Shizuoka
I gradually stopped sending individual e-mails, and worked on polishing experiential articles to send home instead. This section has the finished stuff, while the Shiz Mails section reveals all the dirty work going on in the background.
Editor's Note: Contrary to what you'll encounter here, it's not very difficult to get around Japan any more. Nowadays you can just plug your starting point and destination into your phone and get five options for how to get anywhere. But back in the day, it was tricky.
Going up to Tokyo for a job interview somehow costs me nearly $1000.
Mail-ordering a laptop requires me to win a gold at Olympic Charades.
You can't really get Christmas turkey in Japan, so we ad-lib a festive meal.
If you're going to wander Tokyo like a wayward bumper car, it's important to enjoy the view on the way.
A visit to a JET friend in northern Japan convinces me that ALT is the way to be.
Michael Kanert and the Schedule of Impossibility
When life gets ridiculously complicated, it's time to write like J.K. Rowling.