Our One Year Anniversary in Japan: Individual Reflections on the past year

We arrived in Japan in February 2012, moved into our house in March, and the kids started school in April. Hard to believe that more than a year has passed already.

Over the past year, we have weathered the storm of change, enjoyed the thrill of new adventures, experienced the loss of loved ones, and been blessed by new friends and opportunities.

As we look back on our first year in Japan, we each have some thoughts to share.

Deep Thoughts from Ethan

I'm excited for the next Sports Day because during the last Sports Day, there is something that the moms and dads do, but my mom and dad didn't know how to do it, but now they know how to do it, so I'm excited.

When I first got to Japan, I felt like "What's all this different kind of writing I see all over the place?"  But now I know some of the Kanji characters and all of the hiragana and all of the katakana. 

My favorite part about Japan is getting to learn Japanese, not just because I'm excited, but I think that learning Japanese is kind of fun. 

My least favorite part about living in Japan is the Japanese toilet.  You have to squat to poop and sometimes I missed the toilet, and that was the hardest thing. 

About the food in Japan:  my favorite food is the pizza I make at Kidzania.

And what I like about our house is the phones that we can talk from room to room. 

What I miss most about America is pretty easy - my dog, Jasmine.  And good hamburgers.

Reflections from Ryan 

When we take pictures, I like to do "chiizu" but Ethan and Mommy don't like it so I just have to stop doing that.

My favorite food in Japan is sushi only.  My favorite kinds are tamago (egg), tako (octopus), and maguro (tuna).  But nooooooo wasabi!

My favorite thing about Japan is the electric sushi restaurant.

What I don't like about Japan is when the Hachiko statue place is really crowded because then I cannot see the Hachiko dog that well because the grown-ups are walking everywhere.

My favorite thing about yochien is that I don't need to learn with books and stuff - we only play and eat bento and do experiments and make art projects with a lot of tape.

Ponderings from Kevin

I feel like time has been flying by.  It is hard to believe that we have been here for over a year now.  One of the hardest transitions for all of us has been learning Japanese.  Even though the first 6 months was tough for the kids, they are doing great now.  I was hoping that my Japanese would be better after a year, but I still have moments where I have no idea what people are saying to me.  Fortunately, those times are becoming fewer and far between. 

So far I can’t really say that there is a lot that I miss from America.  Between a few trips back to the US for work and a few local places that remind us of home like a good burger place, L&L Hawaiian BBQ, Krispy Kreme, and the occasional care package or hand delivered care packages we manage to stay connected.  One thing that I am a bit surprised about is that I don’t really miss driving here in Japan.  Maybe we will start to miss more things over time, but for now, we are adjusting well. 

Musings from Stephanie

I think we waffle between "this is normal life now" and "we still can't believe we're actually living in Japan."

More than 10 years ago, before Kevin and I were married, we (and by "we", I really mean me, Stephanie) were  struggling a bit with what a life together might look like.  Kevin seemed firmly rooted in the Bay area, owned a house in the suburb-of-all-suburbs, Fremont, and had found Silicon Valley to be a good match for him. 

I, on the other hand, had turned down a job offer in Tanzania after living in Malawi for almost 5 years and had a hard time picturing the rest of my life in Fremont.  It seemed like almost incompatible visions for the future.  But, after many, many discussions (with a side dish of heartache), we made a deal.  This deal became our "unofficial prenup" and made a future together seem possible. We had a 3-point plan that looked like this:  

1) When our kids were young, we would move to Asia, preferably Japan, where Kevin would be the breadwinner, I would stay home with the kids, and the kids would be young enough to soak up a new language.  

2) After a few years in Asia, we would move to Africa for a few years, where I would be responsible for having the primary job and Kevin would have greater kid responsibilities.

3)  After the kids are out of the house (at age 18 in our "grand plan"), Kevin and I would join the Peace Corps as "mature" volunteers and share the Peace Corps experience.

To be honest, we were talking out of our matakos (ChiTumbuka word for the rear end).  We had no plan as to how we were going to make this happen and no real idea if it ever could.  But it gave me hope and opened my mind and heart.  Not too long after that, Kevin and I were engaged and 4 months later, we were married.  

And here we are, 10+ years and 2 kids later, and we are actually living the first part of the dream we created for ourselves and our family such a long time ago.  Sometimes, we still can't quite believe it.  We look around and think "how in the Hades did this happen?  How did we pull this off?"  In the interest of full disclosure, it was no smooth road getting here.  The year before we moved was an incredibly frustrating on-again-off-again-are-we-moving-are-we-not-will-it-be-Taiwan-or-Japan-or-China-or-nowhere-at-all?  

But, we're here now and this is, indeed, our life.  It becomes more and more normal each passing day.  We are enjoying the adventure together, as a couple and as a family.  It is not without its challenges, that's for sure.  But, it is a challenge we chose.  And it is a gift to each of us, for which we will always be grateful.