In October when I was six, my family bought a house in the suburb of my hometown in the north region of Japan. It was the first big move I experienced in my life, and throughout the process, I learned that even after choosing the new house, there were many things to be done prior […]
A special treat that I treasured Read More »
The summer when I was in Grade 5, all the Grade 5 children in my school went on a three-day camping trip to a mountain about an hour bus ride away from the school. The trip was packed with different kinds of activities, including the mountain climbing, the campfire, and what’s called “walk in the
Walk in the Stream Read More »
In the community of half-dilapidated apartments where I used to live during my young childhood, there was one playground. It was a square-shaped playground with a huge willow in the middle. My friends and I used to play there a lot. We were particularly fond of the slide and the carriage-shaped swing, and once we
Ten years ago, I was staying at a small college in Quebec, Canada, as an international exchange student. Just before the autumn, I became friends with another exchange student from France, who happened to live only a few doors away from my room in the same dormitory. We started hanging out together, and during our
When I was in primary school, every autumn, our school hosted an arts festival where each school year would prepare either a music performance or a play and present it in front of the rest of the school and all the parents and guardians. For about two months leading up to the event, we practiced
A mother’s concern for her son Read More »
Several years ago, I lived for a year in Sheffield, England, doing a graduate study in math. Though I didn’t have my own family in the country, one of my mother’s close friends, whom I call Rosy in this story, and her family lived in London. So, during my time in Sheffield, I often visited
Spilled coffee: unexpected misery and unexpected kindness Read More »
When I was between the age of eight and nine, there was a period of time when I was fascinated with the idea of a bubble bath. I had seen bubble baths in Western movies a few times and thought how fun it would be to play in the bubbles. I wanted to experience it
Fascination with a bubble bath Read More »
When I was eight or nine, one day, I went to visit one of my childhood best friends at her house. At the time, we no longer lived close to each other, so every occasion we got to play together was precious. That day, after some time, we started playing at the bathroom sink. We
Oh, are you doing laundry? Read More »
In the autumn when I was six, my parents bought our first family home. It was a house in one of the new housing developments located in the suburb of my hometown, and we spent a few months visiting different houses in the area trying to pick the one we wanted to live in. As
When I was small, the other thing that made me extremely anxious was when I travelled by a cab with my parents. Since my family had a car, we usually didn’t use any public transport or cabs. But on those occasions when we travelled by trains to visit our relatives far away, my parents would
A little girl’s two big worries: part 2 Read More »
