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
Tag: travel
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
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
It could have been worse: Our trip back to San Diego
Our luggage... Our trip back to San Diego was just about bad enough to turn me off air travel forever. In order to save a few hundred dollars, I had booked our flight with United Airlines and their partner Air China via Beijing (the best alternative, which would have taken us through Incheon, Korea, cost … Continue reading It could have been worse: Our trip back to San Diego
Kharkhorin: A visit to Mongolia’s former capital and its oldest monastery
Modern Karkhorin, with the Erdene Zuu monastery to the right I’m continuing from my last post about Elsen Tasarkhai and our ride on Bactrian camels. On Sunday, February 3, after lunch, we headed for Kharkhorin, for the next part of our trip around central Mongolia. On our way, we stopped off to clamber on some … Continue reading Kharkhorin: A visit to Mongolia’s former capital and its oldest monastery
A day with camels at Elsen Tasarkhai
As anticipated, not everything went according to plan on our trip around central Mongolia for Tsagaan Sar (lunar new year), but everything went very well, and we had a great time. The first change of plans happened the night before we left, when we found out that the horse racing we were planning to see … Continue reading A day with camels at Elsen Tasarkhai
Our second New Year in 2019: Tsagaan Sar
A Bactrian camel, spotted on our trip to Terelj in October I’ve been on a blogging streak for the last two weeks, but Emma has most of the next week off school because of Tsagaan Sar (the lunar new year), so we are going to travel around central Mongolia a bit. This is a sneak … Continue reading Our second New Year in 2019: Tsagaan Sar
Living without a car in Ulaanbaatar
One of the things I dislike the most about living in southern California is the reliance on cars for transportation. The only other place I’ve lived where I’ve owned a car is Gainesville, Florida. My goal is to live somewhere where I don’t need to have a car. So one of the things I was … Continue reading Living without a car in Ulaanbaatar
Stainless Steel Genghis Khan and a Thirteenth Century Theme Park
(Continued from my last post.) As usual, I was up early, so I grabbed my camera for a short morning walk. The morning light was as beautiful as the late afternoon light had been, and I loved the shadows of the trees extending across the meadow on the hillside behind our ger camp. The sky … Continue reading Stainless Steel Genghis Khan and a Thirteenth Century Theme Park
Return to Terelj National Park
In mid-October, Emma and I took a couple of weekend trips out of Ulaanbaatar, on either end of her Fall break. I didn’t have time off, but I wanted her to have the feeling she was on break. We were also lucky with the weather. Looking at the forecast, it seemed like October 13-14 and … Continue reading Return to Terelj National Park
