What?
1000 Things, a blog by Orchid, whom you may have seen in the comments section of this blog, is about the daily life of an expatriot woman living in Tokyo. More specifically, it's about the things that she will and won't miss when she eventually leaves Japan to return. Here's a little about her from her About section:
I was born in 1964 and I have lived steadily in Japan since 1989. I spent the bulk of my 20+ years in Japan working in a Japanese office for a small Japanese company that created and sold correspondence lessons. I consider my experiences in Japan rather unique compared to most foreigners for a variety of reasons.
Those reasons are here.
Why I like it
Although she is the first to admit that all of her views are subjective, I find myself agreeing with her observations quite often. Many times I'll read her posts and think to myself "Wow, that's exactly how I feel!" Though there have been a few times I've strongly disagreed. I suppose the one grumble I have is that her posts are sometimes so engaging that I wish 1000 Things allowed comments. But her decision is intention, probably to avoid the kind of heated arguments that would no doubt ensue.
Here are a few sample posts (see if any of these titles pique your curiosity):
Will Miss:
A Culture of Gaman
"Alien" Seafood
Neighborhood Freebies
Won't Miss:
Blaming Foreigners for Drug Sales
Blocked Videos
Dry Muffins and Cakes
Another nice draw is that all of her posts are intentionally bite-sized. They're easy to read and digest, even if you only have a few minutes to spare.
I also respect the fact that although her time is limited (she also works and runs another blog called Japanese Snack Reviews), she also finds time to comment on other blogs now and then, and at least on this site her comments are always well thought out and articulate, and great contributions to the topic at hand. She has also provided me with some much-appreciated encouragement and advice in the past.
So once again, if 1000 Things sounds like something that might catch your fancy, it bears the JADJ seal of approval. Check it out here.
Orchid64
ReplyDeleteLeaves some of the best most thought out comments on the Jweb. I saw her a lot a Loco's before.
Thanks for the link love and the kind words. I appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks to Chris for his kind words!
I've read every post on 1000 things since I found out about it. Since it's unlikely I'll ever be able to live there, or maybe even visit, it provides a unique insight into the culture that I'll probably never be able to have for myself. Eventually I'll set aside time to crawl through the archives and catch up!
ReplyDeleteThese are great!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about those blocked videos. As a rule I dislike any arbitrary boundaries placed on the internet.
I second this recommendations. One of the Jblogs I have been reading the longest - along with Japanese Snack Reviews. Yet somehow I missed that they were the same person, until now.
ReplyDelete:)
It's a small J-blogger world, ne?
Thanks for taking the time to comment, guys! Hope this will send a few visitors to check out Orchid's site.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy 1000 Things about Japan, and am always happy to see an update! I do agree though, I wish comments were allowed--most of the time I just want to agree with the post, and I'm sure there could be some juicy debates, too. That being said, I definitely understand the true amount of stupid on the internet, and the choice to try to minimize that.
ReplyDelete