In January, Dan and I enjoyed a belated winter break to Nagano. The main attraction of the break was the Air BnB, which provided us with a unique and tranquil space to unwind in after the year most want to forget. It didn’t disappoint, allowing us to sleep in absolute silence and darkness, and wake…
Category: Rotary Peace Fellowship
Matsumoto Mini-Break
The weekend before Christmas 2020, Dan and I took a mini-break for the weekend to Matsumoto city in Nagano (the Japanese Alps). The city is surrounded by visible and towering mountains, which you can catch views of all over the city. While the weekend started in a less than desirable way – think cockroaches in…
Turning 34 in Saitama
I turned 34 (in age, not mind) this year at an eco-lodge we’ve visited previously in Saitama. It’s up in the mountains and surrounded by bamboo. We’ve visited a few times because it’s peaceful, surrounded by nature, and, importantly, cheap! This year was a difficult birthday, the first to pass without hearing from my Dad….
The Beach in Ibaraki Prefecture
Dan and I were limited in domestic-only travel in Japan in 2020, for reasons we already all know…although, with the Covid-19 situation worsening, travel of any kind needs careful consideration in 2021 too. With that context, in October 2020 Dan and I spent the week at an isolated beach hut on the coast of Ibaraki…
What is Peace?
I was recently asked to share some of my experiences as a Rotary Peace Fellow in Japan with my local district in the UK – here is the result! “What does peace mean?” is one of the first questions I was asked as I sat nervously in my first seminar at International Christian University (ICU)…
Spring to Summer to Autumn 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the world to ‘pause’, often referred to as the Great Pause for more dramatic effect. This isn’t a blog about the Covid pandemic though, but rather a blog to excuse me for such an absence in sharing the experiences of life in Japan over the past six months. Firstly, due…
Wow, it is April
Wow…my last post was in January, and now it is (almost) April. What have I been doing with myself?! Oh yaaahhhh…second term, three thesis chapters, the mother visiting Japan for the first time, organising summer field research only to have that unravel at the hands of a casual global pandemic. Wow, what a first three…
Christmas 2019: The UK Chapter
This year finally had my winter holiday in the UK! This was the first time I had arrived back in the UK since I left in August 2016. My first observation, nothing much has changed – the motorway leaving Heathrow Airport quickly instructed us it was 50 miles an hour for the next 100 miles…yep,…
UNLEASH Innovation Lab, Shenzhen, November 2019
UNLEASH Innovation Lab 2019 was hosted by Shenzhen city in China. From the 5th to the 14th November over 1,000 UNLEASH Talents, from 162 countries, met in Shenzhen to innovate and work collectively on the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The week was both challenging and transformative, as groups spent four days working…
Term One – Learning About Peace
Poor Our Japan Story has taken a back-seat this term. This is reflective of almost everything, other than studying, taking a back seat. I knew graduate school would be difficult, but I had no idea how all-consuming it would be! Firstly, the sheer amount of reading required has been overwhelming. An academic article that is…