Maybe not everywhere, but at my institution, in my faculty it is. It makes sense because I have to get to know my colleagues and build a history of teaching and mentoring at my school. Time away would make that harder. I could totally see other places having other priorities and different sabbatical rules as a result.

Oh! I can imagine! I actually listened to a podcast about Japanese car assembly lines. They discussed the utility of the friendly sounds and compared them to the ones at American plants. There were a few clips of the sounds in the Japanese plant. It was kinda crazy sounding, but also nice.
I love this stuff and I hope…

OMG! That sounds so nice! Japanese companies use these friendly images and I just do not understand why the whole world is not like this. It’s the sounds they use too, like the train songs or airport carts that play ‘Hi Ho’ instead of honking at everyone. Having just moved to the US from Canada, I constantly notice…

I can also say I found New Chitose (Hokkaido) and Itami (Osaka) airports were great. Especially, one of them just gave a printable boarding pass for a domestic flight (I’ve attached the adorable instructions that were on it). It was like how I imagine flying was pre-911.

OK. So you completely share my philosophy on bags! I was just questioning it after two mad dashes across airports this summer.

As someone who flies frequently, what are your thoughts on checked vs carry-on luggage? I recently started doing carry-on whenever possible to make re-routing in case of delay easier. However, someone below suggested checking luggage to avoid potential gate-checks.

I feel like Narita is probably a special case because Japanese airports are so well organized and the staff are actually helpful. However, I’d always try for a long layover for an international flight through Narita because I want to get Japanese snacks. <3 Matcha chocolate <3

It was my first time in Heathrow this summer, and I took a shuttle, and I still had to run so hard/far that I peed myself a bit and my legs got chafed so bad they hurt for 2 weeks. Actually, the same thing happened to me in the Vancouver airport earlier this summer. I think I need to start taking the advice of the…

As a compliment to this strategy, I suggest checking out the locations of your disembarkation and boarding gates beforehand. If I can’t find the gates before takeoff of the first flight, I try to get it while taxiing, from inflight interne, or the entertainment. I’ve usually gotten lucky with the terminal maps in the…

Lol! I remember playing with one of those things as a teenager and speculating about whether guys put their penises in them! Now I know.

My strategy is to rotate subscriptions. I pay for Netflix always and periodically subscribe to another service for one month to watch a specific show.

Oh, your logic totally makes sense! I meant ‘just no’ as in ‘no, world, don’t be like this.’ Sorry my above comment sounds so critical. I’m used to being lost in the greys and perhaps I’m not careful enough about clarity. (Perhaps that’s why I’m in the greys!)

After reading that This is Us was a contender for the Emmy, I gave it a try. For real, it is not good. They basically just mushed a bunch of after school specials together. There is no justice if This is Us wins in a year with The Handmaid’s Tale, Westworld, and The Crown. Even Stranger Things, which is I thoroughly…

What I’ve noticed is that if anything’s empty, the exit row is. I’m not sure whether they prefer it empty, so they don’t have to give the emergency exit talk, or because they’e started charging for exit rows. Anyway, both you and mk4wagon may be right on this.

What if you recline too? Which is more comfortable, reclining when the person ahead is reclining too, or sitting straight when the person ahead is?

Consider two scenarios: 1) nobody on the plane reclines their seat, and 2) everyone reclines their seat. Everyone has the same amount of space in both scenarios, but everyone is more comfortable in scenario 2. Only fears of being rude prevent everyone from equally enjoying more comfortable, reclined seating. I think…

Without my husband, I’d never have gotten into it. It just occurred to me that if you want to know what everyone is on about, maybe read the books or listen to the audiobooks for less time/concentration-commitment. I felt they had more depth than the show (not the best prose though) and made it more exciting. Don’t…

My vision of a New Jersey Devil:

For me, GoT got interesting really slowly. I was bored by the first season, but watching it was easier than stopping my husband from nagging me to ‘just watch one more episode.’ Somewhere in season 2, I realized there was tons of foreshadowing that allowed me to guess at future events and try to parse the characters’…

OK, I think you are correct in your point, but I’ve got to brag! My husband did the engagement announcement! :) We happened upon a store called ‘My Little Fiancee’ (in French) and he posted a photo of me in front of it.