Author Archives: Taylor

What is the meaning behind a name? In Japan, apparently, the significance of a name is taken at face value. Last weekend I was hanging out with some bosom buddies and one Japanese friend spotted a strange word scribed on … Continue reading →

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Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads of the world. If your offspring forgot, couldn’t be bothered to do something special for you, or went out of their way to ignore you today, here’s a little something to ease the … Continue reading →

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Japan changes you. I see it in the Gollum-like faces of foreigners whose visas statuses have gone from “working” to “permanent resident.” After having been here for more than a year, I am beginning to experience a similar ‘thinning of … Continue reading →

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A glimpse at Gerpan’s site analytics reveal a variety of means through which readers visit the website: many folks know the site url and enter directly, others opt to follow a link from a referring site such as Facebook or … Continue reading →

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A friend, Megumi and I went out for dinner the other night. I could tell that she had something important to say when she leaned across the table and dropped her voice to a whisper. “I think,” she paused, checking for eavesdroppers, … Continue reading →

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Dear Gerpan (and readers!), Today my adolescent students thought it would be funny to swipe my sphincter with chalk-coated fingers. Good grief! It happens to me every time I walk down the hall. Now the rectal area of my slacks is … Continue reading →

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During my recent trip to Korea, I spent a couple of days enjoying Busan, soaking up the ocean views as well as the aromas from its many live fish markets. Not knowing how to fill my day, I decided to … Continue reading →

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