I just visited Japan for the third time in my life. In 2016, after spending about 18 months studying Japanese to encourage my son who was taking classes in middle and high…
Category: Education
Two must-read books for teens
As I resolve to read more books in 2024, I’m reminded of two books that stand out from past reading. These two books are: “Learning How to Learn: a Guide for Kids…
Auntie Muses: Grocery Shopping on Oahu. Oligopolies, Technology and Where Do We Go From Here?
I dropped by Hawaii Kai Safeway yesterday to visit the new HSFCU Credit Union branch. While there, I decided to see what food was on sale. All I can say is, “WOW.”…
Kaiser Complex and the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program
As a parent, you may be wondering what all the fuss over this International Baccalaureate (IB) program is. The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) First, from the IBO website: The IB offers an education for…
Tutors in Hawaii: Luckiest if you’re a public school student
As the school year starts up in full swing, I’m posting a reminder of the FREE math, science and writing tutors available to public school students. For math and science, tutors are…
From Honolulu to Tokyo – A transit guide for the transit clueless
In going from Honolulu to Tokyo, one of my bigger travel worries, other than the language barrier, was the transit barrier. Regarding mass transit, I spent a number of years both living…
Traveling Tokyo by Smartphone
US Smartphone Coverage in Japan If you’re currently on either T-mobile or Sprint’s phone plan, you’re in luck. For most plans, both companies offer free text and 2g basic data roaming in…
My One-Year Foreign Language Test in Japanese
I give myself a low B- Earlier, I had written about why I thought world language in high school was a questionable endeavor. To prove my point, I spent an entire year…
What is the AVID (college readiness) program?
At the end of his Niu Valley Middle School eighth grade year, my son was given the option of applying for AVID at Kaiser High School. AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual…