by Mike Costanzo | Mar 16, 2007 | Mike, Teaching
Yes, as many of you already know (and the rest of you have already figured out by reading the title line), the Japanese school year is finally drawing to a close. It will resume again in April, the month of new beginnings (and the month where the sakura (cherry...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 11, 2007 | Mike, Scenery
I’m sure that many of you out there, especially our regular readers, are familiar with the Digicamblog Theorum. It goes something like so: Digital Camera + Thirst For Adventure + Random Opportunity = Good Blog Entry Material. This theorum is, of course, the...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 3, 2007 | Mike, Teaching
When I (Mike) first arrived at Takine Junior High School (my primary school), I have to admit that I had a hard time fitting in. In fact, for the first couple of months, I didn’t really feel like I connected with anyone (teachers or students), and when I would...
by Jen Costanzo | Feb 28, 2007 | Cooking, Japanese Food
This week I’ve had a cold and just felt sort of “blah.” That’s why today for lunch, I decided I was in the mood for some comfort food. Normally, back home, I opt for Macaroni & Cheese with Tomatoes and Ground Beef. I don’t know if...
by Mike Costanzo | Feb 18, 2007 | Japanese Food, Mike
Today on Mike’s Culinary Adventures, I’d like to take an up-close and personal look at the various seafoods of Japan. Since you’ve all seen plenty of sushi already, I figured i would show you some of the more exciting and adventurous seafoods...
by Mike Costanzo | Feb 18, 2007 | Scenery, Teaching
So far, Jen and I have been pretty lucky weather-wise this winter–this has been an unusually warm season. All the locals have been going on and on about how much warmer it’s been than it last year (which was one of the coldest winters for years). So our...
by Mike Costanzo | Feb 15, 2007 | Day-to-Day, Travel
So here’s something you may have been wondering about–how exactly does one get from point A to point B in Japan? I bet you could see this answer coming a mile away, but, well—it depends. When I was in school studying Japan, I got the impression...
by Mike Costanzo | Feb 13, 2007 | Culture, Holidays/Special Events, Wakakusa
Last week we had one of the nicest surprises of our time here. Turns out that every year, the city of Tamura throws a big party to welcome all the foreigners from the surrounding areas. It’s called Heart-To-Heart, and it was a total blast. Besides all the fun...
by Mike Costanzo | Feb 13, 2007 | Faith, Holidays/Special Events
It’s hard to know what to do as Christian in Japan sometimes. Of course, it’s always hard to be a Christian in any culture, because that culture will be a mix of good and bad. Plus, even committed Christians will often disagree on what is the right thing...
by Jen Costanzo | Feb 4, 2007 | Day-to-Day, Friends, Travel
Last weekend, we went ice-skating and ended up taking lots of pictures. Here are some of the highlights! Candid moment with Jen… The rink was really crowded at times. It was a little freaky with so many people, but a lot of fun. This was only Mike’s...
by Jen Costanzo | Feb 1, 2007 | Cooking, Jen, Teaching
This month, I’ve been singing the song “Peanut… Peanut Butter… and JELLY” with my 6th grade students. So, on Monday we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches together. The kids did great spreading the peanut butter. And of course the...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 27, 2007 | Mike, Teaching
Hello, world. Mike here. Thought I would take you on a little mini-tour of my day yesterday. Come along, now, come along… The day started with an unexpected trip to the Wakakusa English School to pick up teaching materials. After said materials were in hand, I...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 27, 2007 | Day-to-Day, Friends, Missions
As many of you know from reading our email updates, we’ve been wanting to visit some new churches recently, and on Christmas Eve of last year we decided to try out Koriyama Baptist Church. From the very first day, we fell in love with this church. For starters,...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 24, 2007 | Japanese Food, Teaching
One of the perks of working at a public Junior High School is the school lunch. In America, from what I remember, public school lunches were nothing special, just the same old mass-produced, high-fat content stuff over and over again (pizza, corn dogs, fries,...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 20, 2007 | Mike, Teaching, Wakakusa
Today I (Mike) would like to share a few random snapshots from the wild and occasionally wonderful world of Teaching English In Japan. Firstly, I’d like to take you on a brief multimedia whirlwind tour what it’s like to teach in Mike’s school. To...
by Mike Costanzo | Jan 14, 2007 | Day-to-Day, Friends
It’s been a while, hasn’t it??? For avid bloggers like us, going a full two weeks without any updates feels a lot like going two weeks without doing any homework, and then trying to catch up all in one night!!! But thankfully, we’re not being graded,...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 27, 2006 | Engrish
Many of you have commented that you enjoyed our post on “Engrish” earlier this month, so I figured I would add another quick note of cross-linguistic joviality while I have the time. Enjoy! Just two things today… First, this is my new favorite...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 27, 2006 | Japanese Food, Mike
A very Merry Post-Christmas to you! When many people think of Christmas day, they not only think about the music and the presents and the company and the real reason for the season and everything, they also think about the food. Indeed, Christmas here in Japan is no...
by Jen Costanzo | Dec 17, 2006 | Cooking, Holidays/Special Events, Teaching
THE LAST OF THE BIG PARTIES This afternoon, our house was filled with the sounds of kid’s laughter, and the smell of melted marshmallows. Mike and I had my fourth grade students over for a Christmas party, and we kept them busy from start to finish. We played...
by Mike Costanzo | Dec 9, 2006 | Engrish
One of the funniest things about being here in Japan is all the Wasei-eigo that we see from day to day. In fact, for anyone whose first language is English, Wasei-eigo is a seemingly endless source of amusement and entertainment (just ask any Japanese language...
