Trap of comparison

I've just found a great post here by my friend Cath about the trap of comparison when you're a mum (but it really applies to whatever you are, however mums are particularly vulnerable). She wrote it nearly three years ago, but it is just as applicable now as then.

Settled down yet?

Yesterday the boys dragged out some memories. Today I'll drag one out for you. Tonight friends/colleagues are coming to dinner (Lord willing). It set me thinking to the first time we had a meal with these friends and it was Christmas Day, only a couple of weeks after we first arrived in Japan. The top photo is a photo of the occasion.

In the top photo, can you see the two kids in high chairs? They are our eldest son and our friends' youngest boy. They are now in the same class at CAJ.Tonight they won't be sitting in high chairs!

In the bottom photo our eldest is blowing out the candles on his cake (long story about the cake, ask David one time!). Next to the birthday boys is the same friend who is in the high chair above.

An aside is that I'd forgotten we had an Australian visitor that first Christmas. Helen is the second from the left in the top photo. She and her family are still our good friends.

I think of people in Australia who say to us (explicitly or implicitly) that we should think about "settling down". And I think of all the memories we've encountered this weekend. Do we really seem that unsettled? Maybe to people who don't see how our life in Japan has progressed, who don't realise that we've got "long-term" friends here now too. To people who don't realise that our lives here has really become the "norm" for us and our kids. A life that is full of enjoyable experiences, of memories, of struggles, and triumphs. Of work, school, and holidays. Of the normal routines of life.

We're settled, regardless of what people think. And this evening we're going to enjoy the time with our friends, friends we've known for more than ten years.

Another day another park

If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know that on a day off, we're very often headed for a park, if the weather is fine. Today we headed to one of our standard parks, Koukuu Park (Aviation Park).  Here's a post about another time we visited there.

Gorgeous autumn colours.

It is six years since we first started coming to this park and a few things have changed. Not the park, but for us. Since we've moved further away it is now easier to catch a train to the park. Our boys have also grown up a bit. So they all walk under their own power. I remember chasing boys around this park while pushing a pram (US=stroller?). I even lost the two older ones one day when I was here on my own with them. That wasn't fun.

A spirit of nostalgia seemed to grip our boys today and we had lots of "I remember when..." conversations. This park is full of memories for them. We've had kindergarten outings here, visited the Aviation museum a few times, brought friends here (see this post), our eldest ran a cross-country relay here and of course, many just-family days in the park. 

One of the nostaligic places is a fabulous climbing tree. We found this tree the day we moved out of our previous house in Tokyo, only days before we returned to Australia for our Home Assignment in 2009. I brought the boys to the park to allow David time to complete the final bits and pieces of cleaning out the house and they found this tree. 

Today we "found" it again and the boys had a great time. David and I did too. We set up our picnic mat, pulled out some relaxation material and let the boys go at it. They played in the tree for a while, then wandered off to the play equipment a couple of hundred metres away. They followed the small stream down to the pond too. All without need for our supervision. It was blissful. We told them to come back when they got hungry.

After lunch we wandered off to another favourite corner, the stand of Gum Trees!!! And went hunting for fresh gum leaves on the ground. We were rewarded with a few and the boys got all nostalgic again with the scent from a crushed leaf, "Aww, I'm Australia-sick." they said.

Hunting for gum leaves.

The pile of gum leaves that we collected (and brought home).

Then a brisk game of Frisbees and we were headed home on the train again. Via the Doctor for a Flu injection and then the promised reward, Mister Donuts. Lots of conversation as we walked; they often run ahead of us, but today they hung around and talked. Lots of comfortable companionship. Our boys are growing up, and it's enjoyable.

You will see from the photos that it was a grey day (not good for photos and I forgot my good camera anyway), but the clouds were high and the temperature moderate (low 20s). So it's been a very pleasant day-off all round. Just what we needed.

Juggling

I'm juggling a bit today. Parent-teacher conferences these last two days (which means student-free days, but no teacher-husband-dad at home). This morning I went in and did the rounds of the teachers. Great encouragements! 

I had promised the boys I'd do some baking with them this afternoon. Then our youngest has a piano lesson at 3, only at school, so it isn't a huge hassle, but it's there. 

On top of all this action I am supposed to be co-writing an article for the magazine I edit. It was due on Tuesday (but I'm an editor, so I have some leeway). However it is essentially my co-writer's story and she is in the midst of intense mission leadership meetings in the UK. Thankfully she's great with email, but finding time to edit the article is hard. Yesterday I struggled to it at 9.30pm, which is getting to be my Cinderella hour, not a good time for editing, that's for sure! So I'm struggling to find good writing/editing time. On times when the boys are home my free times don't always coincide well with good writing/editing time.  And it isn't going to get much better till next Tuesday when they all go back to school. Arggghhh.

In the midst of all that I probably should be spending much time writing here! But I did want to share with you a blogging friend's short post quoting from a book called "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. Take the time to read the comments after it (only three). It was shocking to read Helen's words, even though it was what I suspected.

Japan photo #19 solved

Two days ago I posted a photo asking you what you thought it was. There were lots of guesses, but the "winner" is April who wrote this comment where I posted the link on Facebook:

"I can honestly say I've never seen anything like that before, so I'm going to guess. :)

My first thought was it holds the rice paddle, but upon further reflection that didn't seem right (hook is the wrong shape and what would the flat part attach to?). My next best guess is it hooks onto the side of the bowl (the pot inside the rice cooker) so that after washing the rice you can strain the water through this device."

Yes, it is to strain the rice before you cook it (Japanese wash their rice thoroughly before cooking). But it also strains noodles, spaghetti and vegetables. I've only had it for about 10 days, but I think my colander might be out of service in the future. This is so easy to use and clean. It's also cute! I might even slip it into my suitcase next time I come back to Australia.

Japanese convenient Convenience Stores.

Not all have car parks this large.

We love Japanese convenience stores. They are just...so...convenient. They have a cute name too: conbeni. There are many, including 7-11, and generally speaking they are easy to find, one on every corner. Except if you have a car-load of hungry boys—then you'll be guaranteed not to find one easily. Or you'll find them, but without car parks!

Here we are parked at a convenience store after a Cross-Country meet.

The reason we most often use them is to buy lunch when we're out and about. Starting at a basic Japanese rice sandwich/ball, you can move up to pre-packaged noodles, rice with "stuff" on top, boiled eggs, (bread) sandwiches, wraps, a variety of bread, yoghurt, a large variety of drinks plus icecream, lollies, chips etc. Some even have fruit for sale. Often you can buy hot food too, like sausages on a stick, bread with meat in it, or baked sweet potatoes (depending on the time of year). It's pretty guaranteed to find something for everyone. And not too bad on the price too. A simple rice "ball" costs about 100 yen ($AU1.24). Two of those fill us very adequately. The cashier will heat them up for you too.

This type of convenience food is so much a part of the culture that even big grocery stores have it, plus a place to heat up your own food. We missed this convenience in Australia.

But this is not just a food store. They have photocopiers too. And the capacity to do many types of bill-paying plus there is usually at least one ATM. They will courier luggage or parcels for you to a predetermined destination (another pretty unique service). Hidden away in a corner is often a clean toilet for public use.

Unfortunately the "front aisle" is usually full of magazines that guys like to gawk at. We steer our boys to the back where the food is (not too hard a job).

Anyway, I thought I'd just show you the rice ball, onigiri, that I just ate from a convenience store. They are amazing, not just in taste, but how ingeniously they are packaged. These are one thing we missed from Japan when we were in Australia. It was the first meal we had when we arrived back too.

This says "Tuna Mayonnaise", my favourite flavour.

Instructions on how to open.

First grab number 1 and pull it down...

all the way back up to the top.

Grasp the Number 2 and pull sideways.

Sorry this isn't a good photo (I was hungry and having a late lunch). You grasp Number 3 and pull it sideways too. This photo is supposed to show you that the packaging separates the seaweed from the rice, so that it remains crisp until you open it.

And there you have it, an onigiri, or rice "ball" ready to eat.

See the yummy stuff inside the rice?

Don't you just want to come and visit now?

Japan photo #19

It's been a while, but I've come up with another "What is it?" I'm not sure whether living or having lived in Japan will help you with this one. Let's see. I'll post the answer in a couple of days.