Wander In to this Fun Web Serial

One of the reasons for my recent fascination with The Wandering Inn, an ongoing web serial that has also been edited into audiobooks available on Audible, is that it feels familiar in that expat sort of way.

Recently, I started re-listening to the first audiobook with my kid and was struck by one scene. 

A young woman from our world suddenly finds herself in a completely different place where dragons and goblins (among others) are real, people have classes that level and earn skills like any good RPG.

After a few things settle out, she winds up walking through the nearby city of drakes (humanoid iguana-like people), trying to make sense of where things are and what things cost. If you took this scene and changed the set dressing could have been from my first week in Japan, wandering the little town I wound up in. There are also times when she adapts recipes from her world to the shock and awe of her friends, which is also familiar.

This isn't the only scene that speaks to me of course, and I have chosen to assume that the writer, extremely private Pirate Aba, probably has spent some time in Japan specifically. One of the characters shares the sound of her name with a 100 yen store chain, which amuses me.

If I had this series when I moved to Japan, I would have felt less lonely and isolated. Since it's literally free to read online, I wouldn't even have been able to argue with the cost.

I do recommend the audiobooks highly because the reader does an amazing job, but sign up for Audible to do it because the price per audiobook in Japan is weirdly high. The books are long, but still.

The story is ongoing, and there's a lot of it, so if you're feeling like you need a nice, long escape, this is one I recommend.