What followed graduation was a year of adventures on the expatriate circuit. Alison meditated with the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala; got her nose pierced in Delhi on New Year's Day; had her eyes read by a Tibetan monk; went rock-climbing in the mountains of northern Thailand; made a pilgrimage to Hiroshima. And, for six weeks, she worked as a stripper in one of Tokyo's Seventh Heaven strip clubs.

I'd heard that more and more foreign women in Asia are turning to this line of work over the traditional expat employment -- teaching English -- but I was intrigued by the image of Alison taking on this seemingly incompatible job, and by the mundane details of the expat stripper's life. I asked Alison if she would let me interview her about her six-week stint, and she agreed. Here's her story.

Why did you decide to work as an erotic dancer?

Before Japan, I had been traveling in India and I had read Pico Iyer's book, "The Lady and The Monk," which is set in Kyoto. I decided I really wanted to live in Japan for a while and visit Kyoto; also I was fascinated with the idea of seeing Hiroshima because that one day in 1945 changed all our lives. I wanted to work as a private tutor, to teach English, but I couldn't do that because I didn't have a proper visa. Stripping was the only job I could get. And I thought it might be fun; the girls get free apartments, and a major selling point was that the guy who recruited me told me I could make $1,000 a night.

How did you feel the first time you danced in front of an audience?

The first time I danced, I prepared myself by drinking a huge amount, and still I had to be dragged onto the stage -- and then I just froze. But after a few moments I listened to the music and began to relax. Nobody believed that I hadn't danced before.

What was your audition like? Who auditioned you?

A guy named Aaron auditioned us. He works at the main Seventh Heaven club in Tokyo. I auditioned with the girl who was my traveling companion. We didn't know what the hell we were doing. Neither one of us had ever been inside a strip club before, or seen a stripper perform. We had a couple vodka and tonics, then we chose our music and we danced. My song was "Careless Whisper" by Wham. We did these little routines that we had made up in our room, which we never, ever did again after this tryout.

Where was the audition? In his office?

No, in the club, but before it opened, so there were no other people around. We danced just for Aaron. It was funny; he looked pretty bored. I'm up there dressed like a tart -- well, at first anyway -- and dancing my ass off and he's just looking at me with no reaction whatsoever. I felt pretty nervous, but in a giggly way -- it was just funny. I couldn't believe we were doing it; and it was definitely not sexually exciting. But afterwards, I had a major adrenaline rush. I couldn't sleep that night, and ended up at an Internet cafe where I e-mailed my two best friends back in the States and told them I had auditioned. I asked my old boyfriend if he still respected me.

What did Aaron say after your audition?

He said he'd call us. A couple of days later he called, told us we were hired, and told us our arrangement was that we'd work in a Seventh Heaven on the outskirts of Tokyo and they would provide us with an apartment.

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