It is the winter of 2023, and I am buying my first car in Japan. It’s a used car. A small two-wheel drive Japanese rectangle called a Daihatsu Mira Cocoa. It’s a faded yellow colour. When I show a picture of the vehicle to my friend, they say it looks like a stick of butter….

In October two years ago, I had a strange encounter. Like being picked up by aliens but more terrestrial. It was my first year living in Japan and before the cold started to come in with November, I wanted to go out and swim in the ocean. I lived along the west coast of Hokkaido,…

In the late fall of last year, I went on a road trip with a friend. My friend is super outdoorsy and loves to be in nature. Compared to me, who grew up in Canada going for hikes and snowboarding in the Rocky Mountains, my friend grew up in a place that lacked a lot…