A little about me and the blog...

Born in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey and North Carolina, no one would have guessed I'd move to Japan for 5 years, but long story short that is just what happened. I am a product of the JET Programme, a teaching exchange program that sends native English speakers to Japan to teach English and increase international awareness at public schools and in the community. It was a wonderful experience which I owe my deep gratitude for because it was during my stint in Ibaraki Prefecture that I met my wonderful amazing husband. How we met is a rather funny story (gay night at the club Ageha in Tokyo), but basically we dated briefly before I returned to America, did a year and a half of long distance with various rendezvous in Vietnam, America, and Japan, and finally I returned to Japan to make sure he was really "the one". Indeed he was and within a few years we were engaged, had a magical destination wedding in Hawaii, and finally quit our jobs, traveled the world for 1 month (literally - 9 countries!) and settled in the Big Apple.

On my 30th birthday we decided it was time to work on expanding our family, and it took 4 months to get the thrilling double line on the pee stick, followed by 9 long weeks of intense morning sickness, ick. I'm currently sitting here at 39 weeks, already on maternity leave, with my wee little bun in the oven not quite ready to come out it seems, which gives me a nice period to relax, nest, and get this blog started! Hooray!

Being American but having lived in Japan for 5 years and having married into a Japanese family, I have come to be quite familiar with the good, the bad, and the ugly of both the Japanese and American cultures. That said, it seems there is always a new shocker right around the corner in my household. "You think you'll get diarrhea if your stomach gets cold?" "A baby's name can bring them bad luck depending on the number of strokes in the kanji character, and the day/time/location of their birth??" "Your company actually thinks we'd be cool with you moving back to Japan, without your family, for a couple of years???" I mean, wow! But no matter the issue, it really is fascinating to delve into the reasoning and history behind it, which usually leads you to a better understanding. Now, whether or not you agree with the argument and the solution is a whole other story, but these are some of the fun things we'll be covering in this blog! But not just US-Japanese cultural issues, but also ones more generally applicable to any parents - such as whether or not to vaccinate, how to choose a pediatrician, shopping for baby on a budget, finding mommy support groups, etc!

I hope you'll not just be a loyal reader, but also an active participant in the discussions! Please let me know if you have a topic you'd like to guest blog about, or one you'd like to see me post about. All opinions are welcome!!