Matthew’s Mondai: Dealing with Phone Number trouble, Student loans, and the JLPT

Matthew’s Mondai: Dealing with Phone Number trouble, Student loans, and the JLPT

Last week, I ran into some difficulty because I'm trying to apply for repayment assistance (student loan stuff), but I can't get into any of my accounts because my phone number is no longer in use.... the joys of two-factor authentication. Also, I'm preparing for the JLPT (for the fourth time). I feel different about the test this time around (in a good way), but I still need to lock in. Find out what I'm doing to prepare on today's episode!

Episode 76: What to do in Japan (and what not to do)

Hello everyone! Hope you're doing well. Crazy that it's already June... 2026 is going by so fast. As promised, I wanted to share where I think you should go to (and where you maybe don't need to go) if you are visiting Japan. This "itinerary" is based on what places I went to with my sister when she visited Japan for the first time! Get your notebook ready cause I have some notes!

Episode 75: I Got Excited and Forgot (how I lost my phone in Japan)

The goal of Two Shores One Story is for me to share my experiences of living in Japan as someone from Canada, and for you as the listener to learn something. Well, this week I have something that is definitely educational (unfortunately for me). On my trip with my sister... I may have (definitely) lost my phone. Find out how and what I did to get it back on today's episode.

Episode 74: Cockroaches and Hairdressers

This week's episode is a quick one because I will be with my sister next week (the time that this episode airs). I'm so excited! Can't wait to talk about it on the podcast. Until then, I hope you enjoy listening to two things that happened this week: my late-night experience with a cockroach and my time at the hairdresser!

Episode 73: Choking or Chokin (Car Insurance)

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode. Today, I have a PSA that I wanted to share with you in hopes that you too can save some yen. I hope to share some more "tips" in the future so look forward to seeing more episodes from the Choking or Chokin series. For those wondering about the series title, I find that when my finances are in a bad pad, I am restricted in so many ways and, sometimes, when it's really bad, I feel like choking. To combat this, knowing how to spend and save money is important which brings us to the word "chokin." This is a Japanese word meaning "saving money." On to the episode itself. I wanted to share my experience with car insurance as recently I found out that the insurance I'm paying is far more expensive than others. After hearing this, I made the initiative to change my insurance in order to save some money!