In the spirit of exploring the island I live on, Shikoku, I jumped at an invitation from a fellow ALT to spend a Saturday at a famous shrine, Kotohira-gu. (She conveniently left out that I would need to climb 1,368 steps up the side of a mountain to get to it...!)Kotohira-gu Shrine (commonly known as Konpira-san) is a huge Shinto shrine located 35km outside of Takamatsu, in Kagawa prefecture on Shikoku Island. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from the town we live in (Naruto), and the tolls are ...
The First Six Months as a JET ALT in Japan
It's been both the fastest and the slowest six months of my life. I can't believe I've been teaching as a JET Programme ALT in Japan for just over six months now.Some days I really feel like I've been in the classroom every day for three hundred years (usually, that feeling is on a Friday). Some days I feel like it's still my first day and I don't know what the fuck I'm doing.But mostly.... mostly it's been fine.I thought it might be a good idea to collect my thoughts and advice from the ...
Months 54-55 Roundup – January and February 2017
It's been a hot minute since I've done a roundup post (the last one was my mega-end-of-2016-roundup), so this time is a 2-for-1 deal! Here's the lowdown on my January and February 2017: What I've been doing since the last roundup Well, besides getting the overhaul of this site going and slogging through all that is a website/branding relaunch... I did all of this:five days in Seoul, South Korea for New Years another weekend trip to Osaka (I went last December too!) went on a day ...
Bigger and Better Than Ever
WELCOME TO THE BRAND-SPANKIN-NEW CUBICLE THROWDOWN! It's bigger and better than ever - and I can't think of a more apt way to celebrate my 300th post than with a completely new site! Lots of things have changed in my life, so I wanted my site to be updated too. While Roatan and diving will always have the #1 place in my heart, I wanted my site to be a little less scuba-centric and better reflect what my life is like now.A Brand New Cubicle Throwdown While I've had a couple redesigns in the ...
Under Construction
Cubicle Throwdown is turning 5 years old very soon (wait, what?! FIVE YEARS?!), and my little blog that has turned into a big part of my life is getting a much-needed makeover! Just as I've changed from a dive instructor in the Caribbean to an English teacher in Japan, my site needs some changes too. My new site will be much easier for me to post - something that is the reason behind my lack of posting lately. My current set-up is too cumbersome and makes me just not want to write anything. So ...
Month 53 Roundup – December 2016
Wow, what a year!2016 has been all over the map (literally and figuratively) for me.Here's a quick recap:January - lived in Roatan, went to Canada halfway through for family reasons February - in Canada, interviewed for the JET Programme March - in Canada, and then back to Roatan April - found out I got a spot on the JET Programme, left Roatan for good May through July - in Canada, with a few trips to around Canada and one to Portland in there August - moved to Japan! September through ...
Visiting Ritsurin Garden
You know that picture in your head you have of Japan? Maybe you imagine lush green Japanese gardens, with impeccably manicured trees, zen gardens, traditional teahouses, tranquil ponds and moss everywhere... at least that's what I pictured before I came here. I recently visited Ritsurin Garden in Takamatsu, and my imaginary picture came to life!At the entrance, there are special attendants who have "I Speak English!" buttons, but all you really need to do is hold up the number of fingers for ...
Happy Holidays from Japan!
I haven't been home for Christmas in close to 10 years.My family doesn't really "do" Christmas, so I'm not missing much. But the above statement seems to horrify a lot of people! I think if you've ever worked in the service industry, you have gained knowledge that Christmas is sometimes just another day.The last few years in Roatan I spent Christmas working, just like any other day. Imagine all those people coming down on their winter vacation and being told there's no diving on Christmas ...
A Weekend in Osaka
When I first visited Japan seven years ago, I crammed as much as I could into my trip. I think I came to Osaka, the second-largest city in all of Japan, for about two days. My memories are hazy, partly from drowning my brain in rum during my recent years living in the Caribbean and partly because the breakneck speed of my trip back then means everything sort of runs together in my mind now. All I remember seeing was massive restaurant signs in Amerika-mura (the "American" neighborhood...note the ...
Islands of Japan: Ogijima
The third installment of my Islands of Japan series! I'm an island girl at heart, so this country is perfect for me to explore all the islands that make up Japan (did you know there are 6,852 of them? I've got my work cut out for me).We visited Ogijima after spending the morning on Megijima. Just a short 20 minute ferry ride away, Ogijima has a similar yet different vibe than Megijima. It's much smaller, and the community seemed more traditional than Megijima, whose main focus seemed to be ...