A bit of nostalgia came over me the other day. I was riding on the train with my son, it was a humid warmish day, few people on the train, the door between the cars open. I was listening to the sound of the wheels rolling on the tracks, listening to the metal parts holding […]
We were so fortunate as to have my parents staying with us for three weeks during one of the most beautiful time of the year – Japanese spring. Together we had picnics among the cherry blossoms, went for country side drives, spent an afternoon walking barefoot in the edge of the ocean, and made the
It is always a special feeling to ride the Shinkansen bullet train. It is quiet, even economy seats have so much leg room that it feels luxurious, I feel easy to relax while looking out the window, passing through towns, seeing the countryside sweep by. Just a few months ago I made a post about
During our few days in Tokyo together with family from Sweden we had the chance to experience two very different sides of Japan – big Tokyo attractions and a small countryside ryokan. For our son, experiencing Tokyo Sky Tree and Disney Land for the first time was as exciting as anything could be. And doing
With the Japanese school year coming to an end and Swedish family coming to Japan to visit, our little family made a trip to Tokyo to meet them. But before seeing our relatives, we visited the world of Star Wars! As it happens, there was a Star Wars pop-up store in Ginza that I had
Our son has been practicing skipping rope a lot this year. He slowly got the hang of the basic idea and managed to swing the rope behind him and climb over in a slow fashion. Then suddenly one day he came home from kindergarten and said I can skip now. At first I was unsure
With a toddler in the house, time really flies. Walking to the bus stop in the morning, enjoying the spring blossom, I feel like the day two years ago when I wrote a post about magnolias, must have been just yesterday. I always look forward to this time of the year. Soft warm air, no
I have more and more come to feel that an important part of life is noticing and appreciating the small things. Like the hug from my wife in the morning. Or the smile from the driver of the car we let by. The beautiful magnolia tree that has just started to bloom. Or the joy
It was six months ago that I last wrote about our bedtime dino-storytelling, and it has continued since then, every night. The dino-cast has expanded slightly, but after New Year there has been a dramatic change in the direction this never-ending story is heading and I thought that was worth a few words. When I
Moving to Japan has in many ways been like experiencing youth again. I have had a whole new unknown world to discover and explore and I feel like I am still very much in the beginning of this discovery process. One particular area that has been like a treasure trove for me has been the
When I was younger I was quite proficient in the French language. I read a lot and studied both in Sweden and France. I was passionate about the language and the culture and could have imagined myself living in France one day. Then other things happened and French came to occupy a smaller and smaller
Last Friday it was time for 発表会, happyoukai – the kindergarten’s annual on-stage presentation. Every February the children sing and perform plays on a big stage in a cultural center, and parents and relatives come to see their children perform. For our son this was the third happyoukai, and we were so happy to see