by Mike Costanzo | Aug 6, 2007 | Culture, Mike
Hontou ni hisashiburi desu ne! It’s been a long time since my last Culinary Adventures (TM) blog–six months, in fact. You might even have been fooled into thinking that maybe I settled down and decided to give up trying all the interesting new foods that...
by Mike Costanzo | Jul 31, 2007 | Culture, Jen, Mike, Video
Mysterious. Enigmatic. Intriguing. Yes, the world of Japanese culture is a vast and funky one, and has muddled the most meticulous minds for millenia. But no longer! We proudly present Japanese Culture: A Guide to the Finer Points by Mike & Jen Costanzo. These two...
by Mike Costanzo | Jul 20, 2007 | Day-to-Day, Teaching
Today was the last day of classes before Tamura City’s summer break, which goes until August 26th or so. Thus, I (Mike) am officially on vacation, but Jen’s Wakakusa classes will run for another week, and resume on the 15th–bummer! 🙁 Over summer...
by Mike Costanzo | Jul 4, 2007 | Culture, Faith, Holidays/Special Events
July 7th in Japan is a holiday called Tanabata. Most Americans have never heard of Tanabata, and after a lot of asking around at my school, I’ve come to find out that many Japanese know very little about the true history of the tradition, why certain things are...
by Mike Costanzo | Jun 17, 2007 | Scenery, Travel
Remember when we first arrived in Japan, we got to meet the mayor of Tamura, have sea cucumber sushi on the moon with (ex-)Prime Minister Koizumi, and all that? Well around that time we also met the Chairman of the Tamura City Board of Education, and as a gift he gave...
by Mike Costanzo | Jun 3, 2007 | Holidays/Special Events, Missions, Teaching
Today we had our long-awaited Easter Program, and praise God, it was a smashing success!!! Thanks to all of you who prayed for this event; everything went smoother than we ever thought possible. There were no accidents, no major spills of Easter Egg dye, nobody got...