Saleem Reshamwala
I once threw a rock at the devil in Mecca and missed. It wasn't my fault. I was bumped from behind. The rock was supposed to hit a stone pillar, a symbol of the renegade jinn. Instead, it hit another pilgrim square in the chest. The man looked me in the eye. He seemed to forgive me. I'm a flawed traveler, but the world treats me well. ---- Currently living in: Kumamoto, Japan.
Hometown: North Carolina
School: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Abroad Program: JET Program
Where I've Lived Abroad: Kunamoto, Japan - Mumbai, India - Sevilla, Spain - Toluca, Mexico
Seaweed Breakfast
The Tax That Made the Porches Thin
13 Jul 2009
Someone in my neighborhood is building a house, a very big, very grand, very American-style house. It has a porch ... read more
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Japan
The Place Where Pretty Girls Think You’re Smart And Funny
The woman who is being paid to flirt with me is very good. She's sitting in front of me, batting her eyelashes and playing with the translucent boa that ... read more
04 Aug 2009
Japan
HOW TO: Party With Your Japanese Boss
You know the stereotypical image of the Japanese businessman getting tipsy on a karaoke stage? Well, if you work in Japan and you're invited to the office party, you ... read more
24 Nov 2009
Insider Tips
Japan
Don't be home for Christmas
During my few months in Japan, I made tons of non-Japanese friends, but had trouble befriending locals. I found it really easy to make acquaintances, but local people often seemed ... read more
15 Feb 2009
Japan
Pour a Drink, Even if You're Not Drinking
Maybe you're not a drinker. But office drinking parties are where a lot of bonding goes on in workplaces in Japan. All the juicy gossip that you think you ... read more
24 Mar 2009
Japan
If you're late, you smell bad
I was once absurdly late for a morning meeting at school. I ducked my head apologetically and quietly slipped into my seat. Later in the day, I greeted one of ... read more
13 May 2009
Japan
Avert your eyes to learn a language
The registers in Japanese convenience stores show prices in large numbers. This is convenient for newcomers. But it also means lots of people miss an opportunity for a quick bit ... read more
13 May 2009
Japan
Use your cellphone to tackle those 2000 characters
There's some 2000-odd written characters that you should learn for daily life in Japan. That's overwhelming. When you first get here, it's all white noise. In your ... read more
13 May 2009
Japan
Make a "what the $#$%#% does this mean" folder
Japanese isn't easy to read. When I first moved here, I knew none and couldn't tell my electricity bills from my junk mail. I have had my electricity ... read more
13 May 2009
Japan
Keep an eye on your feet
Bathroom slippers, bedroom slippers, hotel slippers, house slippers... Most people know that you take off your shoes when you walk into a Japanese home. But this rule also extends to ... read more
17 Sep 2009
Japan
Can't read? Use your Nintendo.
Over 2,000 different written characters in daily use makes just looking up an unknown word a pain. How can you look it up if you don't know how ... read more
17 Sep 2009
Japan
When in doubt, talk about the weather
Back home, talking about the weather might be seen as the lamest of all possible conversational gambits. But in Japan, it's often used as a way of greeting. Especially ... read more
17 Sep 2009
Japan
"Fight!" does NOT mean "engage in a physical altercation!"
One of my jobs at the school where I worked in southern Japan was writing letters to students each week. I had up to 80 student journals to read and ... read more
17 Sep 2009
Japan
Way more than your average magazine and tobacco stand
At a Japanese convenience store (always known by the shortened "Conbini"), you can pay your bills, send faxes, buy concert tickets, purchase movies, and, best of all, buy reasonably fresh ... read more
17 Sep 2009
Japan
Leave the Sudafed at home
On entering Japan, there's a chance you'll get picked up for a customs search. These can range from a quick question or two to being placed in a ... read more
15 Dec 2009
Japan
Cycle rIght up on that sidewalk
At the Board of Education where I worked in Kumamoto, we'd sometimes get calls from schools in the countryside who were concerned that their foreign language teachers were riding ... read more
15 Dec 2009
Japan
Christmas is for lovers
Christmas in Japan is viewed as a romantic holiday, and in a near-perfect flip of Western tradition, Japanese people often spend Christmas with a significant other and reserve New Years ... read more
15 Dec 2009
Japan
Get a pair of gym shoes and keep them shiny white
In most gyms where I grew up (the United States), members can just walk in in their casual sneakers, pick up a basketball and start playing. In Japan, the gym ... read more
15 Dec 2009
Japan
Learn a bit of enka to impress (and amuse) your friends
Karaoke is a regular part of Japanese nightlife, so you might as well use it as a chance to work on your Japanese. Enka is a kind of Japanese music ... read more
15 Dec 2009
Japan
To save cash, embrace noodles
Japanese food has a reputation for being expensive, but it doesn't have to be. Any major street will have a noodle shop of some kind, and a bowl of ... read more
15 Dec 2009
Japan
Can't understand the comedians? That's Kansai-ben.
A disproportionate number of Japanese comedians come from Osaka, or at least pretend to. The city has a reputation as the funniest, most lively area of Japan, and the local ... read more
15 Dec 2009
Japan
Ladies, don't expect any chocolate come Valentine's Day
On Valentine's Day in Japan, girls buy boys chocolate. Boys buy girls ... nothing. Sorry, that's just the way it is. BUT, fellas, don't think the Japanese chocolate ... read more
15 Dec 2009
Japan
Sick? Strap on a mask.
In Japan, if you're sick-but-not-too-sick, you'll be expected to go to work. But it would be rude of you to cough all over everyone and make them ill ... read more
15 Dec 2009
Japan
You got a license for that scooter? No? Get one.
If you're in Japan for less than a year, you can use an international driver's license to drive a car. BUT you might not be able to use ... read more
