Warm Weather Should Speed Up Cherry Blossom Blooming
Warm weather has been hanging around the Kansai region of Japan this past week bringing a mix of sunshine and rain. Rain began to fall yesterday afternoon and continued throughout most of the day today tapering off around 2pm. Temperatures at that time were warm, around 12 degrees Celsius. Shortly thereafter, the winds began to pick up and strong cold air started blowing in. Tonight, temperatures will be down near freezing as well as tomorrow night. But this shouldn’t deter the...
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Springing Hay Fever Forth
Hay fever (allergic rhinitis) is your body’s response to an allergen, such as pollen, dust or mold. Symptoms include the following: Runny nose and nasal congestion Watery or itchy eyes Sneezing Cough Itchy nose, roof of mouth or throat Sinus pressure and facial pain Swollen, blue-colored skin under the eyes (allergic shiners) Decreased sense of smell or taste Hay fever symptoms usually last for longer periods of time or appear only after exposure to a specific allergen. In Japan, 1...
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After School Lessons For Tohoku Children
In response to the tragedies of March 11, 2011 I developed a not for profit project called After School Lessons For Tohoku Children to help children with their educational needs, particularly in the area of ESL. The project is an information exchange website that assists people in finding affordable books and tuition discounts for their children. Furthermore we are trying to match volunteer English instructors with junior high and high school students from Tohoku for free English lessons...
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Traveling to Japan in Spring
Spring is a great time to visit Japan! As the weather begins to warm in March, rain begins falling more often and the grass begins to turn green. This clears the air and opens up beautiful blue skies. Florally speaking, plum blossoms are the first to bloom. Birds fill the branches as they sip the nectar from the flowers. A few weeks later, cherry blossoms make their presence known. After cherry blossoms (sakura), peach blossoms begin their process. They are somewhat temperamental and bloom...
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Japanese Baseballs vs American Baseballs
Aside from the fact that Japanese speak Japanese and Americans speak English, there aren’t many major difference in the game of baseball in Japan than in America. It’s played with nine players on a baseball diamond. Players hit a baseball and run around bases to score runs. There are infielders and outfielders, a pitcher and a catcher. Coaches are tough and expect players to learn signs. One significant difference though is the balls; at least for younger aged players. Kids in...
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Expect iPad Version 3 Available March 16
Talked to a Softbank salesman today. He said the new iPad will become available next week on March 16. The prices for iPad 2 have been marked down 10,000 yen for now. But don’t expect prices at Softbank to drop much more any time soon. On a slightly different note, Softbank just came out with a much faster 4G LTE wifi router that operates at 75Mbs replacing their current model that operates at 42Mbs. The older model was priced at 3880 yen a month, but now the newer model is being sold at...
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