Welcome to my blog! I am a twenty-something American living in Japan, currently working as an English teacher. Originally from Wisconsin, it's hard to think that I'd end up here, literally on the other side of the world. To be honest, the interest started with Nintendo and other 80s-related kitsch, and kind of snowballed from there. After studying the language for two years in university, I had a chance to volunteer and teach English for two months with the Guy Healy Japan program. It was enjoyable enough where I decided to come back and do it for a living, as it was a huge salary boost from my old reporting job. Over two years later, and many adventures...here I remain. It's more like a second home than an exotic other country now, but I consider that a good thing.
It's a play on words, but the root is the Japanese word gaikokujin, which translates into English as foreigner. There is also the word gaijin which is used a lot, but its translation is closer to "outsider" than "foreigner." At the risk of succumbing to political correctness, I prefer the former. Hence the blog name. That and gaijin.com is already registered ^_^