Japanese Kids & the Language Barrier

We tried out another park the other week. Going to neighborhood parks has been good because there are usually some Japanese kids there who A. tries to interact with. At this park, a van full of kids had just pulled up. At first A. just watched them from a distance, and then she gradually worked her way closer and closer to them and started following them around. She stands out like a sore thumb, and even more when she opens her mouth. The kids treat her like a novelty and an outsider at the same time. She had her own ideas about what to play, and she was talking a mile a minute to them trying to get them to play along with her. A few of the boys turned and looked at her like she was from another planet before returning to their own games. After a few minutes, she turned to me and moaned, "Mommy, they're just not listening to me!" I reminded her that the kids speak a different language here so they can't understand us, and that we have to do our best to speak their language. We had just been doing some Japanese lessons on the drive, so I suggested she try to say what she knew to them. She wasn't quite ready for that though, so eventually she just kept with her following and decided that chattering away in English would be just as good. Some of the boys started mimicking her, although she didn't know they were doing that. When she went to the swings, these 2 little girls followed us over and were doing the same thing. These kids were probably 4-6 years old, which is definitely different than having 2 year olds from other cultures playing together, or even 12 year olds. These kids were just at the age to realize that there are differences and not know quite the right way to react. I wasn't offended that they seemed to be making fun of my kid, but it did give me more motivation to help us learn some Japanese quicker. We are still debating the options for preschool here. The Japanese preschools are held every day from about 9-3, and I'm not ready for that :). There are a few American preschools that do some culture lessons, but there are still lots of factors we are taking into account - driving times, costs, what we're actually looking for in a preschool, etc. So for now we're taking our time and doing lots of activities at home. One of my big goals is to get us out in town as much as possible so we get as much "culture" as possible. 

I love this picture because it shows them "checking each other out".  

The kids really thought it was funny hearing her talk. I don't know what they were saying about us, but they definitely thought hearing another language was funny. They do start learning English from a young age here, although in the Japanese class I just took, the teacher said that not many people actually know English because of the "boring, grammatical" way that it is taught, as well as their lack of practice with native speakers. 

This park had seen better days, as I'm sure all their parks have. I heard Japan is in even greater debt than America, so upkeep of parks is probably low on their list of priorities!

11 Months

This post is already old because in just a week our 2nd little gal will be turning one! I don't think I took any monthly pictures that had a theme with A., but since Daddy missed half of D's first year of life, I decided to do monthly pictures with her daddy doll. So here are a couple pics of her loving on her daddy. When he got back last week, she was more aware that he had been gone, even though she had seen him every day on Skype. She woke up in our bed (how did she get there? :), saw him, and climbed right onto me, laying her head on my chest, which she never does. He tried to make eye contact with her, but she refused to look at him, and shied away when he reached for her. After almost an hour, he picked her up and took her, but not without her crying. We repeated that scene for almost a week! Now she's all warmed up to him again and fights with big sis for Daddy's undivided hugs and kisses and tickles on the bed. It's really wonderful to have Daddy home again!

Typhoon Songda

We just got done with our first typhoon of the season. They do an excellent job of preparing here, and systems are very in order so everyone is informed and knows what is coming. The wind gusts were 90 knots on Saturday night. The girls were already asleep. It was about 9:30 when it really started picking up. I listened to it for awhile rattling all our windows, tried to fall asleep in bed early, but it wasn't working. Our storm windows are really solid here. Good thing, because I don't think normal windows could survive such strong winds. We went out the next day and surveyed the damage. There were lots of big tree branches lying around, and some good-sized trees that had been all the way uprooted. Out of all the cars in the parking lot, ours seem to be the only 2 with damage. Most of the cars here have these plastic rain guards overlapping the top of the window, and one of those on the van had been ripped off so we're left with a jagged little piece of plastic. On the Funcargo, the plastic red and clear piece covering the taillights on one side was ripped off, and I noticed a little dent in the back. And a strip on the top had pulled off, but I think I can press it back in. Maybe I'll go to the junkyard and see if I can find that piece of plastic, so the car doesn't look so junky right away. One of my friends said there was a car on it's side up the street, which isn't surprising since the cars here are so little and light. I believe this was just a strong Category 2, so I'd hate to see what a Category 5 brings about. Even with that, I'd feel secure in our towers. Another friend out in town said it was the strongest winds they'd had in decades, so maybe that will be the worst we see while we're here, God-willing! 
And in case you're wondering, typhoons and hurricanes are the exact same thing. . just called by different names for their location in the Pacific Ocean. 

Shi-sa Park

We found this huge Shi-sa lion dog the other day. . right in the middle of a park! :) OK, it was the park. Maybe you've seen these as good-luck charms. Taken from my phone book - "The idea is said to have come from the blend of Chinese and Japanese religions. Shi-sas are placed at the entrance of homes, shrines, graves, and on rooftops. They are placed in pairs: the one with the mouth open represents the male getting rid of evil and the one with the mouth closed is a female holding the happiness." They are on many rooftops here - mostly made of unglazed ceramic. We even have a pair on our towers. They make a popular collectible it seems. 

I kept A. in the picture on the bottom left so you can see how large he is! She wanted to climb up to the top using those outside rungs, but I made her take the inside stairs. Once she was inside the mouth, she refused to go down either of the concrete slides. Concrete slides are surprisingly fast, by the way. :)

My Beautiful Baby

I know we're completely biased, like all parents, but I really do think I have the most beautiful children. What's even greater has been watching A's heart as she grows and matures and communicates God's love to everyone in her life. It's just the greatest thing ever. And D. is so sweet already. She is so happy and content and loves giving kisses and pulling hair. :) I can't believe how close she's getting to ONE! Tooth #6 just poked through. Can you see her bottom two in the 2nd picture?!

Nishibaru Pirate Ship Park

I tried to be brave with a friend the other week and find a new park. We both started out at Kinser with the same directions, but she ended up never finding it, and I found it by luck. It was great having a play date with a friend while we played at different parks. :) We ended up staying at this pirate ship park for a couple hours, because the weather was gorgeous. In that time, 2 little classes of Japanese preschoolers came to play with us. From what I have gathered, not all the schools here have their own playgrounds, so they bring kids to the community parks nearby. They all looked cute in their flappy brightly-colored baseball caps. A couple of the kids kept running up to me to practice an English phrase or two, and then they would run off laughing. There was a cable rope swing that A. was brave enough to try once she saw all the other kids doing it. They really are brave here. The spaces in between the logs that made up this wood bridge were big enough for her to fall all the way through this time, but the Japanese seem to like "playing at your own risk". I'm not sure which side I'm on yet. . the sissy American side with developmentally appropriate playthings, or the adventurous, let kids be kids side of this country! The kids try to talk to A. and she tries to talk back to them, but it takes them both awhile to realize that they don't understand each other. Most of the time they just give her some funny looks while she is left trailing behind them trying to get them to listen! We both do a lot of smiling to make up for our lack of language so far. An old lady came over and took D. from me when she saw that A. needed rescuing from the crow's nest. They always ask if she is a boy or a girl, because they don't really use gender colors here, so dressing her in pink has no meaning for them. There were lots of boys wearing pink hats at the playground. 

Poser

A. is into being melodramatic. . .