K: So lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my health and everything I have going on there. And about life with a rare and chronic illness. So I have hereditary coproporphyria, which is a blood disorder C: And hard to spell (K laughs) K: Very hard to spell. And no-one… I’ve yet to meet a doctor who’s met somebody with HCP. C: Other than you. K: Yes, other than me. C: Yeah. K: Because we went to Oregon in the United States C: Right K: Where they have the two leading specialists in the US, who specialize in HCP, and I was the first person they were meeting with HCP. It’s extremely rare. C: Yes ..read more

K: So lately I’ve been thinking about social groups in Japan and our socialization. C: Okay. K: And, the first one that pops out in my mind is the American Chamber of Commerce [in] Japan, but that to me kind of feels like, I don’t know, like a low-key country club, because it’s… for me, it’s super expensive to belong to. C: Yes. K: What do you think? C: I think it is. K: Okay. Because how much are annual dues for an individual member? C: 75,000 yen. K: And so that’s like, roughly 750 US dollars. C: I think right now it’s closer to 700 dollars, but yeah. K: And so for me, that’s super expensive ..read more

K: So lately I’ve been thinking about the PhD process. You are Dr. Musick, and you have been for some time. And I’m in the process of becoming Dr. Musick. C: Yes. K: So… you got your PhD a few years back, a Japanese University C: Lo these many years ago. K: (laughs) And so I kind of want to start with talking about the decision to get a PhD. C: Mmhmm. K: Because I feel like you and I had very different reasons for wanting a PhD. C: Okay. K: So, what was your reason? Why did you want a PhD? C: To shut everybody up. K: (laughs) What do you mean by that? C: No, I think a lot of it was just the ex ..read more

K: So lately I’ve been thinking about what’s cool about living in Japan, or what’s awesome about living in Japan. And the reason that I started thinking about this is a client who came to see me, here in Japan, said “It’s just so cool that you live in Japan”, and I was like “Yo, you live in Japan, too.” C: That makes them cool too, then. K: Right? So I was like, “Is living in Japan cool? Do I feel cooler living in Japan than I did in the United States?” C: No, I feel much hotter. (K laughs) K: Well, in the summer time. In the winter time, I would say we feel much cooler, if you’re just doing a ..read more

K: So lately I’ve been thinking about how we make our money. Mostly because people have been asking how do we make our money? Like, what are we doing here in Japan? C: Counterfeiting. (K laughs) K: As if! I’m an okay artist, but my art skills aren’t that level. And where would we even find the paper that it’s on? C: I’m not sure, and I think that’s the point. K: Yeah. C: The Japanese money is way harder to counterfeit than the old-style American money. K: Yeah, so, what type of paper do they use? Because they have like–I think it’s really cool the Japanese money has a raised thing for braille ..read more

K: So lately I’ve been thinking about raising kids in Japan. C: We already raised one. K: (laughs) Yes, so the first time, because we had planned to come to Japan when he was 8, and I came over and I was studying Japanese and I was going to study Japanese and then be fluent in Japanese and you were going to come over after you graduated from Berkeley. C: Right. K: But then I got sick, which is a topic for a different episode. And so it took us about three years from then to get back, and so we came over when he was 12, and he had graduated high school at 12. So he wasn’t actually in any formal ..read more

K: So lately I’ve been thinking a lot about permanent residency and how we are permanent residents now of Japan. Yay us! C: Yes, we are. (K laughs) Can’t get rid of us anymore. K: Nope, they cannot. So, for me, the kind of … a pre-thing about permanent residency is what I’ve come to call the “visa grind” or the “visa hustle”. And I feel like we did a lot of different visa hustles. C: Yes. We had a lot of different visa statuses. K: Yes. And so we started out being on the humanities visa. C: Right, the humanities and specialist in international services, which is sometimes called the English Te ..read more

K: So lately I’ve been thinking about social groups in Japan and our socialization. C: Okay. K: And, the first one that pops out in my mind is the American Chamber of Commerce [in] Japan, but that to me kind of feels like, I don’t know, like a low-key country club, because it’s… for me, it’s super expensive to belong to. C: Yes. K: What do you think? C: I think it is. K: Okay. Because how much are annual dues for an individual member? C: 75,000 yen. K: And so that’s like, roughly 750 US dollars. C: I think right now it’s closer to 700 dollars, but yeah. K: And so for me, that’s super expensive ..read more

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K: So lately I’ve been thinking a lot about social media. And, in particular, Instagram. And I find Instagram to be very interesting in that it can’t be scheduled. (laughs) And so, for me, Instagram doesn’t work for my life because I’m inconsistent when it comes to what time I start work, what time I get off work, when I would have time to be on there, and I found that me being inconsistent was hurting the feelings of some of the people who were following us. That made me feel sad, so I just, yeah… Instagram is not my jam. C: So now we’re consistently not posting. K: (laughs) Well, we did do o ..read more