Buying a House in Japan as a Foreigner: Step 2

Looking For and Researching about Houses As soon as I got my permanent visa, I started looking for houses and exploring my options. There are so many ways where you can find properties if you know where to look.  Knowing lots of people and having friends who have bought a house here in Japan would

Buying a House in Japan as a Foreigner – Step 1

Buying a house isn’t a rushed decision. I have thought and prayed about it for over a few years. When I became sure that I wanted to work and live here in Japan for a long time, I started working on the dream. Plan and Preparation  To acquire a property here in Japan, I needed

When It Rains It Pours

There are times when we are so happy that we believe nothing can go wrong. And then, out of the blue, problems come one by one or all at once. The reason for this is simple, life without any hardships does not exist. No matter what you do or how hard you try to control

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait and Work For It

When I started working, I was overwhelmed by my salary that I didn’t care about anything else. I was just happy earning, and I loved teaching too. Then every year, my workload increased, but nothing changed in what I get. In the first two years, I let it go thinking that I was being overpaid.

Learning About Japanese Zen Gardens

It is said that Kyoto is the center of Zen Buddhism in Japan, so the most sublime Zen temples are there. Japanese Zen gardens or karesansui, which means dry landscape gardens, are created by Buddhist monks to help with their meditation. Therefore, it is only fitting that Japanese gardens give people tranquility and peace of

Common Spelling Mistakes Japanese Students Make

   I have been teaching for about five years now and these are the most common spelling mistakes my students make. Most of these mistakes happen because typical Japanese students write the word they are not familiar with as they pronounce it and also because Japanese hiragana and katakana are different from the English alphabets.  R and L   Almost

Things I love about Kyoto

People who know me know that my favorite city in Japan is Kyoto. As a result, whenever I have long vacations from school, I would explore Kyoto for a day. Then I would talk about my trip to my co-workers, students, and family, and friends on social media. So why do I keep going back