Early Hanami

Encouraged by the sunshine and clear skies, we set out on the first official day of Spring break to have a little early hanami (flower gazing) picnic. Under the partially pink sakura trees, we spread our plastic sheets and feasted on inari sushi and norimaki sushi. It was still a little chilly and the cherry blossoms were only about 30% open, but it was a good start to the vacation. And afterward why, we played of course.

Happy Spring, ya'll.

Kakuozan Nittaiji Kobasan (Temple Market)

Today we ventured out in the surprisingly brisk March cold to the monthly temple market at Kakuozan here in Nagoya.




We were hoping it was more like a junky flea market but instead we found lots of fresh food and flowers and gardening plants and tools. Lovely to look at but not the weird cheap stuff Jason was after.
The story behind the temple is really interesting (read about it here) and the neighborhood is rather hip and full of enviable shops (wholegrain bread shop next to a Buddhist alter shop next to a chocolatier! next to a grave stone cutter next to a breakfast diner). One of the shops we visited was this fantastic European and natural toy shop called Yuubo. Such a sweet place where the kids (minus Sebastian who was still at school) played happily for about 30 minutes.

And despite the freezing temperatures and gale winds, Spring is coming. The cherry trees guarantee it...

Breaking Spring

Spring break is almost at an end. Most of my maternity leave up until this point has meant a house full of energetic kids which, for this gigantically pregnant mama, is a bit exhausting. Not many pictures to document our days as they are more of a swirling vortex of drawing pads, meals, dishes to be washed, fights to be broken up, jump ropes and soccer balls, toilet training, and the constant reminder to "BE QUIET". They start early here as the sunrises around 4:45 am now and no amount of curtain can stop Nico from rising with the sun. Of course, I assume our neighbors are not so in tune with nature's cycles so this involves a bit of stress from parents who also prefer to wait until a more decent hour for rising. The good thing is that the boys go to bed around 8:00 pm and fall into a deep, uninterrupted sleep until their early wake-up time.

Tuesday saw a tremendously strong storm hit Japan (though it was not a typhoon, just to be clear). In some places, the winds were up to 100 miles per hour. About five people were killed in the storm and hundreds injured. It hit Nagoya in the afternoon and stayed for a few hours. Talk about cabin fever at the end of that day.

Now it is gorgeous. Birds are singing, the kids are painting and reading, and I am about to go to the doctor's office for my weekly check to see how Luca is cooking up. It is hard for me to fathom the fact that he can decide to come at any time now. So hard in fact that I have put off buying the items necessary for bringing to the hospital. I have decided that today is the day to get all that shopping over with. A good step forward in facing the reality which in turn means getting my head in a good place, the best birth preparation I can embark on.

Also, I just wanted to give a shout-out to all the friends, neighbors, former students, and of course family members who have generously given presents to little Luca. We really appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness. Thank you so much!

I'll try to be a daily poster for a bit so that you will won't have to worry about Mr. Luca's arrival.

Take care. xoxo