Author Archives: spikekalashnikov

Okinawa is absolutely covered in Morning Glory. Lamp posts, houses, hillsides are bedecked with the plant. It climbs tens of meters up trees and the drive to work in the morning is a joy as all the flowers are out … Continue reading →

I still have nightmares about failing exams. These  nightmares are never staged  in the examination room  itself but some days or weeks before and are characterized by a realization that I have not done sufficient work and I am going to … Continue reading →

In Okinawa there correct formal dress in the Summer months is not the ubiquitous shirt and tie, I am told, but the Kariyushi shirt. These a highly patterned affairs with lots of flowers and things. I bought my first one … Continue reading →

As I ate lunch by the sea shore yesterday I noticed people coming up to a freestanding stainless steel box against which I had leant Big Red. The box has a very long tube attached that leads up to the … Continue reading →

I like to go for a ride on my bike on Sunday morning. Nothing too athletic but a gentle snoop around the region that hopefully includes eating fish and some discoveries. It is a beautiful day. I head off behind … Continue reading →

Just a quick one on Okinawan waste management.  The Japanese are admirably disciplined about their trash. The trash world here is divided into two kingdoms, you know a bit like Gaul but one less. One world is burnable, the other … Continue reading →

So today I finally do it. I have been planning to do it more or less all my adult life but the mystical planets that create opportunity in life were never aligned until I came to Okinawa. Here these planets … Continue reading →

Pottery or ceramics are big around here. With the amazing good luck that seems to characterize the period I strut and fret my life out on the stage, I have got to know Yamada san. He is probably the doyen … Continue reading →

“Dive, which was originally a weak verb, developed a past tense dove, probably by analogy with verbs like drive, drove. Dove exists in some British dialects and has become the standard past tense especially in speech in some parts of … Continue reading →

Ding, ding it is 7:00 am. I spring from the futon, pull on some shorts, a t-shirt and head out onto the terrace. Blue, blue China Sea, green, green Okinawa, fresh, fresh air and straight ahead the heavy bag. So … Continue reading →