Hanami Highlights
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What temple has the weary pilgrim found?
Those of you who teach in elementary school have probably already gotten your first taste of “Hi, Friends!†– the book they’re using to replace good ol’英語ノート(EIGO NOTO). Hi, Friends!, which in no way lends itself to funny mock-titles, is dragging my elementary school kicking and fighting into the 21st century. Because while the book…
The lights are dim. Drinks litter the table. People are laughing and talking somewhere in the dark. Suddenly, the TV screen changes and music swells – it’s the opening of  “My Heart Will Go On.†Someone hands me a microphone. “Ganbatte!†excited voices shout, chuckling, waiting. Ugh. We’ve all been there. Karaoke is an integral…
Our cherry blossoms may have been here in an instant, gone with a flash, but if you missed out on Yabu’s thousand-year-old sakura blooms, you can still get your ancient (but still going strong) flora on in the Yamasaki (Shiso) area early in May. Shiso’s thousand-year-old wisteria is a beautiful sight to behold. Typically, the…
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About this time last year, I’d been hearing stories of this epic bike ride called the ‘Shimanami Kaido’, seven bridges that span between the islands from Onomichi in Hiroshima Prefecture to Imabari in Ehime Prefecture. After further research I found out that the first bridge (if you start in Onomichi) is usually bypassed as it…