My first car was one that was passed around the family for a long time. It was a stick-shift which I grew to love, but was pretty old and rickety by the time I was finally graced with the privilege of driving it as my own. Still, it ran. And as a poor college student,… Continue reading Smoking Car Syndrome
Keeping Count
Last time I wrote about writing postcards (hagaki) as part of the way Japanese maintain relationships. Today, I want to mention another way that Japanese maintain relationships, which is through gift-giving. Gift-giving is a major thing here. Obviously, housewarming gifts are necessary when you visit a home (fruit is your go-to gift), but there are… Continue reading Keeping Count
The Hagaki Life
Japanese people, in general, are very thoughtful and considerate of the relationships they have in life. It can be seen in so many aspects, but in the next 2 posts I’ll talk about some of the things we’ve caught on to while living here. The first year my daughter was in preschool (it’s a 3… Continue reading The Hagaki Life
Summer “Break”
I’ve been a little MIA over the last few weeks. Not only have we had a number of projects going on in ministry here, but our kids have been on summer break. You know– that period of time where kids start asking for the next meal’s menu four minutes after they’ve put their dishes in… Continue reading Summer “Break”
Loved
So this is one of the projects we’ve been working on this year in our ministry. It’s a near-to-our-heart project. September 1 is a date in Japan with high rates of suicide– especially among students. A few months ago when this idea came on our radar, we seemed to be surrounded by the theme. Friends… Continue reading Loved
New Name
We have a new name for this blog space! Over the course of time, this site has become more about discovering life as an expat mom raising kids on the field and balancing ministry life in another language and culture. So, instead of the very generic title we used to have, I’ve made it more… Continue reading New Name
Both Sides of the Door
I was Facetiming with a friend a few weeks ago. We have children of similar ages and were talking about what challenges we were facing with each and figuring out what to do about things. Somewhere in the conversation, she brought up something that her own mom had said, “Children don’t realize as they grow… Continue reading Both Sides of the Door
All the Things I Still Don’t Know
Tonight my daughter came home with homework of fill-in-the-blank words, where they give you a picture and maybe a “letter” (or in our case, a syllable) or two as a hint. These assignments are new as she’s starting to advance in learning her hiragana. Some words I’ve just typed into the dictionary, and together we… Continue reading All the Things I Still Don’t Know
Coded Communication
Over the last few weeks, I’ve met some foreign parents of first graders. If I could choose an emoji for them, it would be this one: 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 Because that is exactly the look they each gave me as we opened those conversations. Even another Japanese mom told me, “it’s just so much to keep up… Continue reading Coded Communication
First Day at a New Job
Last week I wrote about Trash talk and our Neighborhood Group… and this group theme has been on my mind. Honestly, it’s been a new world since we started school a month ago, which has kinda shifted our local network and how we move within it. For example, there’s a family that lives in our… Continue reading First Day at a New Job
Ninja Mom 