Gaijin Housewife in Japan

Ikebana Course Update! Get a sneak peek into what's happening in my course!

2016-07-04T07:00:00.000+09:00

Well we are into week three of my beginners online ikebana course and I thought I'd give you all a quick look at what we've been doing.

You may be surprised to know that many of the students haven't been slaving for hours over their arrangements! 15-20 minutes seems to be the average time it takes for them to do it after watching the 10 minute instructional video.

If you'd like to hear about my next free course, please sign up for my newsletter as subscribers always get first dibs and I only accept a limited number of students each time!

Here are some of the arrangements so far:

What I really like about this arrangement is that even though the student had a tiny tiny kenzan to work with, she still managed to get it done! She also has a lot of different levels going on with her spray carnations which is really good.

This one exudes "rainy season" to me, with the hydrangea and I love the movement that the longer branch has. Just getting that branch to stay in place takes a bit of skill!

I love how the missmatched vases compliment the area where the arrangement has been displayed. The cute colours also clash but in a good way I think!

Another rainy season arrangement with the hydrangeas, it's so nice to be able to show off their volume in this style of arrangement.

If you looked at the photos and were like: Yeah what you said! or I like it but I have no idea why! That's because you don't have your ikebana glasses yet. Getting your ikebana glasses is when you know you've crossed the bridge into the ikebana world. It doesn't take long! I started 10 years ago and it only took a few months until I began to see with new eyes everything around me. This is one reason why I love ikebana and I'm sure others will say the same too.

Wanna try getting your own pair of ikebana glasses? Don't forget to join my newsletter to hear about the next free beginners course which will be starting at the end of June.

Ikebana with kids: A fun summer holiday activity

2016-06-30T21:16:00.001+09:00

This week, I decided to let the kids do the flower arranging. I just happened to be passing through the flower department of the supermarket, as you do, and noticed that they were very cheap, so I bought some. When my daughter got home from school she was very excited to see a bucket of flowers sitting there waiting and asked if she could do some flower arrangement. So I thought, hey I didn't have anything in particular planned for the flowers so why not let the kids have a go.

For ikebana with kids, it's best not to use a pin holder, so I gave them plastic bowls with floral foam in them. No stress. Since my son is not quite 2 yet, we didn't use scissors, I just broke the flowers or pre-cut them into manageable sizes

They were so excited about getting to do their own arrangements and I was extremely surprised how long it held their attention, too. Especially my son who is, well not even 2 yet. He was the last man standing!

So here are some photos of the transformation of the flowers, best 1,000 yen I've spent on my kids for a while.

Experimenting

By Hugo, 1 year 10 months.

By Amelia, 5 years old.

The finished products: Amelia on the left and Hugo on the right. Their quirky and colourful creations are really brightening up my entrance.

My beginners online ikebana course is going really well! The students and I are having a lot of fun creating arrangements together and sharing the photos with each other. Check out my Facebook page and you will also see me doing a "Facebook Live" ikebana arrangement! That was a lot of fun and I will definitely do it again soon!

Thanks to all those who were watching me live!

Summer Holidays in Japan: How can I help my child with their other language?

2016-06-27T07:30:00.000+09:00

Summer holidays are coming in exactly one month. I've been getting a bit stressed out about them this year as I will have a 5 year old and a 2 year old to keep busy when it's really hot outside. We won't be able to roam around in the garden and go to parks, well not in the day time and not if we don't want to get eaten alive by mosquitoes. For a NZer, the summer in Japan is really tough.

I've considered getting on a plane and flying the 11+ hours to NZ. (It's like about 30 hours travelling door to door to my mother's house), but we did just drop a small fortune on our trip to Australia where we saw my family anyway and it's also winter over there.

So I have 2 kids to keep busy and my other goal is to work on my daughter's English during those 6 weeks as she spends a large chunk of her day at kindergarten speaking Japanese and I've noticed that it seems to have taken over her English in the space of just over a year. She does still speak to me in English, but I've noticed she seems to have a lot more to say when my husband is around and she is in Japanese mode.

My daughter has also taught herself how to read hiragana and many katakana symbols so I also want to introduce her to reading English as well. I wasn't really too sure where to start on this. Thankfully my sister is a primary school teacher and has given me an idea of what to do, but I'd also love to hear from other mothers out there in Japan or anywhere actually who are helping their children to learn a second language that is not the language used in their school.

It's not all doom and gloom. We do have some friends coming back from overseas with their children who are English speakers (they are supposed to be learning Japanese!). I'm looking forward to some English language play dates with them. We can do more skype dates with my sister to have more chances to talk in English to fill in time.

We can go to the Aquarium every day if we want to.

There is a community swimming pool that doesn't cost a lot to go to and if all else fails there is playing under the garden hose, whilst fully clothed (mosquitoes).

I've been getting some great ideas from this website about how to manage our days.

I'd love to hear from you about what you will be doing this summer with your kids to work on their other language.

Rainy season in Japan: Enjoy the "Ajisai" (Hydrangeas)

2016-06-24T07:30:00.000+09:00

The rainy season in Japan can be unpleasant, it is my least favourite time of the year. The mugginess is uncomfortable, the mold growing on everything is just yuck. The pages in my books get all warped and the laundry never quite gets dry.

However, one of the bright spots of this time of year is the hydrangeas! The sakura of the rainy season.

They are everywhere and so colourful and cheering when it's dreary and grey.

It amazes me how they just grow wild all over the place, so well...except in my garden where they refuse to grow except extremely begrudgingly.

A few days ago I heard about a temple not so far away from here that has a lot of them growing so I took a detour on my way home from town to go and see them. I was expecting there to be throngs of people jamming the car park with their cars and setting up tripods all over the place but it was a week day and it was deserted! A deserted temple can be a little creepy, especially since I know there was someone there somewhere but they didn't come out to greet us. I'm sure there were a pair of eyes watching us from within one of the buildings. So even though it was extremely tempting to take a big armload of flowers home with me, I restrained myself. (I don't often get the urge to steal flowers but hydrangeas and daffodils do that to me a bit).

I had my son with me who is nearly 2 and he was very excited to see all the flowers in the different colours. He tried to sniff them, cause that's what you do when you see flowers right?

We explored the temple and I wished I had made the effort to bring my real camera so all photos are ones that have been snapped very hurriedly on an iPod touch as I chased my son around. So may things to get into at a temple.

If you are in the area and would to visit, here is the location: Nyoraiji in the Natsui area of Iwaki city.

Tokyo Disneyland: My experience visiting with a five year old.

2016-06-20T08:00:00.000+09:00

My daughter and I just got back from a trip to Tokyo Disneyland. It was her main birthday present for her 5th birthday. We went last year for her birthday too, but to Disneysea. I think this year was even better than last time and I'll tell you why.

1. A year is a long time in a kid's life and a 5 year old is so much more able to handle going there for a full day out than a 4 year old!

2. We went to Disneyland which I really think is a bit more suited to kids than Disneysea. Last year my daughter was desperate to see Ariel and all things related to her, so we went there. There are a lot more attractions and since you don't have to walk all the way round the giant pond like at DisneySea, you can get places more easily.

On the bus to Disneyland, soo exciting!

Our trip from Fukushima to Disneyland started at 4:15 am when we got up and quickly got dressed, jumped in the car, drove through the empty streets to the bus stop, raced into the convenience store, grabbed some breakfast and then were just getting back to the bus stop as the bus pulled up and we left at 5:15 on the dot. 3.5 hours later, we arrived at Disneyland at 8:40. 20 minutes before the gates opened, and already there were hundreds of people lining up to get in. It was already very hot, so we elected to go stow our luggage and then hang around in the shade until the line started moving. It took 10 minutes just to get in the gate. But once we were actually in there, the people dispersed through the park and it wasn't as crowded.

The crowds entering Disneyland. This photo gives me heart palpitations.

First thing was to try and get a fastpass for the Monsters Inc ride. There was already a huge queue for that, so we passed on that and got one for the Buzz Lightyear astro blaster ride. While we were waiting for our time to come to do that ride, we went on Space mountain and did the Stitch Encounter (All in Japanese, but fun). Amelia LOVED the Buzz Lightyear "shooting game", but I was glad to have used a fastpass to get on it since it was a bit lame really. But she liked it so much we had to do it again.

The Easter parade.

Even thought it is already Summer, Disneyland is still doggedly celebrating "Easter", so there was a special short parade with lots of dancers dressed as rabbits. I was surprised to see people parked on the parade route a couple of hours before, in order to get a front row view of the parade. I was especially surprised since it was so hot. The pavement was very hot, too. Most of them did have sun umbrellas up to keep the sun off but it must have been a long time to wait, roasting away there on the hot pavement. This scene was repeated before each parade and it seemed that most people were there by themselves and this was their way of enjoying Disneyland. Spending 2 or 3 hours "waiting", keeping their spot, alone, so no toilet breaks so they could enjoy the best view of the parade that I have a feeling they had seen many times before.

The lunch time parade, Amelia's favourite: Rapunzel.

Since the park was not crowded that day, rocking up to the parade route (especially in the critter country area) just as it started, we were able to get great vantage points all three times. I also think the terrace seating of the restaurants in Tomorrowland would have been great if you just want to see it go by and don't need to be right in the front.

In order to make the parades a bit more enjoyable, definitely take a ground sheet with you, just big enough for everyone to sit on. I got mine from the 100 yen shop. It will save you getting dirty and if it's hot or cold, provide insulation. I also bought some fold up squabs (also 100 yen shop) to save getting sore bums during long waits. My daughter loved them.

Riding on the tea cups, a Disneyland must do.

Another way I noticed that people were enjoying Disneyland was to go dressed exactly alike. I wish I had asked some of them to let us take their picture but the link will show you lots of good photos of what I'm talking about. I totally didn't realise this was a thing. I even saw one couple dressed as Chip and Dale, in actual squirrel suits (and it was like 30 degrees). Disneyland is kind of like a parallel universe where that is totally ok.

There are some good tips on this blog post about visiting the Disney resort. And this post tells you how to avoid busy days, using the busy day calendar. I have found that week days in June tend not to be so busy as it's not summer holidays and most schools have already done their school trips by then (Yep Disneyland is a totally valid destination for a school trip!). The only problem is it is the rainy season so you might get rained on like we did last year (stock up on raincoats whilst you are at the 100 yen shop, too). This year it was fine but hot. If you can avoid the weekends, definitely go on a week day. On weekends you will be waiting for 3 hours for popular rides, very little bang for your buck there.

The obligatory photo in front of the castle

Also, there are perfectly good water fountains that dispense cold water after a few seconds all through the park, so when I ran out I just filled mine up again. I'm not sure why you would pay Disney prices to buy a bottle of water, but even on the very hot day we went we never saw other people using the fountains.

Also as you enter the park, there is a very nice shaded area on the far left, near the bus stops, with picnic tables where you could have a picnic if you wanted to avoid crazy Disneyland prices. You can get a stamp on your arm to re-enter the park as well, so getting on the Monorail or walking back to Maihama station area, there are some nice restaurant options for lunch or dinner in the Ikspiari shopping mall.

The restaurant area of our hotel, behind the trees at the back is a huge queue of people waiting for their turn to have breakfast at 9:30 in the morning.

We elected to stay the night as we wanted to see the night parade, fireworks and projection mapping show and then getting back on a bus home again would have been a bit much and meant getting home at 1am....

We stayed at the Tokyo Bay Maihama Hotel, which was nice and very close to the parks. I was also happy it had a Japanese style bathroom in our room! My only disappointment was that when we went down to have breakfast, which was included in our room rate, there was a huge queue of people waiting to be seated. We waited for over 30 minutes. When we finally got to sit down, the queue had doubled in length and there was less than an hour to go for breakfast...I would not pay extra for that breakfast buffet either. Definitely go to the convenience store in the hotel and buy some bread or rice balls instead. Or get on the free bus to Maihama station and get something at the mall or station.

We found this great photo op at the Disney Store in Ikspiari Shopping mall at Maihama station. No queues, and someone was there to take photos, too!

All in all it was a fantastic trip. I'll need a few days to recover!

Gaijin Housewife Online Ikebana Course! UPDATED

2016-06-17T14:50:00.003+09:00

Well I've been working on this for a while. Mostly working on my courage to actually do it. But I have started my very first ikebana course for beginners.

Now, all I need is some students! That's where you come in!

We'll be making arrangements like this

Not like this, this is reaaaally difficult

One day you'll be able to make something like this, in my Intermediate course

This course is being run for the first time ever, so this time there is no charge. (Yep totally free). I am accepting ~~3 more people~~ 1 more person to the course, to keep it cosy and so I don't get too overwhelmed.

We will be using Facebook, so you will need to be active on there to take part.

You will also need:

A pair of flower scissors
A pin holder (available from Amazon or Amazon Japan if not your local garden center)
Some flowers, though not many since with ikebana less is more.

Each Friday I will be uploading a video and some photos so you will be able to see how we make the arrangement. Then it's your turn. When you are done, snap a few pics and share them on our private (actually SECRET) group so the other members can see what you've done and we can all learn and be motivated. Sounds a bit scary, sharing your photos with others, but I assure you it's super fun to see what other people have made and you will be amazed how different everyone's is.

So to join, all you need to do is go to my Facebook page and PM me, saying "I'd like to join the course!". The first week starts today, but you can join in any time between now and June 23rd, 2016.

So go on! click the link and join up. I guarantee in a month's time you will be a flower arranging ninja....just kidding, but you will be way better than you are now!

Here's a sneak peak of what we are making this week:

Looks difficult right? Well it's not if you know where to start and I show you how in my videos. So come join me and let me help you on your way to being a flower arranger extraordinaire!

Japanese Tea Ceremony: Try this at home!

2016-06-13T14:44:00.001+09:00

Today I was lucky enough to be invited to my friend Junko's house for a tea ceremony experience.
Here we are trying to do it on video for you as I think its way easier to get a feel for how to do it through video. Please bear with the quality of it and my son popping in out and at one point grabbing the iPad and trying to make a run for it.

Junko is a very busy woman and lives with her husband's grandmother, mother, father and their 4 children...That's 9 people in one house! But today the house was quiet when my son and I visited and we were treated to an experience of Japanese "Omotenashi", or hospitality.

The Gogatsu (May) Doll was still out on display, especially for us to enjoy. These mini samurai suits of armor are for "Children's Day" on May 5th. Hugo, is a bit scared of them and eyed it dubiously. So I didn't have to worry about him touching them!

Tea ceremony is usually held in a "Cha shitsu", which is a small room especially for tea ceremony but today we used the Japanese room in her house that has rice mat flooring and low table.

Anyone can enjoy tea ceremony if you can get your hands on some powdered match and a tea whisk, and of course you need the sweets. They are just as important.

Here are some of the things that are used:

A tea scoop, called a "cha shaku", a whisk called a "cha sen" and a tea bowl which is usually some kind of pottery that matches the season, either in colours/design or shape.

Junko showed me how she sifts the powder (using a tea strainer) before she puts it in the special pot used during the tea making. That ensures there are no lumps.

Then she served me the sweets. While I enjoyed them she made the tea. 2 small scoops of powder with about 100 mls of hot water at 80-90 degrees. Then whisked until it gets frothy. I'm sure there is a knack to getting the froth just right, but if you whisk however you want to it will taste the same.

The bowl is present with the "front" towards you so you can admire it. Then hold the bowl in the palm of your left hand, use the right hand to turn it clockwise two times so the front is facing outwards away from you and drink 3 big sips. When you are finished turn it two more times and the bowl will be facing to the front again and you can enjoy it. The bowl front and back all looked the same to me, I guess once you can tell the difference, you have officially "arrived" as tea ceremony insider.

The tea is bitter, but the sweets that I had just eaten were very sweet so the two balanced each other perfectly and my mouth had almost no leftover bitter or sweet taste, just harmony with the hint of matcha.

I asked Junko, why a mother of 4 who has to cook dinner for 9 people every night, would do tea ceremony. Surely there must be other things to do, like sleeping, taking a shower.

She said that it is a time to forget about everything else that is going on (with 4 kids that would surely be a lot), and to just focus on the act of making and drinking the tea. Time slips away when she is doing that and afterwards she feels refreshed. This sounds very familiar to me as I often have the same experience when I'm doing ikebana. So I think the busier you are, the more important it is to make time to do these kinds of activities.

I also asked her how often she invites her friends over to have a tea ceremony. "Never!", she said. This was the first time for her to show her skill to someone and we had so much fun, she realised she should try to do it more often. Tea ceremony has a reputation for being so serious but really I think you can make it a fun thing to do with friends.

Friday Flowers: Birthday Flowers for my Daughter

2016-06-10T08:00:00.000+09:00

My daughter turns 5 today. What a fast 5 years it has been since she was born in NZ, not that long after the massive triple disaster we had here in Fukushima and Tohoku.

If we were in NZ she would be starting school, and it would all be such a big exciting birthday but since we are in Japan she is already in kindergarten which is just like school really (9-2pm) so there is nothing new for us as we did that last April.

But to celebrate her birthday this year, we (just my daughter and I) are off to Tokyo Disneyland for the day and staying the night there! I am so looking forward to it being just the two of us for a change. My husband will be on duty with DS until we get back on Saturday evening.

Getting to Disneyland from here involves getting up at 4:30am (me) so we can get to bus stop by 5:15am to get on the bus which will (traffic permitting) get us there in time for when the gates open at 9am. It's going to be a biiig day. I'm sure there will be some exhaustion vomiting at some point (always happens when DD gets really tired, just please not on the bus).

So since we are going to be away from home on her actual birthday, I decided to make a special flower arrangement for her a few days beforehand so we (me too!) could enjoy it before we went away.

This time I decided to go with lots of pinks since she, very stereotypically, loves pink. I was wondering how the different shades of pink would look together, but I think it turned out pretty well.

I used floral foam for this arrangement and a glass vase, as I love to use glass in summer. It's so much cooler to look at than porcelain or other opaque materials. Really!

She was so excited when she came home from school and saw it. She even said "Thank you for making the pretty flowers for me Mummy". Aww.

My ikebana course will be starting on the 17th of June, 2016. I have 3 places left for members of my mailing list. If you'd like to try your hand at beginner's ikebana, enter your email below to find out more details.

5 reasons why you won't lose that extra weight this year

2016-06-06T20:35:00.002+09:00

This is the new me, 10 kilos down, almost the same weight as my son is now.

Today, I'd like to bring up 5 reasons why you won't lose weight this year. There are probably more, but I think these are pretty common among most people.

Also, thank you for all the positive comments and words of encouragement that you have all sent me on my Facebook page! I was so overwhelmed by it. It was really scary for me to hit publish on my weight loss success story post where I shared my heaviest weight ever and my current weight with the whole internet. I know it struck a chord with so many people and they were inspired by what I wrote. I also imagine that inspiration has probably worn off today and you are back to where you were before. So I just thought I would write this follow up post and then I will shut up about it. So bare with me! Let's get to it!

1. You are your own worst enemy

Perhaps like myself, you like to get things done. You don't like to ask for help or find it incredibly difficult. In particular asking for help with something as personal as losing weight and all the excess baggage that we are carrying around about that is a real challenge. I know that the people at MBT who have helped me consider it a privilege to help people on their way to becoming a new and better version of themselves. So if that is the reason you are not losing weight, why not do something different (cause everything else hasn't worked or you wouldn't be reading this post), even if it scares the pants off you. Actually, in this case, if it scares the pants off you there is a very good chance that this is exactly what you need to do.

My favourite "diet" meal is breaded oven baked pork cutlet with shredded cabbage. I still get to eat my favourite foods.

2. You know how to diet, you know everything there is to know about eating healthily.

Also like myself, you might have a LONG history of dieting and know everything there is to know about eating well. You probably think that there is nothing left for you to learn. I would say, yes certainly you probably do know everything you need to know, so why aren't you doing it again?
Er, yes, we need HELP. Losing weight is not something that can be done with sheer will power. I've also tried that and fallen off the wagon after 2 weeks or so pretty much every time. Finally this time I found out WHY I'm eating and now I have a waay better relationship with food. I used to be constantly hungry, constantly thinking about food, constantly hovering around the fridge and I just thought, this is just the kind of person I am. Turns out, that was total rubbish. Now I have established new habits that serve me much better than my old self destructive ones.

3. You think you don't deserve to have money spent on you to improve your health

This is another mistaken idea I have had for a long time that I thought of as a BADGE OF HONOR. Oh look at me! I don't WASTE money on going to a gym/using a personal trainer I walk my dog! I play with my kids! I go hiking! That is all well and good but pretty much anything you seriously want to improve about yourself is going to cost you money unless there is some other reason like your life or a loved one's is in danger or something scary like that. This is especially true for people (also like myself) who are obligers and need external expectations to get things done. (Seriously go take the quiz, it will give you loads of info about yourself that you probably didn't quite realise before).

4. You think you can't live without your ..(insert thing you really need to give up here: wine/lattes/ice cream).

I think it's true that the thing we feel like we just can't live without is the thing we most need to give up or should I say "be free from". "Give up" sounds a bit depressing, freeing yourself from something is infinitely more appealing. For me it was potato chips and more recently milky coffee. Now I eat nuts instead of chips and I take my coffee black, no sugar. Yowza! How on earth did I do that? Baby steps, gradually and with the help of my MBT coach who believed in me, I stopped flavouring my milk with a few splashes of coffee ; ) I challenge you to give up your wine or your bagel or whatever it is that first comes to mind that you simply "CAN'T" give up. See how you go for a week. It took me 3 days to get through to my brain that we don't do that anymore. 2 weeks later its as if I never even did it.

5. You've always been fat. You are just meant to be this way.

This was my mistaken assumption. I thought my "natural weight" was in the mid 70s for a long time. Then it was the high 60s. Now I'm on the verge of cracking the 50s! Please don't write yourself off just because you have up to now always been a certain weight or a certain type of person.
(I was the person who was always eating, always hanging around the pantry, always finishing my food, eating the kids leftovers, always avoiding activities because of lack of energy or confidence).

Did any of these sound familiar to you? I hope you will realise that there is another possible future for you free from all the things you dislike most about yourself.
If you'd like to ask me anything, please leave a comment below or contact me on Facebook.

And if you do decide to get out there and try something new, like MBT make sure you come back and tell me about it. I'd love to hear from you!

Want to hear more from Gaijin Housewife?

My weightloss story: How I lost those pesky last 10 kilos with My Body Tutor - Review

2016-06-02T21:16:00.000+09:00

Before shot is December 2015, After June 1st 2016

This little story (and my review of My Body Tutor) starts back in January 2016. I had been watching my weight slowly go up with increasing distress. Surely, with all the walking I did, this shouldn't be happening!

I'm going to talk numbers here.

First time I realised I was overweight: 7 years old

Years since then I have been overweight or even obese: 30 years

Highest weight ever reached (during pregnancy 1) 92 kilos

Highest non pregnancy weight 87 kilos (not long after coming to Japan...hello stress eating)

Post baby 1 weight loss attempt (Weight watchers online) down to 65 kilos then back up to 68.

Post baby 2 weight loss attempt (Weight watchers online) 68 kilos.

Then I got up to 70 kilos again and I was just sick of myself. Over Christmas I was packing away the chocolates every day (in my tummy that is). Why was I doing this? It didn't even seem to make me feel better/fuller/more satisfied. I would put the kids to bed at night or down for a nap and then stand in front of the pantry and look for something to munch on. I would eat a whole big bag of potato chips because I liked the crunchy feeling in my mouth...

I started the couch to 5k (C25K) programme, hoping that some serious exercise would help me. Nope. My weight just kept going up.

So in January, 2016 I was reading Gretchen Rubin's book, Better than Before. I'm a big fan of hers so anything she recommends, I know must be good. I came across My Body Tutor (MBT) for the first time there. I thought this is exactly what I need. My own personal tutor who will read my food reports every day and give me feed back on every single meal and snack, every work out. I can do amazing things when other people expect it from me, but am useless trying to do stuff for myself. Sound familiar?

After my initial euphoria of finding a programme that might finally work for me, even though I live in Japan, my doubts quickly crept in:

Do I deserve at personal tutor?

It's too much money to spend on myself.

What if I fail?

I have two small kids, no time to do this.

I don't want to spend money on losing weight.

I've never been slim, my body is just made to be overweight.

So I emailed Adam. Yes, I contacted the FOUNDER of MBT and got a response almost straight away. I obviously was not the first person to be a fence sitter about joining. For me the money thing was a big hurdle. Not that I didn't have it, but I couldn't see the value of spending it on myself to improve my health and wellness. Coffees at Starbucks, clothes, trips to Disneyland all way more important....

In the end, with pretty much a feeling of terror, I did sign up. Why the terror? Adam is such a kind and genuine person I should have been falling over myself to sign up. Taking those first steps was so scary. I am also my own worst enemy sometimes and asking for help is a huge issue for me. But as Adam gently reminded me, what I had done so far had not worked, so maybe it was time to do it differently. Hell yes! It certainly was!

Adam personally picked my tutor from his team. My tutor is Nikki, she is the Tigger to my Eeyore and without her supporting and challenging me, my weight loss over the last 4 months would not have been possible. At the time I didn't realise there is a page where you can go to see all the tutors' profiles, but after I heard that Nikki was in charge of me I went in and read them all. Adam had definitely picked the person who was the best fit for me.

The first week was the hardest for me. My body had to get used to the MBT way of eating, which meant a few challenging experiences. At those times I would email Nikki for help. She would reply as soon as she could with suggestions on how I could get through a tough craving or whatever it was that was too much for me to face alone. Now this way of eating has become automatic and I rarely need to use my willpower at all (which we only have finite amounts of and why diets usually only last about 2 weeks).

Over the last 4 months I totally changed HOW I eat and my relationship with food.

Now I focus on eating lean sources of protein FIRST, lots of veggies, I focus on how eating this food is going to make me feel in a few hours, cause we all know that saying "A moment on the lips..."

I figured out that I am a total stress eater and so now I just chew gum and get the same effect without the calories.

I've gotten smaller and my son bigger! It's nice not to have to carry that extra 10 kilos around all day!

So now,

I am 60 kilos. Ok, 60.2 kilos to be exact and I just got back from two weeks holiday and am back to my pre-holiday weight already.
I completed my first ever 5k a couple of months ago (I have always been a non sports person). That was without running every day. 2-3 times a week max. I did not go to a gym once. I walk my dog twice a day IN ADDITION to the running.
I now eat low-carb and I am less hungry and more energetic than I have ever been, probably since I was 7.
I have stopped thinking about food all the time. I don't hang around the pantry. I feel like I am finally cured of all the things I hated about myself.
I have freed myself from potato chips. From sugar cravings and the guilt that I felt when I had overeaten again.
When I go out with friends and an amazing looking piece of cake that I will remember in 2 weeks time comes along, I can enjoy it like I never could before.

I also opened this jar of peanut butter around the time I started MBT. Now I have eaten my way through 2.4 kilos of peanut butter over 4 months but am still 10 kilos lighter. My fav snack is no longer a whole bag of potato chips but peanut butter with carrot sticks.

Here are some other great things that have happened since I started my journey with MBT.

I re-started my blog that I used to love but had no energy for
I started an online business with my sister and am now officially an "entrepreneur"
I rekindled my passion for ikebana and flower arrangement. Suddenly I now have an interest in this again and the energy to do it
People have told me that I am much happier and brighter/more cheerful than before
Oh yeah and I look the best I have ever looked in my entire life at the age of 36.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have about my MBT or how I went about losing weight. But I just want to say this. I have been on a diet of some kind for most of my life, some worked some didn't but none of them stuck. Working with MBT has been the most effective weightloss programme I have ever used. Not only have they helped me to get the weight off, but I now have the tools and the confidence to keep it off.

Did this strike a chord with you? Go on just contact Adam, let him help you. You will be glad you did. Tell him I sent you.

Rebuild Fukushima Series: The Abukuma Caves

2016-05-31T05:58:00.003+09:00

It's been a while since I did a "Rebuild Fukushima"post. This time I won't be introducing something new、like my trip to Wonder Farm, rather something very very old. The Abukuma Caves, or あぶくま洞. The Abukuma caves are located 15 minutes drive from the Ono interchange of the Banetsu Highway. You can also get there by taking the Banetsutou line train （磐越東線） from Koriyama or Iwaki and get off at Kanmata station (神俣駅）and take a taxi for 5 minutes or so.

I've lived in Fukushima for nearly 15 years now and not once have I made the 1.5 hour trip out to see the caves. I'm so glad I finally went! It's always like that though isn't it, never get around to being a tourist in your own back yard, and well, to be honest, many touristy things in Japan can be pretty...well...crap. Soo many times I've been to a "tourist attraction", to find it incredibly disappointing and loads of people there for some reason. I often leave those places wishing I could have that time back! But not yesterday!

It could be that I like caves. For some reason I suddenly realised this when we were walking through the cave yesterday. I found it so calming and peaceful...well apart from being there with my two children (nearly 5 and nearly 2) who were actually fairly terrified, it was very peaceful.

The Abukuma caves are limestone caves inside a massive cliff that towers above you when you arrive. The entrance to the cave is down quite a long path with lots of stairs. There are a lot of stairs (and water) throughout the whole system, so it's not the place to go if you have a heart condition or are wearing open toed heels (like someone I saw there!). Inside the cave it's 15 degrees all year round. Outside it was about 25, so if was like walking into a fridge for the first few minutes, but we quickly got used to it and I think 15 degrees might be my new favourite temperature. Caves are made by water slowly eroding the limestone, so there is a lot of water dripping on your head, on the floor etc. They have done a great job of making it fairly non-slippery, but for little kids it was a bit of a challenge and some of the stairways were pretty steep, narrow and wet. But for your average person not a problem as long as you watch your step.

We were able to see their current special exhibition in the cave, they have put up a bunch of lights, decorated some fake flowers, piped in some really loud music and tried to make it a bit romantic. My kids LOVED it. They went from being a bit scared to feeling like they were in Disneyland or something...then back to being scared again. It was a bit of fun and I loved that the staff had gone to the extra length of providing a tripod for people to use to take their own photos. Very thoughtful indeed.

Everyone looking thrilled at being underground.

It takes about 30-40 minutes to walk through and there is an extra adventure section you can go through which costs 200 yen more payable to a man sitting at a little booth at the entry point, but you must be 7 or older to go in there. The regular course was plenty adventurous for us. There are staff stationed throughout the cave, which is also really nice and emergency exits were well marked. They even have a bit of a wine cellar going on in there, bottles can be purchased at the gift shop at the exit.

The beautiful pond, complete with peeing boy statue.

Once you complete your trip through the cave, you come out into the open to a beautiful pond with lots of very energetic carp swimming around, waiting for you to buy some food which is for sale to feed them. There is also a small restaurant for those wanting lunch but we decided to pack our own and were very impressed with the amount of picnic tables in the shade, some looking out over the valley. So we had a great lunch with a fantastic view.

In a few more weeks the lavender garden will also be in full bloom, so that would be nice to be able to see too. Next to the cave is the Star Village Observatory, which we didn't visit this time as we were done for the day by the time we had done the cave, had lunch and a few goes on the slide in the park.

I think the Abukuma Caves have seen better days considering the size of the parking lot and the lack of cars there on a beautiful Sunday in May. Take advantage of their printable coupon and get 200 yen off your entry for every adult by showing it at the ticket office and filling out the one question survey at the bottom which says: Which prefecture are you from?

If you are in Fukushima and have half a day to spare, want to escape the summer heat? The Abukuma caves are the place to go!

As a side note, we went there in a 3 door Mini we had borrowed for the weekend. Here is Hugo in the back seat, sitting behind DH who is very tall and has his seat pushed almost right back. We were surprised how much space there is in the back. The kids loved climbing into the back too.

5 minutes into the trip home! Out to it! One happy Mummy who....

Stopped at the next convenience store (there are 3 in the Abukuma caves area), Family Mart for an iced coffee for me and DH to sip in peace on the way home. All in all a fantastic day out.

The Japanese kindergarten trip: What to know before you go

2016-05-27T13:22:00.001+09:00

We have just come back from an "ensoku" ”遠足” or a school trip with my daughter's kindergarten. This was my second time to go and so I was a lot more expert than a year ago when we went for the first time and I felt, again, that there was some memo I didn't get. There was no actual memo, it's just that gaijin sometimes/often have no idea what the unwritten rules are in Japan.

Psychedelic pattern is the cover on the bus curtain!

So here are a few tips to make your first school trip go more smoothly and help you feel less like an alien who just dropped in from another galaxy.

The ground sheet

In Japan, picnics are often done on a blue plastic sheet or tarpaulin. For school trips, it's not really the done thing to bring along the blue plastic sheet. It needs to a be not too big (this is Japan there are guaranteed to be loads of people there and not enough space), and it should be cute. Some kind of decoration on it. Like this picnic sheet. Last year I took a beach mat that I have from when I lived in Germany. It was all wrong. This year we took a "Frozen " one and a "Disney " one and were at one with the crowd.

The bento

Make sure to check if there are any rules about lunch at your kindergarten, though you probably know them already from making bentos every week for your kids. Some kindergartens have all school lunch so it might be your first bento making experience. Some kindergartens are staunch: "Must all be home made food, no frozen stuff!", some are "Whatever you wanna give your kids is fine with us, even stuff with peanuts or loaded with corn syrup!". Make sure you have more than enough for your own family. Last year I just made a regular bento and my daughter seemed to want more so got another rice ball from a friend's mother! I was mortified. But she was well prepared. I looked like a stinge.

The snacks

I was also unaware the first time round that there would be a "snack exchange". You bring along lots of great goodies to snack on but make sure they are individually wrapped and shareable. Today I also didn't quite get it right. Well I did remember to go along armed with individually packaged cookies for my daughter to share with her friends at lunch. In return she got quite a few different things ranging from rice crackers, to candy, gummis and chocolate (all individually packaged of course), which she was ecstatic about. But when we got on the bus to go home a second round of snack swapping started up (All the other mothers suddenly brought out bags of candies they must have had stashed for just this occasion!)but I was all out. Luckily my daughter wasn't excluded and wouldn't have let herself be either, but I felt like I had missed the memo the locals all got again. Once again, bring more than you think you will need. Do not bring home made stuff to share. Nobody wants your home baked cookies, no matter how amazing they are. They could be poisoned you see. Japanese people prefer to give store bought things to other people so in the unlikely event that someone gets sick, you can blame the company that made the food.

The commemorative photo

You may be going to a park or a zoo or a factory or some other (possibly underwhelming) place, and there is bound to be a commemorative photo taken, so be aware of that! I knew that there would be a photo taken today, but I didn't realise I would actually also be in it. I thought it was just the kids. One word: Hat hair.

Find your pack

Today, we were taken by bus to a zoo. Once there we there, we could look around by ourselves. Everyone quickly formed their packs, actually ours had already been formed on the bus. Luckily we had a pack to walk around the zoo with. The only ones who were lone wolves were the fathers who had come along with their children and didn't know any of the other parents (and probably felt a bit uncomfortable hanging out with all women, just my guess) since they are not usually involved in the kindergarten activities from week to week.

The appropriate greeting

You are back from the trip, the next time you see your mama friends at kindergarten it's "この間お疲れさまでした！”、"Kono aida otsukaresama deshita". Which very roughly translates in this case to : That was a good trip the other day. If someone says that to you, the reply is お疲れさま！or お疲れさまでした！＋ a comment on the day like: What a fun trip it was/It was such a hot day!/My kids were exhausted, how about yours etc.

I hope this will help you have a stellar first school trip with your kids.

May your children fall asleep on the bus home!

Our day out at the horrible little zoo we go to every year was so much fun for my children if not so much for me. But they were absolutely hypo on the bus on the way home due to excitement of being on a big bus with their friends and having consumed a large quantity of junk food. (I had been having fantasies of them both passing out 2 minutes into the trip home and me sipping my coffee and reading blogs on my ipod all the way....). Luckily they did both pass out 2 minutes after getting back into my car and so I took a detour through the Starbucks drive thru (Thank you universe for drive thrus so mummies can get a caffeine hit without leaving sleeping kids unattended in cars). And FINALLY got my chance to sip my coffee and read blogs on my ipod outside 7-11 using their free wifi which reaches to the car park whilst they snored their heads off.

Let me know what advice you would add to this. Do Japanese school trips sound better or worse than the ones in your country? I'd love to hear your comments!

Let me introduce you to one of my readers: Hannah chan

2016-05-22T22:32:00.002+09:00

You may have heard of "san" being used in Japan like Mr or Mrs in English. Chan is what we attach to the end of people's names who are dear/familiar to us or younger than us. There is also sama for revered people (My husband calls me Jayne sama for a bit of a joke), kun for boys/men only but chan can also be used.

Well I have been back blogging now for just a few months, but not long after I started back, Hannah started following me on Facebook and reading my blog. Since I lost a lot of my regular readers, I was very grateful to know there was someone out there reading what I was posting.

Hannah lives in the UK, but loves Japan.

I was very chuffed that she had taken the time to read a lot of posts on my blog and take the time to comment on my Facebook page.

Then, one day I noticed that Hannah has her own Etsy shop.

PaperDaisyCo　is the shop's name and you can find the cutest handmade cards made with washi tape.

What is washi tape?

It's that really cool decoration tape you find in craft stores with all kinds of patterns and "washi"　”和紙” is "wa" or "和" which means "Japanese" and "shi" or "紙"　which means paper. So it's Japanese paper, made from fibers such as bamboo, hemp, rice and so on, which someone had the great idea to make into colourful tape. And Hannah loves it. Please go and have a look at her creations. This is just the kind of card I would want to get for my birthday.

I'm always curious to know how other people find their passions and start their own businesses so I did a little interview.

Why did you decide to start a card making business?

I have always loved making cards for friends and family and it has always been a hobby of mine to create homemade cards. When I discovered Etsy as a craft website and saw what beautiful things people were creating I thought I'd give it a go and put some of my creations on there.

I notice you use washi tape, where did you get your inspiration for that from?

I had never heard of washi tape before we actually visited Japan back in 2013. We went to Tokyu Hands (department store) and I was in complete awe standing in the stationary section looking at all the beautiful tapes, wrapping paper, pens and materials. I only bought a few tapes and materials with the plan to use them for cards I make for family and friends. When I returned home, I had 3 birthday cards to make for my Mum, my brother and sister who are all born on the same date! I used the tape to create 3 different cards. When I gave the cards to my family they were so impressed, they convinced me to start selling them so I discovered Etsy and that's how it all started. I love working with washi. I try my best to get it from Japan and use tapes that are made in the traditional way using rice or hemp as the base of the tapes. In the UK washi tapes have become very popular over the last few years but they tend to be cheap versions from China. I can't wait for our next trip to Japan where I can stock up on some supplies.

What goals do you have for your card making business?

In terms of goals I have had my little online shop for over a year now and I am really happy it just steadily gets sales. It is a hobby of mine and as I am so busy with other work commitments I love making the odd card or creation. I had started to think about making cards to be sold locally in shops but i want to keep it as a passion rather than turn it into work for now. I was very successful with doing craft fairs and Christmas Markets in 2015 so that is certainly something I will look into for this year too!

Thanks for answering my questions, Hannah.
The thing I love about Hannah's cards is when you see them, you can tell they have been made with love. This year my "word of the year" is "Creativity", so I really want to support people who are also out there making things.

It is also fascinating to me how Japanese things, like washi tape, cosplay, karaoke spread to other countries. I have lived here for so long now (14 years!) that I get a bit confused about what the outside world or "gaikoku" "外国" is like these days.

The world is certainly a lot more global than it was when I came here. Back then it was a huge adventure to go to Japan. Now pretty much everyone is doing it. Yay. There is so much to love about Japan, I'm glad that it's becoming a place that people are finally starting to visit in great numbers. I hope you'll be able to get back here again soon Hannah!

Friday Flowers: Another arrangement challenge

2016-05-20T14:14:00.002+09:00

Due to being away on holiday, its been a few weeks since I managed to do some flower arrangement. Today is Friday, so as an end of week treat to myself, I set off on an adventure with my son, Hugo in tow to a new flower shop I have never visited before.

The staff at Aoyama Garden Flower were outside when I got there and immediately made me feel very welcome. They have two poodles, Choco and Hana (flower) who were running around but so well behaved compared to my own little fur ball, Sebastian.

Hugo loved patting them whilst he waited for me to get what I wanted.

I'm always a bit nervous when I go to a totally new store here in rural Japan. Sometimes people freak out when I show up as they think they have to speak English and so are a bit scared to talk to deal with me as they would a regular customer. But not so today, yay.

Today my mission was to get some flowers for an arrangement for the English school where I work. My boss gave me a budget of 2000 yen ($NZ 25, $US 18), which isn't that much when you want to create an arrangement that is not ikebana. Luckily when I was telling a neighbour I was going to do an arrangement for my school today, she gave me some beautiful yellow roses out of her garden, too.

So here is what I started with.

This arrangement will go on a coffee table and be viewed from all sides so it's necessary to make it pretty from all angles. That is a bit for tricky than just a front view one.

The colour combination is totally crazy but I think it works!

I'd love to see what you have all be making, post your latest flower arrangements on my Facebook page!

Wanna be able to do this too? You totally can!

Join my email list and keep up to date with news about my upcoming online flower arrangement course:

Travelling by Budget Airline with Kids?: What to know before you go

2016-05-16T13:31:00.002+09:00

I've just come back from a week away in Australia with my DH (Darling Husband), DD (Darling Daughter, 4) and DS (Darling Son, nearly 2). We went to the Gold Coast and met up with my family who came over from New Zealand for a week of sunshine, shopping, fun parks, swimming and even a bit of sand.

Hugo thrilled to be allowed to play iPad. We save it for really special occasions like long haul flights, long distance car rides.

For me this was the first time to use a budget airline (BA), in this instance Jetstar. It's the only airline that flies direct from Narita to the Gold Coast and for us, no connecting flights was a must with my son in tow. Since I'm used to flying to New Zealand which is 11 hours, an 8 hour flight sounded like a piece of cake and it certainly was nice to only have to fly 8 hours. However, there are few things that you should do to make flying a BA like Jetstar more pleasant without having to shell out even more money.

Check In Early

When we arrived at Narita, 2 hours before our flight, there was already a HUGE, very very slow moving line of people waiting to check in. There were only 3 desks checking in our whole flight that day. I'm not sure if this is standard or if it was just a low staff day or something. But that was painful for us to have to wait in that line, at dinner time. On the way back, we were at the airport very early and were the first in line to check in. Waiting 10 minutes for check in to start was much more relaxing than being at the end of a huge hardly moving queue. So just beware that BAs might not have so many people checking people in as a regular one.

Request Your Seats

Which brings me to my next point. If you are travelling with someone under 2, even if they are too big for the bassinet, you can still request the bassinet row when you book ( I did this by online chat), and then just make sure you ask again when you check in early at the airport. If your kids are a bit older, booking the seats at the bulk head even if you have to pay extra could be a huge benefit on longer flights. You can't be sure of getting them, but it certainly doesn't hurt to try.

Bring Empty Water Bottles

Liquids in carry on luggage are subject to restrictions but empty water bottles are not. You will be able to take empty plastic bottles with you into the international departures area and then fill them at a drinking fountain, which there is usually at least one of. I was under the impression that there was a fountain on the plane too but we never found it, though we had enough with us to survive the 8 hour flight. Just. On a BA, you will probably get zero attention from the flight attendants unless you want to buy something, so it pays to be prepared.

Bring More Food Than you Think You Will Need

If you are not going to take advantage of meals that you have to pay extra for, then bringing your own is totally fine. We packed all our own food and I thought we had loads of food, but when you are sitting on a plane and there isn't much to do, having a snack is one way to pass the time. Also if your plane is delayed like ours was you have to watch that you don't get caught short around meal times. Our flight was supposed to arrive before 7pm but didn't get in until after 8pm and was 8:30 by the time we got our luggage and into the arrivals area. Luckily at Narita's new BA terminal (Terminal 3), there are some good options for food and the exit route brings you past them as you leave the terminal, unlike Terminal 1 and 2 where you have to find your way up 3 levels to the departures area. So bring more than enough food.

Take Advantage of the Kid's Luggage Benefits

Travelling on Jetstar, you are able to take one piece of luggage that can be a car seat, portacot or stroller/pushchair. Even though my daughter is 4, the online Jetstar chat staff member assured me she was also entitled to an extra piece of luggage. So we took a push chair and my son's portacot. Both total life savers on our trip, the portacot saved us $140 in extra charges at our hotel for using theirs. Those pieces of luggage are not subject to weight limits like a suitcase, so we did stuff the empty spaces in the portacot with nappies on the way there and shopping on the way home.

All in all our flight was a pleasant one, made so by having enough food, being seated in the bulk head row and flying in low season. It was the first time I have flown with the kids and had my husband along to help, not sure I would fly alone again now!

I'd love to hear your tips for flying budget airlines! Please leave a comment!

Bento Recipe: Japanese style stewed pumpkin

2016-05-10T01:00:00.000+09:00

This recipe is one of my "go to" vegetable recipes for something to prepare for bento lunches.

You can make this anywhere in the world, as long as you can get your hands on pumpkin!

You will need:

1/4 of a small green pumpkin (I haven't tried it with other types but it could work)

a microwave proof bowl

1-2 table spoons of soy sauce (Japanese style like kikoman)

1/2 teaspoon of fish stock (I think chicken or vegetable would also work)

1 table spoon of mirin or failing mirin 1/2 table spoon of sugar and a table spoon of white wine

(These measurements are a rough guide, you may need to add or reduce the sugar/soy sauce depending on your own tastes, more can be added later so err on the side of caution).

Wash pumpkin, scoop out seeds, and cut into bite sized pieces.

Fill bowl with water to just under half way, then add soy sauce, stock and mirin or sugar and wine to the bowl and mix.

Place pumpkin in bowl with skin down, cover loosely with microwaveable food wrap and microwave until pumpkin cooked through. For me this takes about 7 minutes at 500 watts.

Once cooked, gently mix so flavours have a chance to soak into the pumpkin and if possible leave to stand for about 30 minutes before serving or even better eat it the next day in a bento like this one!

I'd love to see you bentos so please send me a photo on my Gaijin Housewife Facebook page.

Or why not join our Gaijin Housewife Community where we will be sharing all kinds of tips and information about Japanese life.

Want to keep up to date on Gaijin Housewife's Japanese recipes that you can cook anywhere in the world?

Japanese Kindergarten: Open lesson day or 授業参観

2016-05-03T01:00:00.001+09:00

I hope you enjoyed reading my guide to choosing a Japanese kindergarten.

Today I'm going to tell you a little bit about the "Open Lesson Day".

If your child has started kindergarten you might be wondering what they are doing there all day. I know I certainly did. Those first few weeks after my DD started and I no longer knew what she was doing every second, took some adjusting to.

Going along to the open lesson is a great way to see how the class works and what the kids get up to. I still have very little idea as my DS reports every day that they did "nothing special", but at least she seems to enjoy going to school and doing "nothing special" every day. .

When does it take place? What happens?

In my daughter's kindergarten, a few weeks after it starts for the new year, they have an open lesson where parents (though it is mostly mothers), come along and watch what happens in class. It is all very well choreographed in advance so the kids usually sing some songs and the teacher shows you the kinds of things they get up to on an average day and talks to the parents about various issues.

Video Cameras are usually OK, unless otherwise stated

DO NOT forget to bring your video camera/smart phone like I did. I didn't think it would be appropriate to be recording everything, but all of the other mothers had theirs out and so I had to do what I could with my very old school cell phone. Also bring your own "uwabaki" or indoor shoes/slippers preferably in a fashionable paper bag to put your own shoes in if leaving them outside the class is not an option.

The PTA Showdown

Now, be aware, that they may also choose the PTA representatives for the class after the lesson display. The open lesson is the "hook", if you will, to get everyone there. This involves all the parents sitting in the class, avoiding eye contact until someone breaks down and volunteers to do it. It is terribly uncomfortable, so if you don't want to or can't be on the PTA, do your best not to be chosen....That said, if there is a standoff that just goes on and on, rock scissors paper or "Janken" may be required to choose someone. This is my least favourite part of the whole year. However, if you do end up becoming part of the PTA, you will not be doing it all alone, like some of my friends in other countries have said happened to them. There are lots of people all doing it together - in very Japanese fashion. If you are chosen, you can still give your husband some of the responsibilities, too. That seems to be totally fine at my kindergarten, sometimes the mother will do it, sometimes the father.

What to wear on open lesson day.

I sometimes feel a bit confused as to what is the appropriate way to dress for various events at kindergarten. I don't want to stick out anymore than I already do as a foreigner, at least wearing appropriate clothing makes me feel a tiny wee bit less conspicuous.

I would go smart casual. Look like you have put in a little effort but not "Entrance Ceremony" level of wearing a cream coloured suit or anything.

Open lessons are really fun to watch and see your child's "at school" persona which is often different from at home. Enjoy!

Have I missed anything? Does your kindergarten in Japan do it differently? If so please leave a comment so we can all learn more!

Friday Flowers: Weeds and stuff I found around my neighbourhood

2016-04-29T08:00:00.000+09:00

This week's arrangements are brought to you buy "Stuff I found around my neighbourhood", many of the things are weeds that grow wild. The cost of today's arrangemenet: $0. I'm very lucky to live in such a green part of the city where in spring and summer there is no shortage of wild flowers and weeds that look a bit like flowers.

This time I made three small arrangements.

When you put them all together, they look like this:

They are all quite different and mismatched but I think that is definitely part of the charm. The vases are just 3 small white ones I got from the 100 yen shop a long time ago and have been gathering dust in my cupboard. Having 3 is the perfect number. Even though it's an odd number. Also the triangle shape that you make when you place the vases where you are going to display them, should be uneven. Not perfect distances from each other or in a straight line. That is the difference between ikebana and regular flower arrangement. Also notice the bits sticking out of each arrangement how they kind of reach out to the other ones. That helps to bring the whole arrangement together.

I hope you will give it a try. Please send me your photos to my Facebook page.

Also, if you would like to hear about my upcoming course for beginners in ikebana, please sign up for my newsletter:

Three things we can learn from the Kumamoto earthquakes

2016-04-27T15:18:00.002+09:00

My husband was telling me three things he had heard about on a podcast about the Kumamoto earthquakes the other day so I thought I would share it with you.

The top 5 things you can do to prepare for a natural disaster

2016-04-25T14:30:00.001+09:00

Japan has been in the news for earthquakes again, this time down in Kyushu in Kumamoto prefecture. The following information is particularly relevant for people living in Japan, but a lot of it still applies, wherever in the world you are.

Let me tell you a little story first. 5 years ago, on February 22^nd a terrible earthquake hit Christchurch in New Zealand. It killed 185 people. My relatives there told me about their experiences and of being without water and power for days. What really struck me was that Christchurch is not a place that was well known for earthquakes. I realised that if it could happen in Christchurch it could happen anywhere. Even here. So I went out and bought bottled water, emergency food, all the things I needed for my emergency kit.

Just over two weeks later, I got the chance to use it.

On March 11^th, a magnitude 9 earthquake struck off the coast of Miyagi at 14:46. Where I live in Fukushima, the earthquake was measured as a low 6 on the Japanese scale. I was driving my car, stopped, got out and could not stand up. I had to hold on to the side mirror. That was the start of a very long nightmare that I am sure you have seen a lot of coverage of on TV yourself. You can read more about my experience during that disaster here.

However there was a silver lining for me and my family. I was, thanks to my efforts less than two weeks earlier, prepared.

This blog post was made with the help of Emi, from Keiko san, a Facebook page and website to help foreign mothers in Japan. Emi is an illustrator and very kindly agreed to make the graphics for this post. Thank you Emi!

So how can you prepare for a natural disaster? It seems like a lot of work!

It certainly is hard work getting it sorted. But those things you prepare now will be so valuable if they are ever needed.
Bottles of drinking water when you've got no water supply? GOLD!

3 days of emergency food and water supplies.

This is the most important thing you can do. How many people are there in your family? You will need 4 litres /1 gallon of bottled water per day per person. That’s a lot of water. Start stocking up every time you go to the supermarket, buy another box. Babies and small children who need nappies in the family? Stock up on nappies and milk, don’t run low.

You can find more information about exactly what to prepare here. You also need to think about an evacuation backpack with portable supplies that each family member can grab as you dash out the door, if your house is in danger and you have to leave in a big hurry.

Make sure to buy food you actually will eat as you will need to refresh your stocks every 6 months or so. Also make sure to have some cash on hand, credit cards don’t work well in emergencies when phone lines and internet services are down.

Evacuation plan

Check the location of evacuation centres, escape routes.

If you live near the coast you will need to know where to go in the event of a tsunami. If you live near a river, this is also useful. Most elementary schools are designated as evacuation centres.

Transportation and planning your route home

Keep your car at least half full with petrol at all times. On the day the earthquake struck people were queuing at petrol pumps which quickly ran dry. I was blessed with having nearly a full tank as I had filled up 5 days earlier. Since then I have never let it go below half.

If you take public transport, plan your route home if the trains are stopped. Get a map, like this one like this one and walk the route home every 6 months or so to refresh your memory. Keep a pair of walking shoes at work, don't wanna have to do 10kms in heels!

Contacting family members

Decide in advance how you will make contact with your family.

As soon as the shaking stopped, I pulled out my phone and tried to contact my DH. No deal. EVERYONE was on their phones. By some stroke of luck my husband’s family got through and we could let them know we were OK. We had no internet at my house for a few days and the only way to communicate was through text messaging. Many cell phone providers have a message leaving service for its users to use in emergencies.

Get to know your neighbours.

In an emergency, they will be your first line of help. I was very thankful on that day that DH and I were not far from each other when the earthquake happened and were able to drive home together in convoy. Others I know had to wait for 5 hours for family members to walk home from their offices in Tokyo without any form of communication.

Here is what Nicole, mother of two in Tokyo had to say about her experience in the 2011 earthquake:

"I was grateful that we had stocked up on formula and nappies. I didn't need to buy any for a month, which was so lucky!! But now I always make sure to have at least 1-2 spare packs of nappies here.
Same goes for bottled water. We didn't have a lot back then and had to get friends to send it in from down south.
Also, my husband had to walk home for 5 hours in leather dress shoes from the office. A spare set of sneakers at work would have been a godsend for him as a Tokyo commuter. I used to carry a walking map of Tokyo in my handbag when commuting to the other side of Tokyo before I started working from home. My husband is raised here so he knows the city well but I would have been so lost if I had to walk home from the office. You can buy the maps in bookstores. Great to have in your bag and map out the best route home before hand.
It was awful that night with no phone communication with my husband. Not knowing if he was ok or how long it would take him. I am so glad it wasn't me out there though. I would have just been so scared. The idea of me walking for 5+ hours in a city where I am not so familiar with all the streets, with no phone and work shoes would have been too overwhelming".

Wow, THAT was a long post, but I really truly hope that you will do all of these things to take care of yourself and your family in the event of a natural disaster.
If you are still reading, thank you!

What else would you say was a strategy of importance for disaster preparation? Let me know in the comments.

Lastly, here are some useful links about disaster preparation in Japan:

What to do in an earthquake
Japanese phrases for emergency situations
Earthquake Early warning app
You can get up to date information on earthquakes in Japan here
English news from NHK
Press the 音声button on your TV remote to change to English on NHK news.

Disaster Preparation: Video

2016-04-24T15:37:00.003+09:00

Friday Flowers: The inline form

2016-04-22T08:02:00.000+09:00

This week I did one of my favourite arrangements in the Ohara style of Ikebana: Narabu katachi or the inline form.

This style of arrangement is supposed to recreate a field of flowers, and look like a picture. The flowers should not poke out too far in front of the vase but out to the side and back is fine.

You could just put them all in a vase like this.....

This week I will show you how I did it step by step. So you can try it yourself if you do have 3 pin holders and a long vase like this one. You could also use three small containers instead.

Since the roses are quite big, so I made them quite long to get some balance.

The middle one is the longest and then the rose on each side should be shorter and then even shorter.

Then I added the gerberas, the brighter colours look better down low.

Then it's just a matter of adding the filler flowers. Dark blue down low, light blue up high.

The finished product. I really like how looks like it could be a very beautiful flower field scene.

Please give it a go!

Ikebana: How did you get started?

2016-04-19T14:25:00.001+09:00

My relationship with ikebana started waaay back in 2003 I think - that's over 10 years ago now. I started out with ZERO skills or any knowledge of flowers. I think I knew the names of about 3 kinds of flowers (Roses, daffodils and tulips). I'm terrible at growing things, pot plants don't last in my home. All the signs were there that this would be a very quick and short foray into the world of Japanese flower arrangement.

This is me many moons ago doing ikebana.

My first class:

Luckily for me I had a very kind and patient teacher. She taught me in Japanese. That was a challenge in itself. But I pushed myself (it was a very uncomfortable learning curb those first few lessons) to go to the first few classes and then one day, I realised I was "on the other side".

Beauty in nature, the unbalanced and crazy colour combinations

Ikebana gave me an appreciation of nature that I never had before. The whole point of ikebana is to recreate nature. It also gave me an appreciation for colour combinations I never dreamed possible, for the beauty of the unbalanced. Yes! Unbalanced can be beautiful! Having flowers in your house is wonderful, but having beautifully arranged flowers is a whole another level of joy.

When you pick flowers from your garden and plonk them in a vase on a table, the effect is not quite there. When you get a beautiful bouquet of flowers, they really radiate happiness.

The Northern Japan Disaster interrupts my study, my daughter re-starts it

After the disaster on March 11th in 2011, my ikebana journey was put on hold. Obviously the trauma of it all gave me little taste for flower arrangement but I soon also had a brand new baby to deal with. Then another baby. Now my son is 1.5 and the baby brain fog is fading, I decided to restart my blog. I also decided to make an arrangement for Girl's Day for my daughter. She was SO thrilled with it. This was such a surprise for me as I never expected my children to get any benefit from personal hobby. I had actually done the flowers just for me. Her delight though was an added benefit. My son, 1.5 little Spiderman that he is also loves them. He doesn't talk much yet but he points and shrieks with excitement when he finds a new arrangement in our house.

This is the arrangement I made for Girl's Day. My DS loved it so much she had to do her "reading" in front of it.

So if you are thinking, yes I'd like to be able to do that too but I'm:

useless with flowers and creatively challenged
have no idea about flower arrangement
have small kids - surely they will destroy my arrangements (they won't)
am too busy to go to a class
don't have flowers in my garden (I have zero flowers, only weeds grow in my garden)

Then you can definitely do it! I'm giving you your permission slip. Here you are.

Watch this space, I'm busy creating something for my readers. I just need some time (which I have so very little of). But I promise it is coming. It helps that I've told you all that I'm going to do something. I like to keep my promises. Also, if you would like to see any of my videos I have made about how to do arrangements, you will get access to these, too.

Easy flower arrangement: Friday Flowers

2016-04-15T22:41:00.002+09:00

This time after being inspired by a few things I have seen on another blog post, I decided I would make an easy flower arrangement this week that anyone can do, even if you are "terrible at flower arranging".

So this week I am using some small chrysanthemums as they are so easy to get in the shops here. This is because they are used to decorate the family shrine in people's houses and are the "go to" flower for decorating graves. So they are not considered to be particularly fashionable here, but they do last a long time and are quite hardy. I'm also using carnations which to me seems old fashioned but they are also very popular at this time of year. Actually I'm really hoping to be able to get my hands on some of these Moondust carnations in the near future. They come in the most amazing shades of purple.

If you were wanting to try other flowers, ranunculus, roses, daisies all work, too. And some mystery grass type stuff, that I can't figure out what the name is. If anyone knows please help!

So here is the before photo. Looong stems. How many of you get the flowers at the supermarket, put them in a vase and your done? Sometimes, all that is needed is to cut a few flowers here and there and you will end up with a totally different and much more pleasing arrangement.

I started with the green chrysanthemums in the center, and then added the carnations around the outside in a row, then the in the next row, yellow chrysanthemums and then finally the mystery grass stuff. This kind of arrangement is also called a Victorian Posy. I secured it all with a rubber band before putting it in a jam jar with a ribbon for extra decoration.

I was really pleased with the finished product, even though I had never tried making one of these myself before.

If you would like to see how I made this, there is also a video. All my newsletter members will be receiving this soon!

If you would like to sign up for my Ikebana list and be first to hear about my upcoming course and get access to my "How to" videos, please join my list. You can unsubscribe easily anytime.

Also! I have started a group on Facebook called Gaijin Housewife Community. Come join us if you want to ask questions about Japan, show me what you have been making bento/flowers wise, talk about your fitness goals - it's a small group so no trolls! Yay!

Japanese Kindergarten: How do I choose one?

2016-04-13T21:37:00.001+09:00

Are you the mother of a small child, living in Japan and wondering what to do about kindergarten?

If you are, this blog post is for you! If you aren't you might still be interested to read about what happens in Japan when it comes time for parents to enroll their children in kindergarten.

In Japan, kindergarten starts in April, which is the start of the new school year. Children who are three years old on that date are able to start kindergarten in the youngest class, called Nen shou or 年少 in Japanese. Some kindergartens have a class for smaller kids too, but most kids go for three years, but two or even just one or none is possible too since it is not compulsory.

In one class you will have children who are nearly four, mixed in along with ones who turned three not long ago. It's not a great system for the kids who are much younger, but it ensures that everyone starts on the same day and everyone gets ushered through the "being new" together, which is usual in Japan, including starting your first job out of college.

How on earth do I choose a kindergarten in Japan?

This is the first decision about schooling for parents and since your address determines which elementary/primary school and junior high your children will attend, many parents take a lot of time and effort to decide which one to send their children to. Here in my city in Fukushima Prefecture, the discussion about kindergarten for my daughter started among friends when she was barely even one year old. So even if you are not ready to start thinking about it, you might find your friends will often bring this up as a topic of conversation.

Things to consider when choosing a Japanese kindergarten:

Pre-admission play group:

Some kindergartens have a play group for younger kids once a week/month to get potential students and parents used to the kindergarten, making it an easier transition. Parents can get to know each other before their kids start and I personally found this to be good as my daughter already had some friends before starting kindergarten properly (and so did I). We also seemed to have preferential entry once it came time to actually sign up.

Uniform:

Some kindergarten uniforms are so cute. Little hats and back packs, sports wear too. Others just have a kind of smock and a cap, kids wear their own clothes underneath every day. There are a lot of varieties of costs. I actually recommend a kindergarten that has a uniform. Every morning my daughter puts on the same clothes by herself, there is no trying to find something to wear. At school they change into sports wear and then back to uniform again. She is now very competent at dressing and undressing herself! And folding clothes, too! I also don't have to spend money on clothes for her much either.

Cost:

The monthly fee for kindergartens is different for each school. This may be the main deciding factor for you as this will be what you pay every month for the next 2-3 years. My kindergarten charges 30,000 per month, this is regardless of how many days of school there is in the actual month (you pay 30,000 during the month that summer holidays happen, I guess that is easier than changing the fee every month).

Distance:

Buses will pick children up so parents can consider kindergartens that are further away from their houses especially if they offer some particular programmes or have an "International Class". After the Tohoku disaster in 2011, I decided that I would only consider kindergartens in a max 10 minute drive radius of my house. Luckily I had four very good ones to choose from.

School bus:

A bus run by the kindergarten will pick up and drop off your child every day for an extra fee. It costs about 3,000 yen extra per month for my daughter to go by bus. It has saved me at least an hour a day of not going pick her up and drop her off. It has been invaluable with having another small child at home, working part time and I am extra blessed as it comes right to my front door, though this is not always the case for other parents at the same school. My daughter just loves going on the bus which has a different teacher every day to interact with and lots of friends to play with, too. It's also great for those kids who don't want to go to kindergarten as the bus comes, the teacher takes them and it keeps the teary goodbyes short.

Pick up times, after school care and holiday programmes:

Kindergartens also run after school care for children whose parents work or if you have some reason why you can't collect them at 2pm. My daughter's one will mind children for an extra charge until 6:30pm. Children can be dropped off from 8am. In the holidays there are days when the kids can go along to play - for an extra charge - and there is also care for the kids whose parents work, even though its holidays, also for an extra charge. I have used this service especially when my son was a baby in the summer holidays, my daughter sometimes went to school for the day even though it was "holidays" and I was grateful, she had a great time with her friends.

Bento

Each kindergarten is different as to how many times a week you have to make a bento, how many times there is school lunch. Some are all bento. Some are all school lunch. In the end I went with the kindergarten that only had bento twice a week. Some also have "onigiri only" day (rice ball only), someone told me this is so the kids can experience what it's like to not have much food... I'm not sure if that is correct or not.

PTA and other events

A biggie for parents. You will want to check, just how much input is going to be required from you. Some kindergartens require parents to make costumes, have a "bazaar" you must take part in, and a host of other activities. If this floats your boat, go for it, it definitely builds community among the parents. Our kindergarten is aimed more at working parents so there are the usual activities you will find such as a sports festival day, concerts, summer festival, open class days, but there is no costume making, just open your wallet to pay for the dry cleaning of the costumes etc. Something I was pleasantly surprised about was the number of young fathers who are very active in the PTA at our kindergarten.

In school and after school classes

I never realised until we had already signed up but my daughter's kindergarten has quite a variety of after school activities: Gymnastics, Piano, English and Rhythmic gymnastics. This saves a lot of taxiing kids to various places if you want to pay the extra money to join in.

The in-school classes vary from age to age but include English, Calligraphy and Gymnastics.

How can I get more information about the kindergartens I'm interested in?

I think word of mouth is a biggie, so I really hope you do have some Japanese Mama friends who you can ask, or consider even striking up a conversation with another mother at your local park, kindergartens are a totally valid topic to talk about. I tended to favour the ones that had a website where I could see what everything cost and their calendar of events for the year. I also went to play groups at two different kindergartens. That was excellent, not only for a low cost outing, but my daughter got to play in the playgrounds and I got to see what the other kids were doing and what the other mothers and their children were like. In the end it was a really hard choice and I ended up choosing the one different from my friend because it just seemed like such a better fit for our family. So far I haven't been disappointed.

I wish you luck in finding the one that fits your family best, too.

Have I missed something? Please add your experiences with choosing a kindergarten in Japan. I'd love to hear about them.

Also you can ask any questions here in the comments or on my Gajin Housewife Facebook Page.
Also, if you'd like to join my Gaijin Housewife Facebook Community, please do. It would be great to have you.
Also look out for my next blog post coming up on Friday, it's going to be an easy flower arrangement anyone can do!