Tessa's passport expires in April, so last week the family headed into Tokyo for an expat ritual: renewing the passport at the Embassy. It was my first time ever visiting a U.S. Embassy, so I looked forward to the experience in the Check In the Box sense. We headed into Tokyo knowing that rush hour …
Month: March 2016
Visiting Enoshima Island
The kids were on spring break this week, so on Wednesday we all headed out for a day trip. We chose Enoshima, a small island that sits just off the coast of the historic city of Kamakura. A causeway connects Enoshima to the mainland, and we all agreed that it looked very much like Mont …
Kimono, As Viewed From a Galloping Horse
The day has arrived: Japanese Culture Day! Unfortunately I'll miss the event at school because I'm home with a sick Cy. I was looking forward to seeing the kids' classmates in all their finery, but I'll have to wait for others' photos instead. I chaperoned Tessa's class trip yesterday, and I chatted up some of …
How to Wear that New Kimono
As I mentioned in an earlier post, last weekend we purchased Tessa a second-hand kimono at a local shop. The saleswoman showed us briefly how to dress Tessa in it, but on Friday I had the chance for an in-depth lesson from some real experts: a group of girls from Futaba, the Japanese-language school next door to the kids' …
Resaikuru Kimono
Japanese Culture Day at the kids' school approaches, which means that the kids need the right wardrobe! New kimonos can cost crazy amounts of money, so the cool kids know to buy second-hand. Today we headed to to a popular resaikuru (recycle) chain called Book Off. Despite its name, Book Off sells all types of second-hand …
The Coin-Op Parking Lot, or How to Destroy Your Car’s Undercarriage in One Easy Step
Driving in Japan presents obvious challenges--you know, driving on the left, not being able to read traffic signs, turning on the wipers when you mean to hit the turn signal, and so on. But one of the biggest sources of stress for new drivers in Japan comes from parking the car--specifically at automated parking lots with car-trapping …
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