View from the Art Hotel When I was 29, I went to Japan to teach English, as people do. I hadn’t really taught before, just informally tutored people who were trying to learn English, through a community program in Boston. But I got hired by an English language school called Nova, and they were sending … Continue reading Return to Asahikawa, part 1
Author: Jericho Burg
I am an environmental communications expert living in Carlsbad, California, and teaching at Mongolia International University.
Grief redux
Photo by Iewek Gnos on Unsplash Trigger warning: This post discusses the death of a child. As I sit here, I’m heartbroken. Torn apart. It’s been a rough week, what with Beirut blowing up and all. And the mess we’re in. But today I read something a friend of mine had written, and I am devastated. My heart … Continue reading Grief redux
Into the light of day
Photo by Bima Rahmanda on Unsplash One of the things I’ve been wanting to write about is why the work I’ve been doing at Mongolia International University has so meaningful to me. People have told me, “You can do better.” But it depends on what you mean by better. What I really want at this point in my … Continue reading Into the light of day
Realizing what we’ve lost
Really, she's photo bombing. Start of school, 2018 It’s August now, and usually I/we start to think of the coming school year. I took July “off.” I wrapped up the sale of our house, did some administrative stuff (you never realize how many people and organizations have your address until you move, especially when you … Continue reading Realizing what we’ve lost
An origin story
The only photo of the four of us (my brother had not yet arrived), Thanksgiving 2006 I realized the other day that traveling runs in my family. I took my first international trip before I was three years old, to visit family in Switzerland. But my mother, the reason for that trip, had also traveled … Continue reading An origin story
The bureaucracy post
Photo by Annika Gordon on Unsplash There are other things I wanted to write about more than this, but bureaucracy blew up in my life yesterday. I hope it’s nothing I can’t fix, and it’s nowhere near as serious as bureaucratic problems other people have, but it’s become a definite theme in our lives right now. There are … Continue reading The bureaucracy post
Saying goodbye to our house
We said goodbye to our house on Friday, July 10. It wasn’t going to be ours anymore, so we wanted to see it one more time when it still was. We had been saying goodbye in one way or another since we’d gotten back from Mongolia last July. We knew we only had one more … Continue reading Saying goodbye to our house
Pandemic Summer
Our patio We are now four months into our pandemic lives, counting from the time that California pretty much shut down in mid-March. It has “opened up” again, at least in some ways, and some people have gone back to life as close to usual as they can make it. Emma and I have continued … Continue reading Pandemic Summer
Some reflections on the fifth of July
Overlooking Asahikawa, Japan on July 4, 2019 Last night, as people in our neighborhood were setting off fireworks, our dogs stuck to me. They didn’t bark or whine, but they stayed close by me as I moved around the apartment getting ready for bed. They were underfoot as I brushed my teeth and tried to … Continue reading Some reflections on the fifth of July
The Mask Post
Emma's 8th grade graduation was the first largish gathering we've attended since February. It was limited to the 10 graduates and their immediate families (nine physically attended, and one participated virtually). The families ranged in size from two (ours) to around ten. We were outside, in seating areas that were spread out across a courtyard, … Continue reading The Mask Post
