by Melanie Oda (Japan) | Apr 22, 2013 | Cultural Differences, Education, International, Japan, Living Abroad, Motherhood, Traditions, Weather, World Motherhood, Younger Children
Handmade shoe and apron bags made by the author.
April in Japan brings with it warmer temperatures, cherry blossoms, and the beginning of a new school year.
Children who are entering first grade, which is the first year of elementary school here, have a lot to prepare. Many of the items are the same as what school children in the rest of the world need: pencils, erasers, a pencil box, notebooks. But some are peculiar, if not to Japan, than at least to earthquake prone regions. (more…)
If you ask Melanie Oda where she is from, she will answer "Georgia." (Unless you ask her in Japanese. Then she will say "America.") It sounds nice, and it's a one-word answer, which is what most people expect. The truth is more complex. She moved around several small towns in the south growing up. Such is life when your father is a Southern Baptist preacher of the hellfire and brimstone variety.
She came to Japan in 2000 as an assistant language teacher, and has never managed to leave. She currently resides in Yokohama, on the outskirts of Tokyo (but please don't tell anyone she described it that way! Citizens of Yokohama have a lot of pride). No one is more surprised to find her here, married to a Japanese man and with two bilingual children (aged four and seven), than herself. And possibly her mother.
You can read more about her misadventures in Asia on her blog, HamakkoMommy.
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by Maggie Ellison | Nov 5, 2012 | Being Thankful, Home, Inspirational, Motherhood, Natural Disaster, Safety, Tragedy, Uncategorized, USA, Weather, World Events, World Motherhood, Younger Children
A week ago, Hurricane Sandy made landfall very close to our home in New Jersey.
We live in a waterfront neighborhood, where some people live bay-front and the rest of us live on lagoons. Even though a mandatory evacuation was issued, we wondered whether we really needed to evacuate, since we live on one of the furthest lagoons from the bay and because we knew how many feet above mean high tide we are. But, with young children, we chose not to take any chances and heeded the warning. We spent the hurricane at a cousin’s house, leaving our home on Sunday. The storm was at its worst on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon we were able to return home.
From my cousin’s home, we watched strong gusts of wind come and take down trees and saw some flooding but that was nothing compared to what we would see when we went home.
We were very lucky. We could see the water line in our yard. If the water had come up another 1.5 feet, we would have had flooding inside our house. We lost part of our dock, stairs and walkway, all of which were still under water when we first got home. We had some branches come down and a shutter fly off the house.
We have now spent a few days working in and out of the house and are just about back to normal. We lost electricity but it was restored four days later. Now we have a freezer and fridge to clean out. We saved what we could, but couldn’t save it all.
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Maggie is so grateful to be raising her 2 children with her husband in the low country of South Carolina. Life at the beach is what she’s always known, although living in SC is new to this NJ native! The beauty of the live oaks and the palmettos takes her breath away on a daily basis and being able to go to the beach all year is a dream for her. Art and music have also always been a part of Maggie’s life, and she is happy that her family has the same love and appreciation for it that she does.
Maggie and her family are also very active. Her husband coaches both kids in soccer, and they like to spend their time outdoors kayaking, biking, swimming, camping, etc. They try to seize every moment they can together, and they feel that it’s not just the family time that is important. They want their kids to know a life of activity and respect for the outdoors, expose them to new things and teach them about the world! Maggie and her family are no strangers to overcoming life's challenges. They've had to uproot their family several times when jobs have been lost in the economic crisis.
They also lovingly face the challenges of having a child diagnosed with special needs. Through all this, Maggie has learned to celebrate the good times and never take them for granted. Her family is everything to her, and she is incredibly grateful for every day she has with them and for every moment she has shared with them. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell them she loves them and how lucky she is to be her kids’ mommy. How sweet!
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by Purnima Ramakrishnan | Jun 20, 2012 | Child Care, Childhood, Culture, Family, India, Parenting, The Alchemist, Weather
Hot sweltering weather in Chennai
Whoever coined the phrase, ‘bright cheerful sunny day’ had not been to Chennai. Do you know what they say about the weather in Chennai? There are only 3 seasons in Chennai: hot, hotter, and hell!
Even though technically summer and summer vacation are over and schools have reopened, it still is either ‘hot’ or ‘hotter’ depending on your luck. ‘Hell’ is over with May. Or is it? It still displayed 110F on my mobile yesterday, and Chennai is the most sultry and humid place to live. Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love my home and my life here, but it still has its disadvantages.In the beginning of summer, we decided that my son and I would spend the entire summer at my parents’ place. I was born and brought up there, and the weather is just awesome. It is located at the base of a hill station and you can find rolling plains, lush green fields, and pleasant weather with cool breeze all through the year. Heaven indeed! (more…)
