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Tag: spanish

Stick to Your Guns

November 30, 2018February 27, 2019 tokyointerlopersLeave a comment

“I’m a bit of a control freak. But for someone who needs to plan everything, I just went with the flow when I came to Japan. I was considering two options after finishing university back home in Spain: unpaid internships that may lead to an actual position or go abroad and learn languages. I remember thinkingContinue reading Stick to Your Guns →

Staying True to Yourself

August 2, 2018December 20, 2018 tokyointerlopersLeave a comment

“When my husband got a job offer in Japan, I was working in advertising as a designer and account manager in Mexico. It was super cool that he found a great job at good company, doing what he loves. But while I supported the decision to move here, what about me? What am I supposedContinue reading Staying True to Yourself →

Growing Pains

June 18, 2018September 12, 2018 tokyointerlopersLeave a comment

**日本語訳は下をご覧ください** “I come from Ecuador. I’ve been living in Japan for the last 15 years of my life. I met my Japanese wife at a salsa club, where I was taking dance lessons. That’s where I pursued her relentlessly for half a year before she finally fell for me. Now we have kids. The olderContinue reading Growing Pains →

Talkin’ Loud

November 10, 2017June 7, 2018 tokyointerlopersLeave a comment

**日本語訳は下にあります** “I’m from Madrid and I came to Japan to work as a journalist. My first week was pretty hard. I got depressed. Maybe it was jet lag or not being able to speak the language. At first I was afraid of human interaction, ‘What if they didn’t understand me?’ ‘What if we couldn’t even communicate?’Continue reading Talkin’ Loud →

On a Mission

February 27, 2017June 23, 2017 tokyointerlopersLeave a comment

“When I came to Japan 25 years ago, I noticed people had little idea about Peruvian food. If you had asked people at the time what their impression was, they would’ve said beans, stews or it’s like Mexican food. But of course they’re very different. So I became a chef to get more Japanese peopleContinue reading On a Mission →

Studying Abroad

November 21, 2016November 21, 2016 tokyointerlopers2 Comments

Why did you pick Japan? “We’re here on a one-year student exchange program. I’m a linguist. I came to Japan because I thought Japanese is interesting to learn. I took Japanese 4 years ago now and I just like the language. I speak five – Italian, French, English, Spanish and Japanese.” “I’m studying Japanese inContinue reading Studying Abroad →

Becoming Desensitized

October 29, 2016October 29, 2016 tokyointerlopersLeave a comment

“The funny thing about travel is that no matter how completely you try to leave the country, be it Japan or wherever, the country never completely leaves you. So far, I’ve lived in four different countries – Japan, Vietnam, Spain, Saudi Arabia and now back to Vietnam. Each of those places, no matter how muchContinue reading Becoming Desensitized →

Tug of Two Cities

August 2, 2016May 18, 2017 tokyointerlopersLeave a comment

“I come from Colombia, home to some of the world’s most beautiful women and good coffee. I always wanted to live in big cities, so after Bogota, I set sail overseas to Sydney, where I would meet my future wife. At first I was only there to study English. But then after falling in loveContinue reading Tug of Two Cities →

Girl Power

June 13, 2016October 15, 2016 tokyointerlopersLeave a comment

“I would like to do something to empower women in Japan. They still play a small role in society—a pity, considering there are plenty of intelligent women in this country. And many are resigned to accepting marriage as the ultimate goal or their only option in life, which isn’t so bad in itself, but IContinue reading Girl Power →

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A bit of shocking news: yours truly had heart failure and was admitted to the hospital a few days ago. While I won't be doing street interviews anytime soon, here are some scenes from my hospital bed in HCU (high care unit), taken with my phone.
Spring has sprung 🌸春が来た! Rare picture of my family having a stroll around our neighborhood today (with a bonus closeup of my one-year-old toddler begging to go out).
It’s graduation month 👩‍🎓 🎓 Time to embrace adulthood.
“I’m from Ukraine and I do web design. I also do cosplay in my spare time. It’s never too late to start something new. I’m 27 and I started this hobby during quarantine last year. Growing up, I’ve always wanted to do cosplay but couldn’t afford it. So I just watched others instead. But then last year, during lockdown, I had so much time for thoughts. I watched Tik Tokers. So many cosplayers there. Maybe I should try it too. Age doesn’t matter. If you have an opportunity, why not? When I cosplay, I feel brave. It’s good for creativity, for imagination. Rather than buying ready-made costumes, I can create my own.
“I’ve been dealing with depression for a while now. I think coronavirus was the tipping point that finally made me decide to seek medical help. I’m a student from Singapore and our campus classes switched to online last year. That exacerbated this feeling of being alone in a foreign country with little English support. I didn’t know who to reach out to. Good thing I got the courage to share what I was going through with my friends. Turns out a lot of people have been going through the same thing. I had no idea. Shared experience brings comfort. That’s why now I’m very open to talk about mental health issues. I feel like a lot of people suffer in silence. I’ve been isolated in my apartment for a whole year, and I was doing poorly in some classes due to lack of motivation to login online. I owe it to my friends who helped me get through these tough times in Japan. For six years, I didn’t want to reach out for help. Even when I was in Singapore, I was thinking, ‘I’m fine. I can do it. I can handle it.’ But I was not. Now I’m getting the help that I need and on-campus classes are set to resume. So fingers crossed that 2021 will be the year that I finally feel better mentally, physically and emotionally. Hope to see my friends face-to-face again.”.
Her: “We met at a music festival. I was born in Osaka but moved to Sweden when I was 12. I’m half Japanese, half Swedish. He’s half Japanese, half Iranian.”.

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