Author: Ian

Sometimes I Have Adventures in Japan – Series 2

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Yep, those are little octopi on sticks.

I took this photo at Nishiki Market in Kyoto, the first multiday trip I took after arriving in Japan.  Nishiki is a massive street market selling all sorts of seafood and Japanese goods, and it was also crawling with foreign tourists looking for exotic snacks.  (The “EAT NOW OK” sign is partly visible in the background, a note to those who might be confused about Japanese customs for eating outside.)

(Oh, and if you’re just joining in, this post is part of a larger series of cool adventures I’ve had since coming to Japan, so you can start with Series 1 for the full shebang.) Continue reading »

Sometimes I Have Adventures in Japan – Series 1

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As you’ve probably figured out by reading this blog, I work a LOT.  One thing I don’t often talk about, though, is that I also do a lot of fun stuff.

I currently live in Japan (specifically, Toyama prefecture), and though I came here primarily because I got a sweet job as an ALT with the JET Program, a part of me also came because Japan is full of amazing, beautiful, weird, mesmerizing, and downright awesome stuff to check out.

I try to use my days off for creative work and other productive things I want to get done, but I also make time to visit places and experience the world around me.  Not only does visiting cool places serve as a solid happiness boost, it also helps me grow as a creative person in much the same way that reading books does by giving me more to think about and reflect on.  It’s hard to get new ideas when you’re stuck in your room Continue reading »

Don’t Reach for Your Phone When You Have a Few Minutes to Kill

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Earlier this month the Japanese emperor stepped down and abdicated, beginning a new era in the Japanese calendar (Reiwa) and giving everyone in Japan a ten-day Golden Week vacation.  So that was awesome.

I spent four of those vacation days working at home, one of those days relaxing, and five of those days traveling, first over the Tateyama Alpine Route through the Northern Japanese Alps, then to visit friends in Yamanashi, and finally a stopover in Tokyo to visit another friend and enjoy some sweet Japanese Taco Bell (which was of far higher quality than its American counterpart).

It was a super-fun trip that also involved a LOT of waiting, first in the massive lines for cable cars up the mountain, then on the local trains, then waiting for friends.  I’d downloaded a week’s worth of podcasts and packed my e-reader in preparation, but more often than not I found myself reaching for my phone to mindlessly scroll through social media, which I realized I’m fucking sick of doing. Continue reading »

Giving Sagelike Advice vs. Sharing Your Vulnerabilities: The Blogger’s Dilemma

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When I first started this blog my main goal was to write about aspects of the Creative/Day Job life I knew super-well and wanted to share with the world.  I knew my perspective on balancing writing with earning actual, folding money would resonate with a lot of people, and I wanted to help younger creative types who were just starting out and weren’t as grounded in how to achieve their goals.

I jotted down a bunch of ideas for topics I felt like I was a master of, and for my first year of blogging I mostly shared my wisdom about stuff like this:

Continue reading »

Sometimes I Don’t Finish Everything, and That’s OK

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Yesterday was Sunday, and as usual I started the day by laying out everything I needed to do.  I’d fallen behind on my Japanese studying the week before, and in addition to being a big 日本語 catchup day, I also had some cleaning to take care of.  My plan of attack in order from start to finish looked like this:

  • Finish Japanese Kanji Lesson
  • Practice all Japanese vocab
  • Finish Japanese Speaking Lesson
  • Schedule Blog Post
  • Reply to Important Email
  • Respond to all Texts
  • Clean Shower and Sink
  • Glue Bedframe
  • Clean Out Closet
  • Go Grocery Shopping
  • Work on Story/Poetry Reading for Lit Mag

I decided to start with Japanese studying because it was the most mentally intensive task for the day, and because I wanted to Continue reading »

I Stay Away from Jerks and So Should You

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Two years ago I posted a piece called Is Your Workplace Socially Toxic? where I talked about how your coworkers play a BIG factor in what kind of experience you have at your Day Job.  If you work with people who are cool, laid-back, interested in the same things you are, and have a similar attitude toward work, then congratulations, because you’re in for some smooth sailing.

BUT, if your coworkers are boring, manipulative, gossipy, mean, passive-aggressive, the type to throw you a lot of last-minute deadlines, or some combination of the above, you’re in for a rough ride.

I’m lucky enough in that my coworkers at my Japan job are pretty cool to work with—though I imagine the language barrier helps protect me from most of the negative stuff ;-)  Continue reading »

Here’s What I’m Working on RIGHT NOW (Spring Edition)

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Hey all—this week has me caught in the middle of a mad cluster of deadlines, events, and a bunch of other things happening at once (lame…).  April’s also the start of the new school year in Japan, and the start of cherry blossom season, so I’ve been trying to make time for a bit of hanami as well…

With that in mind, here’s a rundown of what I’ve been spending my time on lately.  Some of it, like the TEFL class, have strict deadlines I don’t want to fuck around with, but most everything else is self-motivated as I try to get caught up after losing a lot of time in 2018.

In no particular order, I’ve been Continue reading »

Here’s How I’m Getting More Money Back on My Taxes

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So the American tax deadline’s almost here, and if you haven’t filed your taxes yet, you probably should get on that…

If you’re anything like me you usually file early to get that sweet refund cash, but this year I’m filing late because I’m out of the country and have to do some extra steps I’ll explain later. I’ve been doing my own taxes since the days of using pen and paper when I was in high school (!), though I graduated to electronic filing a few years later.  The mechanics of taxes are interesting to me, and learning the basics when I just had one grocery store job made it a whole lot easier to step up my tax game as my finances got more complicated.

That’s why I was always surprised to meet people who were like “Taxes? Whatever, my parents take care of that!” or who just threw a bunch of numbers into their tax filing software Continue reading »

Do People Cheer For Your Achievements, or Your Actual Art?

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This post is going to split some hairs.

Near the end of my time in grad school I got an academic paper on James Welch’s novel Fools Crow published in a literary journal, which was a first for me and a super big deal.  It also seemed worth celebrating to some extent, so I wrote a quick blurb (“Ian Rogers’s paper, Language as Immersion: The Blackfoot Mode of Experience in James Welch’s Fools Crow, was published in…” etc.) to send to the English department newsletter, then didn’t think much about it.

I remember missing that month’s newsletter amidst a pile of other emails, but I knew it had come out when people started stopping me after class, in the hallway, and even sending me messages to congratulate me on my paper.  It felt pretty good (not going to lie here), but after a while I started realizing that Continue reading »

Which Do You Value: Your Time or Your Money?

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In the original Legend of Zelda on NES, one of the dungeons holds an old man who refuses to let you pass unless you either give him 50 rupees (which can take a while to get) or one of your heart containers.  Fittingly, in the game’s terse narration, his caption reads “LEAVE YOUR LIFE OR MONEY.”

I remember finding this as a kid and thinking pretty hard about it—you could always get more rupees in the game by killing enemies, so paying the money seemed like the better option.  But, if you were short on cash and a really good player, could you potentially save some enemy-farming time by giving up the heart container?

I never seriously gave up the heart, but I always thought about it Continue reading »

Eikaiwa Bums is in a Brick and Mortar Bookstore!!!!

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The pictures don’t lie—that’s my chapbook short story, Eikaiwa Bums, on the shelf with the other authors at MainStreet BookEnds in Warner, New Hampshire.  The shelf price is a mere $3.00, with proceeds supporting both the author and a super-cool independent bookstore that’s been a staple of my hometown for over twenty years.

Here’s the coolest part—on Sunday, August 18th I’ll be at BookEnds giving an in-person reading and talking about what it’s really like to live and work in Japan.  The reading is totally FREE and will also be a good chance to catch up with me while I’m back in the States for summer break.  Watch for more updates closer to August…

It honestly feels pretty incredible to have something I wrote for sale in an actual bookstore and to have earned a place (albeit a very small one) among the writing community in my home state.  More than that, though, Continue reading »

Daily Creative Work Schedule in Japan!

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(This one took a couple of tries to iron out…)

After I got to Japan, I had trouble sorting out the best way to schedule my creative work time—like, a lot of trouble.  I finish work at 4:00 every day and get home soon after that, so it seemed pretty simple to walk in the door, throw down my bag, and get right to work on the novel, right?

Negative.

Looking back, I wasted a lot of time when I first got here, especially in the afternoons between 4:00 and 5:30, when I’d come home, plop down on my bed, and scroll through my phone or listen to a podcast for longer than I intended.  I was also losing a lot of time after dinner to inactivity Continue reading »