Today is our 1 Year Anniversary of moving to the remote island of Ikijima. (More on Why Iki here →) We have enjoyed clear blue water, white sand beaches, stunning sunrises, windy days, typhoons, unexpected snow, cancelled flights and boats, new friends, tough days at Japanese school, trips to the mainland, and much more.
Author Archives: Chad Kohalyk
Creating the image of peace — Kitamura Seibo
Just north of the hypocenter where the atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki is a commemorative park honouring victims of mass destruction. Walkways wend through trimmed lawns dotted with sculptures gifted from nations around the world in a mournful solidarity. The piece that caps the display is of a powerful man, one hand pointing up atContinue reading “Creating the image of peace — Kitamura Seibo”
Nakamura Tetsu
I wrote a review of the recently published English translation of Nakamura Tetsu’s book Providence Was with Us: How a Japanese Doctor Turned the Afghan Desert Green. You can read the review on BooksOnAsia.net here, but I just wanted to say a few more things on a more personal note about this book. I knewContinue reading “Nakamura Tetsu”
Around Iki by video
Last weekend was the first time I left Ikijima for four months. But it isn’t like we have been spending the whole time huddled in our house against the snowpocalypse. The weather was really crappy, and we did have a couple of weeks where coronavirus flared up on the island for the first time sinceContinue reading “Around Iki by video”
Yufuin: Driving across Kyushu
statue of an elephant by a sign for African Safari in Japanese
Raising kids in multiple languages
Multicultural parents face lots of social pressure regarding their kids language abilities. Here is how my thinking on child language acquisition has evolved over the years.
Why Iki?
FAQ-style backgrounder about why me and my family moved to the remote island of Ikijima (aka “Iki Island” aka “Iki”) on a study abroad program.
Journaling Part 2: The Daily Note and Morning Pages
A quick review of my journaling setup as per my previous post: A simple bullet journal for daily habit tracking Morning Pages Keeping a Daily Note I detailed my BuJo approach in the last post. That is the quickest part of the routine. You could just keep a BuJo and gain lots of benefit. SinceContinue reading “Journaling Part 2: The Daily Note and Morning Pages”
Getting started with a journal
I have always been a sporadic journal writer, only regularly documenting daily experiences while traveling, winding down during the end-of-day decompression in my room. Many years ago I made it 1/5 the way through a 5-Year Journal. This year, I’m giving journaling a serious try, and have found it to be like a delayed mindfulnessContinue reading “Getting started with a journal”
Island emergency broadcast system
Often on Twitter I will mention hearing about some local happening on the island like new coronavirus cases or massive snowfall stalling bus service. These updates come across the emergency broadcast system, or 告知放送 kokuchi hōsō. We are all familiar with speakers mounted on towers and buildings in every neighbourhood in Japan. But this isContinue reading “Island emergency broadcast system”
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