One day while walking around Shinjuku, a major hub for government and business in Tokyo, Japan, I noticed a shelter built by a homeless man. It looked semi-permanent, but more importantly, had solar panels on it. I thought this was very different than the homeless I encountered in my former city of Vancouver, Canada, so I started to investigate homelessness in Japan.
LWIF EP77: Old Japanese Apartment vs. New House
We moved from a 20 year “old” Japanese apartment (mansion マンション) to a new 3-storey house (~1000 sq. ft.) about a year ago. These are the differences we noticed, both good and bad.
LWIF EP76: True Canadian Experience? Glamping & Rafting
What is a truly Canadian experience? When we have visitors to Vancouver, located in Super, Natural, British Columbia, we usually take them to spots like Stanley Park, up to Grouse Mountain, or maybe to Whistler. This highlights some of the nature that can be found, but I think people who really want to experience the outdoors tend to avoid these places, as they are a bit touristy and busy. A place that my family has been to a few times, which is in the middle of nowhere, yet you’re not completely without amenities out in the woods, is the REO…
LWIF EP75: Trying to Introduce Fidget Spinners to Japan
Before we left Japan for Canada in March of 2017, the kids had never heard of fidget spinners. Aiko and Shin quickly found that fidget spinners were all the rage among their classmates in Canada. Seeing this, we decided to bring some back for their friends in Japan, but it turns out we were too late, the fidget spinner craze had already hit Japan by the time we came back in July, 2017. It also turns out the Japanese call them hand spinners, not fidget spinners.
LWIF EP74: Japanese vs. Canadian School (Elementary)
Aiko compares what elementary school is like in British Columbia, Canada vs. Tokyo, Japan. Questions 0:04 Food 1:23 Rules 2:25 More Rules 2:56 Breaks 3:37 Homework 4:18 Physical Education 5:12 Field Trips 6:17 Course Difficulty 7:05 Canadian Pros 7:46 Japanese Pros 8:28 Classmates 9:40 Teachers 9:58 Canada or Japan? 10:22 What About Shin? What’s school like where you’re from?
LWIF EP73: Breakfast Around the World
In this community video, we travel around the world and see what breakfast is like.
LWIF EP72: What a Japanese Home Exhibition Center is Like
How about, on a single plot of land, there was a host of custom home builders, showing off their latest designs and tech? This is a Japanese Housing Exhibition Center. If you’re looking to visit one of these Housing Exhibition Halls, I suggest searching for the term “住宅展示場” in Google Maps. It should pull up a few options. Do you have home exhibition centers where you’re from?
LWIF EP71: Disposable and Abandoned Homes in Japan
Have you ever heard that Japan’s houses only last 30 years? Is it because of earthquakes, Japan’s love of new, clean things, termites, humidity, population decline, or bad construction materials?
LWIF EP70: What Canadian Parks are Like (Vancouver)
Take a tour with Aiko and Shin as they play at six different parks in Vancouver, BC, Canada: Stanley Park, Terra Nova Adventure Park, Burnaby Mountain Bicycle Skills Park, Barnet Marine Park, and the Richmond Skateboard Park. We also drop by La Casa Gelato for some ice cream. What are parks like where you’re from?
LWIF EP69: Where to go in Tokyo (Hint: Anywhere)!
One of the top questions I asked is where to go and what to do in Tokyo. I got a simple answer for you. Anywhere! To prove the point, my friend Angela (internationallyMe) and I randomly walk around Tokyo. While I didn’t show this in the video, I did randomly choose a starting point as well as a direction to go towards. For those who support on Patreon, I put up a little behind the scenes of how I went about generating the randomness as well as some commentary and deleted scenes. Angela’s Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/internationallyme Patreon Page with Deleted and…