tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-249929292024-03-23T13:28:53.188-05:00Life According to KayCeeA few years ago, a friend commented that I was a square peg trying to fit into a round hole world and I thought it was apt. So, instead of trying to squeeze into corporate America, I took my daughter and moved to Japan for a year. Oddly enough, I felt right at home as the gaijin in Japan. We're back home now, trying to find the square hole that fits.KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-43912107435843206322007-12-16T01:00:00.000-05:002007-12-16T01:01:10.009-05:00Happy Holidays 2007Make a free ecard - it's easy!KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-81245951856413326742007-10-17T14:43:00.000-05:002007-10-17T14:52:48.754-05:00My latest gigSince I got back from Japan in June, I have joined the ranks for the unemployed -- hanging around the Employment Commission office, getting alerts from CareerBuilder, Indeed and JournalismJobs.com, cranking out resumes, dreaming up cover letters, dashing off to the occasional interview, trying not to wait for the phone to ring. Getting my hopes up and finding myself crashing down with each KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-2743428248095586722007-07-30T09:20:00.000-05:002007-07-30T13:10:11.462-05:00Look what we missedLogged onto Yahoo today and found out that people all over Japan are finding millions of yen in their mailboxes. Sure, right after we leave Japan. Why couldn't they have started this a few month earlier?According to a report on Yahoo news, residents of a Tokyo apartment building found unsealed plain envelopes in their mailboxes with cash inside. The total was more than $15,000.And that's not all.KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-25209868728431636122007-05-27T08:53:00.000-05:002007-05-27T09:35:05.930-05:00SayonaraYep, we're going home.Our wild and wacky year in Japan is almost over -- and not a moment too soon.The past few months have been very difficult for both of us, as numerous blog posts have indicated. A few weeks ago when my daughter tearfully told me she wanted to go back to American by herself even if I didn't come with her, I knew it was time to go. The odd thing is that at the beginning of thisKayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-19642270181023300772007-05-03T07:52:00.000-05:002007-05-20T07:37:04.451-05:00Only in JapanWhat is it? A hamster? A mushroom? No! It's a stuffed tofu!Only in Japan.My friend just left from a two-week visit to Japan and before she left, she told me all the things she found unique about the wild and wacky world of the rising sun.Calpis Soda -- the name of a very popular softdrink. In fact, it's my daughter's favorite.Lunch tickets at the rest stop -- we took a short drive on the KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-2748545497136132007-05-01T11:33:00.000-05:002007-05-01T11:46:16.724-05:00Time of our lives Who would've thought? In the midst of our first bowling excursion the other week, Bonnie turns to me and says, "Mommy, we're having the time of our lives, aren't we?" On the left you can see her standing in front of the alley while her ball goes straight down the middle, heading to pick up a spare. Of course, it didn't hurt that the alley the kids were using had a "fence" on it to keep the KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-37270436805930778362007-04-09T07:23:00.000-05:002007-04-10T10:55:11.772-05:00Hippety HoppetyEaster in Japan. Hmm . . .Well, Easter in Japan is even more bereft of Christ than Christmas was. At least then we had a tree and a cake and some presents. But Easter is completely unrecognized. So we had to make our own.About a month ago I got online and basically begged some of our friends to send us some Easter stuff and boy, did they come through! Here is a picture of Bonnie (blurry cuz I KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-18646190695391478882007-03-20T21:30:00.000-05:002007-03-20T22:30:07.230-05:00A Happy Birthday part 1 -- obligations Japan is a society of complicated relationships and obligations. I feel really scholarly writing that, but the truth is that I barely have a clue how it all works! It can drive you crazy, but sometimes you can try and make it work in your favor! As I started blogging about my birthday trip to Kobe, I got caught up in the detail of our train ride there and our experience with the conductor, whichKayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1172304055931492902007-02-24T01:32:00.000-05:002007-02-24T03:00:55.940-05:00Two and a half womenWe just got back from an interview for Planet Japan, a podcast originating in Okayama, hosted by our friend Doug (we met him when Agape bought a school in Okayama -- he is the former owner.) He was interested in our adoption story and this is the first time I've talked about it on the radio. I think we were a departure from the typical "light-hearted look at life in Japan" episode, but it was KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1170777459094241792007-02-06T10:49:00.000-05:002007-02-06T10:57:39.103-05:00nametag sends me over the edgeHaving an interesting night tonight. I just lost it and cried for the last half hour because I saw Bonnie’s PE shirt laying out for school, which made me realize that I had to write her name and grade and classroom letter on it before PE tomorrow because I havent’ done it yet, even though she’s been in school for three months now.And the reason I haven’t done it is because it has to be done in aKayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1169996097627756902007-01-28T07:56:00.000-05:002007-01-28T09:54:57.773-05:00Finally-some sightseeingLast Friday night I told Bonnie about a Japanese castle in Okayama and she seemed interested in it so on Saturday I asked her if she wanted to go see it. After making sure she understood this was not a Cinderella type of castle but a man's kind of castle for fighting battles, we put on our walking shoes and caught the train to the heart of Okayama.After a short ride on the trolley down the centerKayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1167746263937134422007-01-02T08:41:00.000-05:002007-01-02T08:57:43.950-05:00All Is WellThis is a picture of a typical Japanese Christmas cake. Ours looked a lot like this -- even the pink Santa! These cakes are VERY small and VERY pricey -- about $50 for this one that was maybe 6" across!Just celebrated our first Christmas in Japan. Granted, I had lived here six years before, but didn’t spend many Christmases here and when I did, it was with other Americans. This year we were KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1166101077085567072007-01-01T07:46:00.000-05:002007-01-02T09:11:45.646-05:00. . . and a happy new year!Another gem from a friend on my adoption list. She got the following holiday card:Let's BondInside it reads simply:It's 007Happy 007 to all of you who are bonding with me through this blog!KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1166535134278081582006-12-19T07:54:00.000-05:002006-12-19T08:46:19.690-05:00A bright spotWell, in light of my new resolution to be more positive, I wanted to write about one of the bright spots of my life here in Japan -- Bonnie's school.The picture is not of Bonnie or even her school. Just something I found on the web to illustrate the blog. Will post her pix on her private blog when they are developed. Warning: They are CUTE!Name: Nagao (our part of town) Sho(little) Gakko (KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1166186346349824772006-12-15T07:33:00.000-05:002006-12-15T07:39:06.360-05:00scumDo I ever feel like scum. I got the following e-mail in my inbox today and I feel like some of that toilet overflow I wrote about earlier!Quote:"I have been following your saga now for a few years, but I would like to say a few things to you. I hope you don't take it the wrong way but I really think for both you and Bonnie's sake some one should say it to you.You are a very negative person and KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1163743116066163582006-11-17T00:22:00.000-05:002006-11-18T12:26:08.216-05:00hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we goaka: the Japanese work ethic.The Puritans have got nothing over the Japanese! Last week some of my adult students were discussing why they hate their jobs.Yoshiyuki s a social worker. I'm not sure why he chose this profession because he doesn't especially like working with people. He wants to do something that allows him to work alone with details: like accounting or computer programming. But he KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1159546945567130672006-09-29T11:12:00.000-05:002006-10-08T05:47:34.143-05:00I want to ride my bicycleSince I don't have a car, I've been rediscovering the "joys" of bike riding. I had only been here a couple of weeks when I realized I would need a kid seat for Bonnie. Only in Asia can you get something like this! Here's a picture of a bike that I found on the internet. It has a kid seat like Bonnie's. If I had a digital camera, I'd take a picture of ours, but this is close enough. The first timeKayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1159081982032384382006-09-24T01:50:00.000-05:002006-09-24T02:52:08.416-05:00Discovering the story within the coversOne week ago, my baby became a seven-year-old young lady. As we looked through her scrapbook together, I searched for baby Yang Yang in my daughter Bonnie. Yes, I could still hear that baby laugh when Bonnie was amused. I could see the look of innocence when she slept -- as always -- on her side with feet stretched out. And, thankfully, she still needed hugs from her mama.When she was a baby she KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1157125764051865992006-09-01T10:34:00.000-05:002006-09-14T21:42:52.596-05:00A New FriendIt's been an eventful couple of weeks. Our school has expanded so much that they brought in a second teacher around mid-August. It has been great to have a little relief and tomorrow is my first Saturday off since I got here. I will have two days off from now on. Yippee! Never thought I would be so happy about something most Americans take for granted. The Japanese basically have a six-day work KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1155267122840299982006-08-10T22:23:00.000-05:002006-08-13T08:39:17.913-05:00leave your shoes at the doorEntering a House in JapanThe entrance area is called a "genkan."See the picture on the left? I wish this was our genkan, but it's not. This is a picture of a very neat genkan that I found on the web. Notice how the shoes are properly pointed to the door. I'm sure those are the guests' shoes.Next, we have another picture of a genkan that I found on the net (don't have a digital camera so can't KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1153576428754152072006-07-22T08:25:00.000-05:002006-07-22T09:23:17.066-05:00Her "real" mama Well, it's starting to feel more like home now. When I walked in the door tonight, my mind flashed back to the first time I saw that hallway and how strange it felt. Impossible to think it would ever be home. But it's becoming that way now.Tonight Bonnie is out with her best friend, Ayano, for a sleepover. They went to a summer festival and Ayano's mom bought Bonnie a yukata -- a summer kimono. KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1151830010817543202006-07-02T03:16:00.000-05:002006-07-04T09:20:51.210-05:00anaphyl-what?For this week's culture lesson, let's visit the inside of an ambulance and an emergency room.Yes, that is what I did this week! And I'm still alive to tell you about it. Apparently I have been eating a lot more eggs than I realized because on Thursday night I had a severe allergic reaction to them (anaphylactic reaction) and ended up in the hospital.I could write the whole boring story, but who KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1151740850898382472006-07-01T02:31:00.000-05:002006-07-01T04:49:07.213-05:00Where do you live?This is a picture of an "old" Japanese mailbox. However, when I lived in Japan 5 years ago, I saw them all the time. In Japan, all mailboxes are "red," but it looks like orange because the paint has faded. They also used to be round, which isn't so great when you consider the shape of most mail!I realized today that I hadn't given out my new address in Japan and as I was looking at it, I realizedKayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1151136131676017072006-06-24T02:38:00.000-05:002006-06-24T06:49:04.750-05:00Surreal LifeWeird.Strange.Surreal.I can't describe how it feels to be back. Not like I expected. In some ways, better. In some ways, worse. My friends who are missionaries here say this is how they feel sometimes after coming back to Japan from a year's furlough in the U.S. I remember this feeling from before -- it's home, but it's not. Where is home anyway?I just spent the day with several gaijin (KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24992929.post-1150318567054005042006-06-14T15:42:00.000-05:002006-07-01T05:04:33.440-05:00Prayer Requests 6-13-06Wanted to update these prayer requests. Not sure how this will publish, but bear with me as I try this out. Updated in blue on July 1, 2006We leave Charlotte, NC at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, June 19. We will have about an hour layover in Detroit and depart for Osaka at 3:40 p.m. That flight is about 14 hours. We arrive in Osaka at 6 p.m. June 20 (cross the international date line). That night we KayCeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07901603573468911616noreply@blogger.com1