife

When I first came to Japan, I thought "Where is all the wildlife?" You know, everyday urban-adapted wildlife like we have in the United States such as squirrels, raccoons, and chipmunks. . . Such animals and small rodents can be found living in almost any city or city park in the U.S., but in Japan,...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Apr 12, 2008

Galaxies beyond on the Hamanasu

Have you ever taken a ferry in Japan? The English word feri (ferry) is used in Japan only for boats carrying vehicles. Passenger ferries are just called fune (boats). There are many long-distance ferries passengers can board, however. Traveling by ferry is for those who prefer to travel around Japan...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Apr 5, 2008

Lazy cow sex and the dairy queen

Inside a barn in Hokkaido, I sat down with a 47-year-old woman named Mrs. Takahashi and talked about sex. Cattle sex, that is. Of course, the closest thing I've seen to it is a pregnant cow, so I wanted to get a little more information as my interest in this subject was mounting.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Mar 29, 2008

Welcome to Milkland

There is something Bovinian in the air. I am in Hokkaido and I can see farms all around, but no animals. As a matter of fact, you'd think all these farmers were farming snow, because that is all you can see — deep, deep snow behind the fences.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Mar 22, 2008

Here they are once again — The Cherry Blossoms!

Nothing excites Japanese people the way cherry blossoms do. Cherry blossoms are something the Japanese are so proud of, they can't help but smile when someone mentions the magic word: o-hanami.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Mar 15, 2008

The lowdown on Hokkaido bears

Let's talk about bears, big Hokkaido bears called higuma in Japanese. Bears can be dangerous in Hokkaido, where hikers may encounter them in the mountains. There have been 86 attacks and 33 deaths from bears since 1962 when the government started keeping records.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Mar 8, 2008

Devolution: hangin' around

Even after 15 years in Japan, I cannot avoid looking like the struggling, bumbling "gaijin." You know what I mean: the gaijin who has just gotten off the plane in Japan and is struggling with several huge bags of luggage, all of it too big, none with wheels, making you look like a small elephant in a...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Mar 1, 2008

How to put on futon underwear

My neighbor Kazu-chan complains that the Shiraishi International Villa guests have taken the bed sheets down to the beach again. The local minshuku calls me up now and then and asks me to explain Japanese bedding to foreign guests who are asking for sheets for their futons again.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Feb 23, 2008

Japan takes flight

I have been thinking a lot about airlines recently, specifically the naming of them.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Feb 16, 2008

Gravity and its effects on teaching

I was looking at my classroom full of students the other day and wondering — where did I go wrong? Most of them were asleep and the few who weren't were unconscious. I stopped talking, looked out the window and pondered the science of teaching. I came to the conclusion that science is indeed to...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Feb 9, 2008

Pocketful of yen

If you live to be 75 years old, you will live approximately 650,000 hours. Somehow, that doesn't seem like a lot, especially when you can buy a very nice house for $650,000, the same number, but a huge amount in dollars (and which would cost you one dollar per hour to live there). On the other hand,...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Feb 2, 2008

A classroom with altitude

When I taught English at a Japanese university, I struggled with how to get the students to think outside the classroom. Inside the classroom, they would speak perfect English, yet once they went out into the real world, they froze up and couldn't speak at all. Now I know why.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jan 26, 2008

Retirement — island style

In case you haven't heard, the Seto Inland Sea islands are experiencing a mini-boom. Thanks to government programs that highlight the joys of island life, there has been a slow but hopeful movement of people out to the islands. Healthy living, safe neighborhoods and natural surroundings are just some...

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jan 19, 2008

Paying one's respects to the sea god

It's winter on Shiraishi Island, and there's not much to do. So most people spend their time storing up luck for the year.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jan 12, 2008

There's something fishy going on here

When people think of Japan, most of them think of raw fish and sushi. But Japan is much fishier than that. Fish is a part of the national conscience. Deep down, Japanese people are obsessed with fish, which must come from a diet of seafood. After all, you are what you eat.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Jan 5, 2008

Rat research meet chews the issues

Cong-rat-ulations! It's the Year of the Rat. The lowly rodent can look forward to enjoying an entire year of celebrations and "infestivities."

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE

Dec 29, 2007

Time-zoning phenomenon linked to dozers

I finally figured out why Japanese people sleep on the train. They have jet lag. It's not jet lag from jets, but jet lag from trains, caused by crossing time zones on the train.

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