Hello Hyogo-ites! Just as I did last year in these very pages, I would like to encourage prospective returnees to join their local JET alumni chapter upon going home. Through local chapter activities, former JETs are able to promote a broader and deeper understanding between Japan and their home country at the grassroots level…
Dear Hysterical Hyogo, If the stacks of letters are anything to go by, many of you are worrying about returning from Japan to your respective home countries. I barely got through the first panicked paragraph before I found my eyes drooping with boredom. However, following incessant nagging from my editor, this month I shall…
Earlier last month some of Kansai’s finest beer enthusiasts came together to show off their drinking prowess in the 5th edition of the Kansai Beer Olympics. Keeping their glory days alive, over 60 competitors met on June 15 at Naniwanomiya Park, across the street from the Osaka Castle complex. After initial greetings, applying sunscreen and…
A bento requires three things: a box, tasty food, and visual appeal. The goal of bento is not just to take some food somewhere for later consumption. The goal is that when lunch time arrives the eater finds something visually appealing as well as edible inside that little box. Think of the bento…
HAJET Book Club: 1Q84 (Book 1 & 2) by Haruki Murakami ☆☆☆ Another book has been added to the Hyogo AJET Book Club’s Goodreads bookshelf: 1Q84. On a surprisingly sunny Sunday in June, some 17 book clubbers gathered, eager to share thoughts on one of many Murakami worlds. We took centre stage…
A boozy lunch experience, let’s blunch! Our beloved Kobe is not only famous for its drunk cows but also has a decent café scene. The fool proof place for a savvy lunch or kitsch coffee is definitely (in my opinion) Motomachi, those of you who have ever attended a Hyogo AJET Book Club…
I am not a sport’s person. I’m a dog person, occasionally a cat person, but I definitely do not like sports. However, there’s an exception to every rule, and I have finally found a sport that I like. Love. Want to do over and over again, maybe even multiple times in one day. It…
Hello Hyogonians! We have come to the end of the temples with which I have any direct experience; I’d like to leave you with an overview of those temples that remain.  All ten of these temples were out of my reach either for timing or travel reasons. Some of them beckon spectacularly, and I…
Every year July is a very exciting month for many people in the new JET community, as it’s the month that the new JETs find out their placements. To the new JETs, welcome to one of the best, if not THE best, prefectures in Japan! I will go so far as to promise you that…