It is one year now since our son started kindergarten. In Japan the school year starts in April and there is a little holiday for the students between the end of one school year and the beginning of the next. It is difficult to believe that it has already been one year, and when I […]
Every night, our son is looking forward to bedtime. Not to sleep, but to hear me read books and tell stories. When we came back from Sweden I brought a suitcase full of Swedish children’s books, most of which I got when I was a child myself, so now we have a newly stocked library
For some people, spring is cherry blossom, sakura, late March pick-nicks in the park under the cherry trees (and accompanying hay fever). For others spring is warmish February days when the plum trees are in bloom, when you can leave your winter jacket at home and enjoy some vitamin-producing sunlight. Tough I love the cherry
March 3rd is girl’s day or doll’s day in Japan, coinciding with plum blossoms and arrival of spring. It is an old celebration of girls and young women, focused around a display of dolls, mainly a wedding couple said to be the emperor and empress. Everywhere you go, there are the hina-dolls in different shapes
Every so often I find an opportunity to introduce some new aspects of life or some science to my son. And sometimes a piece of mythology finds its way into our life (of course I leave out any gruesome details, of which there usually are plenty). My son is very curious and often starts to
I have come to love Japan, the nature, culture, food, the people – I feel at home here. But sometimes there is a little part of me missing Sweden, thinking of my old home with a twinge of longing. I have my parents there, my sister and her family, my dear friends, there is the delicious
We came home from Sweden, my son started kindergarten, and soon thereafter he got his first cold of this year. Though it was to be expected, I had even anticipated it, it would have been nice to have a few more days to get life in order before turning our house into a sick bay.
How our son has grown during our time in Sweden, and not just in size – I think we all felt it, his parents as well as his grandparents. He has become even more independent and also fully embraced a life where the spoken language is Swedish. Thinking about the years my son and I
It has been four years since the mask wearing days started, and thus time for a pandemic year review. Or maybe I should call it a post-pandemic review. The pandemic is supposed to be over, the covid cases are still sometimes reported but little by little life has started to go back to the way
When we arrived in Sweden it was already time to prepare for Christmas. Almost as soon as we had settled in, my son wanted to go by himself with grandmother and grandfather to buy a Christmas tree. When they came back they had picked out the most beautiful pine tree and we decorated it with
What a joy to arrive in Sweden just before Christmas and be welcomed by not only farmor and farfar, granny and grandpa, but also by snow and some proper winter. It has been a wonderful couple of weeks we have spent in Sweden, and I plan to share some impressions in the next few blog posts
Ever since we last autumn started to talk about going to Sweden this winter to visit farmor and farfar, grandma and grandad, my son has been interested to know more about Sweden and especially where Sweden is and why it is always dark at our place and bright day is Sweden when we are doing