Introducing Ogijima in English

So this is it, a few months after starting a blog dedicated to Japan in French, and after many of my friends asked me about writing about the topic in English, I gave in.
This is not really a wise idea, considering the number of blogs I’m already writing, but that’s the thing, I’m a sucker when it comes to writing blogs (seriously, if I was paid to do it, I don’t think I would need another job, I’d make enough money just doing that).

So this is it, Ogijima in English is officially starting, right now!

And it’s starting with a little FAQ (well, those questions haven’t been “frequently asked” but you know what I mean):

• Why is this blog called Ogijima?
  Here is the answer.

• What are you going to talk about?
  Roughly the same things as I do in the French blog, that is stories of my trips in Japan, (hopefully) interesting stuff related to Japan, and if I ever live there, stories and anecdotes about my life there.

• Are you going to translate all the past articles from your French blog?
  I’d love to, but let’s be realistic there are just too many of them. However, I’ll try to translate some of them, the most interesting, instructive ones, etc.

• Why are you starting this blog in English now?
  Well, the fact that I decided to start it now is not exactly a coincidence or a random choice. Thing is that I’m returning to Japan in 10 days and I’ll be covering the Setouchi International Art Festival there (I’ll go thanks to Shikoku Muchujin, more on that later), and I thought that now would be a good time, especially because at least three people asked me whether I was going to blog about it in English, so the answer is yes!

• Who are you and why are you writing about Japan?
  Well, if you read this, it means that you’re one of the very first readers of this blog, and as such, it’s very likely that you arrived here because I sent you the link and you already know me. In case you arrived here through a different way (Will my friends talk around them about this blog? Will Google bring me traffic? Who knows?), here are a few lines about me:
  Born and raised in the French South-West, I had no particular interest in Japan growing up, even though the Japan craze was slowly starting in the country. The faraway country I was dreaming about at the time was the USA and I even moved there after turning 25. I stayed there (mostly in Florida but also in West Virginia) for seven years. It’s only five years ago, after having returned to France, that I became interested in Japan in the most random way. I taught French to foreigners (that’s my main activity when I’m not blogging) and some of my students happened to be Japanese and I found them particularly unique and fascinating. Little by little, I became interested in their culture, to the point of wanting to learn more about it. In order to do so, I met some Japanese people (I lived in Paris at the time, so it was a pretty easy thing to do) and in the process I met this wonderful woman who is now my wife and who kept my interest in Japan and the Japanese culture very alive ever since and more and more as time goes.

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. If you have other questions that you deem worth to be in that FAQ, do not hesitate in your comments, if I also deem it worth to be there, it will.

Apart from that, I hope you’ll enjoy this blog. Do not hesitate to give me feedback and if you like it, to talk about it around you.