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“Freeta-“ live style was not easy
What’s a chapter of your life you’d title “The Hard Years” — and what got you through it? I didn’t know the term “freeta-“ (from “free arbeiter” with “arbeiter” meaning “worker” in German) until I had lived in Japan as a teaching assistant for several years. Yet it occurred to me that that was the […]
Multilingual ≠ perfectly fluent, and that’s OK!
Which languages do you speak and how did that impact your life? I studied French from junior high through first year undergraduate. I can’t speak it. I tried, but my teacher (MA from Tunisia) had to use a book based on Parisien French, even though my hometown is a stone’s throw from Québéc (not Paris!). […]
JAXA finally gets it right with the H3
Six small satellites developed by universities and other organizations carried by the vehicle also were believed to be successfully separated, JAXA said. https://apnews.com/article/japan-jaxa-h3-rocket-launch-9c64f2c59b9212d612902e74823b77b5 “Believed to be” successful. Very Japanese. It’s a start. A late, very much delayed start. But at least it worked (finally).
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Tag Archives: Japanese
“Japan should rethink gender roles”? Yeah, no kidding
On December 5th, I gave an invited lecture-slash-workshop at a university in Gifu, where conservative values reign and men and women think they can run the families like it’s 1899. The very same I made the trek up there, an … Continue reading
Posted in gender roles, Japan, Japanese, Japanese society, parenting, roles, work
Tagged child care, child-raising, chores, clothing, family, gender roles, household, Japan, Japanese, Japanese kids, parental roles, parenting, parents
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Ten Years of Taking Leave
Looking back, it’s amazing to me now that I dared to even apply for a year of paternity leave while living in a foreign country. But I’ve never regretted the decision. As I told an audience of university students and … Continue reading
Posted in book, day care, education, gender roles, Japan, Japanese, Japanese culture, Japanese society, parenting, Paternity leave, school
Tagged bilingualism, blogging, child care, child-raising, children, education, family, family leave, fatherhood, gender roles, haafu, Japan, Japanese, Japanese kids, parental leave, parents
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End of an Era: Goodbye, Nursery School
And so it begins. The end of the start of the rest of my children’s childhood. By which I mean our youngest daughter graduated from nursery school / kindergarten. Thinking back, we’ve been coming to our local nursery school every … Continue reading
Posted in coming of age, day care, education, festivals, Japan, Japanese, Japanese society, nursery school, parenting, school, separation anxiety
Tagged child care, child education, child-raising, children, customs, Japan, Japanese, Japanese kids, kindergarten, nursery school, parenting, reflections
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