Over the course of this year, we have visited over a dozen countries in which English is not the primary language. In each one, we’ve tried to learn some basic vocabulary to help us get around and communicate with locals. What not to learn One thing that complicates this effort is that when you Google for things…
I love words. Maybe I have an innate appreciation for them, or maybe my affection was born of necessity – because I was an immigrant and never wanted to be behind. Either way, I’ve been interested in language and vocabulary since my early teens. Even so, learning vocabulary can be tedious – even for a logomaniac (my word-of-the-day a…
If you say “Japanese food,” most Westerners think of sushi. But it turns out that sushi is only one of a broad range of Japanese cuisines. They include: Izakaya: This is like the Japanese version of BBQ. These restaurants are known for their meat grills: common offerings include kushiage (skewers of deep fried meat and vegetables) and…
There is a restaurant in the Nakano neighborhood of Tokyo that you need to visit if you go to Tokyo. We didn’t see it in any guide book or site; we just happened into it one day. And then we came back twice more, despite the fact that Nakano wasn’t near much that we wanted to…
We only ate at one place in Krabi Town, and that was the outdoor food market at the Chao Fah Park Pier. It is at the intersection of Chao Fah Alley/Road and Khongkha Road: If you see this pea pod-looking sculpture, you’ll know you’re in the right place: There are a few dozens stalls and stands…
We didn’t love this island or its food, unfortunately. Because its raison d’etre is tourism, the food is all overpriced and not too authentic – even more so than on Koh Phangan. The food quality was better than on Railay, I thought, but the prices were worse. Here’s where we ate: Paradise Pearl Restaurant [Long…
We spent two weeks in Bangkok, though we didn’t love it, unfortunately. Here is what we visited: 1) Yaowarat: This is Bangkok’s Chinatown. Like Chinatowns in many countries, that means lots of little houses close together with small alleys and many stalls selling some things Americans don’t necessarily consider food. (A soup made out of…
Here are some things we found surprising about Japan as a whole – added to the surprises in Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo specifically: Attire All of the locals are well-kempt. You don’t see people with loose threads or worn spots or pills on their sweaters or worn-out shoes. It’s not that they don’t have hand-me-downs, but that they seem…
In honor of my mother’s love of all things cow, here are some bovines around the world:
There are a number of things that are part of living in the US* that Americans may not realize are unique to this country. Here are five things that are very American – and not found worldwide. 1) Flags In the US, American flags are all over. Many schools have flag poles with one, many houses have one in the…