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In: Food, Japan, Life

This is our third year of hosting Thanksgiving dinner. Unlike previous years where we hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for all our Japanese and European friends, this year we hosted Thanksgiving for E’s Girl Scouts of America troop. It was our troops very first Thanksgiving since it was created a year ago. Everyone brought a dish and everything was incredibly delicious. Since everyone brought something to share, I only had to cook a few things instead of the entire dinner. One mom read a book about the first Thanksgiving and about the pilgrims to the girls so that they could appreciate this holiday. To make thisRead More →

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In: Japan, Travels

As I’m posting this, I’m on a train traveling a few hours out of Tokyo without my family. Yes, I get a whole weekend all to myself. No kids, no husband. Just me, myself, and I. I’m behind on writing my posts but it’s okay because I plan to write during my solo time. I’m headed down to Kyoto by myself this weekend because I am having serious wanderlust and I really need to recharge myself before summer holidays begin. There are several places I have never been to in Kyoto that I really want to go check out too. And then on Saturday, I’llRead More →

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In: Japan, Parenthood

Yesterday was E’s elementary entrance ceremony and it was a big deal. You know it’s a big deal because Jason went out and bought a suit and tie for this event. Anyone who knows Jason would tell you that him wearing a suit for anything is an event on its own. Anyway, back to the entrance ceremony… In Japan, it’s a big deal when your child enters grade 1. It’s like the end of their carefree days as a small child and the beginning of what will be their academic life as they go down the road towards becoming responsible adults. Everything changes when theyRead More →

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In: Japan, Parenthood

School hat… Check! Randoseru (Japanese school backpack)… Check! Gym shoes… Check! Slippers for parents… Check! Bag for outdoor shoes… Check! All necessary forms filled out and prepared… Check! Daycare extended hour care for K… Check! Jason’s suit ensemble… Check! Nice clothes for me… Check! E’s outfit for the entrance ceremony… Check! All we need to do now is make sure we wake up and get there bright and early and on time for the elementary school entrance ceremony tomorrow!Read More →

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In: Japan, Parenthood

This summer, one of the things I really wanted to do was spend a bit more solo time with E since I know it’s been hard on her ever since K became more possessive of me. So I put K into daycare a few more days every month so that I can go out and do things with E without constantly getting distracted by her baby sister. One of the things E really wanted to do with our mommy-and-me time was to go to the Lego Discovery Center in Odaiba. Prior to this summer, we went at most twice since we didn’t like being inRead More →

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In: Japan, Parenthood

Summer is winding down finally! We have 2 more weeks left before E starts her last year of Kindy. All I can say is that I’m all burned out from this summer and in desperate need for a few days off from the kids. I really don’t know how stay-at-home moms do this all the time. This summer has been a busy one with the kids home and us moving and all. We’ve been quite productive though and there is always never a dull moment. I always want to write about the places we go and the things we do but I get distracted easilyRead More →

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In: Japan

We’ve lived in Japan for 8 years this August. During our time here, we’ve moved twice but this is the first time we have ever done the whole hikkoshi no aisatsu, also known as moving greetings. When you move in Japan, it’s usually polite (and an unspoken expectation) to greet your new neighbors and present them with a small gift. These gifts often come in the form of small hand towels, soba noodles, snacks from your hometown, etc. It’s the US equivalent to how one would go and meet and greet the new neighbors that just moved in by bringing a batch of homemade cookiesRead More →

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In: Japan

We have snow! Lots and lots of snow! In fact, it is the biggest snow storm Tokyo has seen in over a decade. Luckily, the snow storm happened on a Saturday so we got to stay home pretty much all day. It was definitely a very impressive snowfall. I believe we got over 22cm of snow and it was still falling when we went to bed Saturday night. We watched it fall from our veranda. K was highly amused. There was enough untouched snow on the ground that people were making snowmen on the street. The four of us eventually went out to the backRead More →