From a young age I held this stereotype that Japanese people were quiet, emotionally reserved and definitely not at American levels of extroverted exuberance. That image was shattered the first time I saw a summer festival. Old men wrapped their arms around me and forced me to drink sake. One…

Car crashes, yakuza wannabes and surly police — The Car Crash This happened in my first year working in Japan. Now I’m in my 11th year, so I did, in fact, survive. I was up north living in Aomori prefecture. It was winter, bleak and beautiful all at once. Being a peninsula, where I lived was ravaged by icy ocean winds…

The Scandals of the Used Car Business: Bigmotor — I just found out about this a few days ago and was blown away at the audacity I was seeing. All of Japan apparently was too, and had been since June this year when the president of the nation’s biggest used car company, Bigmotor, admitted to overcharging customers for repair…

A Day in the Life of Trying Not to Die by Alcohol Poisoning — The following happened when I was teaching English in the country of Georgia (borders Russia and Turkey) in 2012. Saturday’s schedule was simple. Go to a fellow teacher’s birthday party at 2pm, leave around 5 and head to the city of Kutaisi for some solo travel. …

The Scientific Revolution made us rulers of the world, for good or for ill. — When we thought we knew everything, nothing changed. The moment we admitted that we knew nothing, the world was never the same again. This knowledge is powerful. So powerful that we can bend nature to our will. So powerful that we may end up burning down the very civilization that…

Navigating Dog Ownership in my Adopted Country — OK so he’s not a wolf, he’s a Siberian husky. But basically the same thing right? For decades I’ve also wanted to get a husky. After watching Dances With Wolves a thousand times the idea of the friendship between man and wolf was forever etched into my skull. But I’ve…

I arrived in Mongolia by flying into the Chinggiss (Mongolian for Genghis) Khan International Airport. After wading through the myriad taxi drivers and tour guides trying to sell me their services, I saw a few gift shops nearby. …

Discussion of Yuval Harari’s ideas from his book “Sapiens” — I recently went on a trip to Mongolia. I used their currency the tugrik to buy daily things like Americanos; if brewed coffee exists there I never found it! I also used American dollars for bigger purchases like my guided tour since people tend to trust it more than the…

Mongolia has much to offer. Natural beauty untamed, rich traditions and history. A unique and welcoming way of life. But it is not an easy destination. No toilet paper, showers, or electricity for hours of driving through muddy unpaved paths is not rare. …