Why here?

Naze koko de?



I could have sworn you were napping in another room. What are you doing here in the kitchen?

Twice as good

Nibai ii!

The other day, the Pumpkin Daycare had its annual field day.

There are two Chinese families in the Pumpkin Princess's class (a pair of twin girls and a boy). I was talking to the boy's mom, and the twins' mom showed up and they started chattering away in Mandarin Chinese. I picked up exactly two words, "Nihao" (hello) and "arzi" (son).

So since the average Japanese person would probably only have picked up "Nihao," it's safe to say that my Mandarin Chinese is twice as good as most people, right?

Which is it?

Docchi nano?

Dear Pumpkin City,

I can understand that you want to screen for developmental delay. Early intervention is important.

I also understand that child development has a very large individual variation.

But please do not tell me the Pumpkin Prince needs a detailed evaluation of his development because he speaks 5 words at 18 months instead of your very strict cutoff of 6 words, and then give me a brochure about how child development has a very large individual variation.

And please don't tell me it's for my own peace of mind. I think the Pumpkin Prince is developing just fine. You're the one who is all worked up over his lack of a single word and asking me to take the Pumpkin Prince to the pediatrician where the pediatrician and I will waste each other's time as he will judge the Pumpkin Prince to be healthy, happy, and developing normally, and give me his standard issue talk on individual variation.

(Disclaimer: I am not a developmental pediatrician, nor do I play one on TV, but, well, come on, this one is plain old fashioned common sense.)

This is serious.

Yabaine.

So there's this shopping mall. And it has a food court. This is a picture of the food court at around three in the afternoon.



Oh dear.

I give this place six months, a year tops.

Where'd they go?

Doko itta no?


My darling, my sunshine, love of my life, reason for living;

1. That's not your chair. That's your sister's.

2. That's not your fork. That's your sister's, too.

3. I peeled two good sized Fuji pears for the four of us, not just you. Where have they gone?

Fall down seven times, get up eight

Nana korobi Ya oki

This phrase isn't so much a phrase as a saying. When you stop and think, if you fall down seven times, you only have to get up seven times (or six if you choose to give up after the final fall). I guess they say "get up eight" because you are not only supposed to persevere, you are supposed to thrive. Or something.

Daruma dolls are painted papier mache. They are weighted on the bottom so they always get up (i.e. never give up) and have blank eyes. You paint one eye while making a wish or setting a goal, and fill in the other eye when your wish comes true or achieve your goal.

And then there is this.



The contents of this plastic Hello Kitty monstrosity are what the Pumpkin Princess decided was going to be her lunch for Monday. I wish I had pictures of the lunch, but this was when she went on a little trip (first train ride for her cousin) while I stayed at home. It apparently contained a sausage with a picture of Hello Kitty, a slice of kamaboko with a picture of Hello Kitty, ground chicken seasoned with ginger and scrambled egg arranged over a layer of rice. It was way too much food for a 4 year-old, and she only ate about a third of it. It's pretty obvious she was attracted to the container and not the food. To her credit, she ate the remainder for dinner that lunch and breakfast the next morning. I have washed out the container and she'll probably use it to store all the capsule toys she makes the Pumpkin Daddy buy every time they go to the mall.

(ETA: found online a picture of what was inside the box)

I look cool from both sides.

Docchi kara mite mo kakkoii!

When I saw a Krispy Kreme when I was in Yokohama for work stuff, I had to stop by, even though there was a long line that I had to stand in for a good 15 minutes.

My brother and his family were in town, so I had to make sure there were enough to go around. I got a dozen plain glazed donuts and some more with nuts and sprinkles (gotta have rainbow colored sprinkles because to anyone under the age of seven, a donut isn't a donut without sprinkles that get their color from carcinogens).

To my American friends, I probably look like a loser for standing in line for 15 minutes to buy donuts from a chain store. But keep in mind, Krispy Kreme donuts only got to Japan a few years ago, and they are to be found only in places like Tokyo and Yokohama. I think the nearest one from us is about 50 miles away and lacks parking space. Their inavailability makes them trendy and desirable. Kind of like Starbucks when they first got here about 15 years ago. So to my family (especially my s-i-l, judging from her response), I am a cool person who brought home the awesome donuts they saw in the Japanese analog of InStyle or Cosmopolitan last month.

But wait! We had the donuts with chilled green tea! I understand chilled green tea is edgy and fashionable and interesting in the Americas and Europe these days. I'm cool either way you look at it!