At the weekend I posted a reel on all of my social media channels for #sentimentalsaturday sharing a trip down memory lane to when I was living in Japan.

Between 2003 and 2007, I taught English in Tottori, Northwestern Japan, and during that time I had 3 travel articles published in Nova City Magazine (2004-2006).

I rediscovered these nostalgic gems while tidying and they’re now enjoying pride of place on the bookshelf.

The short articles are of my impressions on living in Japan (picture 2) and my favourite Japanese writing kanji character (picture 4).

When I first moved to Japan, I didn’t speak any Japanese other than a few emergency phrases. While living there, I got myself a tutor and studied for the Level 3 Japanese proficiency test, and took this exam at Kobe University in December 2006. My Japanese conversational skills were quite good for a time, after living there for 4 years, but sadly I forget a lot of what I learned as I no longer have an opportunity to practise, apart from watching anime on occasion.

On a happy note, I met my lovely fellow author hubby in Japan – he was also teaching English – and at some point, we hope to visit our old haunts and bring our little adventurer with us. It’s really just a case of getting our savings together for such a trip!

Posted by on November 27, 2024 in Biography and tagged , , , , , .

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About Leilanie Stewart

Leilanie Stewart is an award-winning author and poet from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She writes ghost and psychological horror, as well as experimental poetry. Her writing confronts the nature of self; her novels feature main characters on a dark psychological journey who have a crisis and create a new sense of identity. She began writing for publication while working as an English teacher in Japan, a career pathway that has influenced themes in her writing. Her former career as an Archaeologist has also inspired her writing and she has incorporated elements of archaeology and mythology into both her fiction and poetry. In addition to promoting her own work, Leilanie runs Bindweed Anthologies, a creative writing publication with her writer husband, Joseph Robert. Aside from publishing pursuits, Leilanie enjoys spending time with her husband and their lively literary lad, a voracious reader of sea monster books.

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