After a loooooong summer....

On the way to taking the kids to school we pass a large construction site every morning. In Tokyo, they always surround construction sites with large, white, temporary walls. The panels sort of resemble pocket doors and there is always a large opening in the wall through which staff and trucks can enter the site. The opening section always has its own real pocket-door, closable section to it. Often, one of the panels of the white wall is clear glass, allowing passers-by to see into the site and what's happening with the progression of the building.

The site we pass each day is just humongous - we cannot fathom what is being built. But we do know that the glass panel, as of Wednesday morning, the third morning of school, contained a window-box full of flowers. The windowbox was inside the glass and placed low so as not to interfere with a view of the site itself. The flowers are a jaunty mix of autumn asters and mums.

Only in Japan would there be flowers at the construction site. What a sense of renewal. It seems apropos.

Thank you to everyone who helped us make our summer spectacular, whether in person, by email or by telephone, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

The photo here is from the start of the summer - the morning of our neice Alyssa's bat mitzvah. It was wonderful and joyous and the perfect start to a very long and merry summer of fun and visits.

More on that later; now I need to concentrate on being back in Tokyo - on being HOME.

It's summer!

After an impossibly cold winter and rainy spring, it's all of a sudden showing signs of summer in Tokyo. It's hard to believe that in three weeks we will be back in the States for ten long weeks (email me for the schedule; it's too hard to explain!)

This past weekend, the kids put on their school play. It was quite a professional job with one parent who is an artist designing the sets. Another parent is a clothing designer and designed the costumes, while another is a movie director, so we will get a professionally done dvd of the show. The show was the musical "Shaharazade: 1001 Arabian Nights" and the kids did a wonderful job. There was not a missed cue or line in the mix. The elementary kids from grades 1 through 6 worked on it - Sydney was too young this year. Bailey had a small but pivotal role as the shopkeeper. He kind of brought everyone back to reality after the tales and he had the final lines of the play. He was calm and collected and did a wondeful job!

What I love most about Bailey is his diversity. He was just as excited about the soccer tournament last Wednesday and his violin concert next week. He's done so many wonderful things this year and learned so much. His Japanese reading and writing are coming along nicely as is his spoken ability.

But mostly I credit his teacher, Sainoor with giving him one specific gift that I hope lasts a lifetime: the ability to calm himself. Sainoor really has Bailey's number. She can see him out of the corner of her eye and if he is bouncing around, all she has to say is "Bailey take a deep breath." I have watched this happen. Immediately after she says it, he breathes in through his nose and out through his mouth and relaxes his shoulders. He emerges visibly calmer and can focus on the task at hand.

This came home to roost during the play. My friend, a Finnish woman named Riikka, came to find me before the show. She had been in charge of makeup. I had told her the story of the deep breath and it had impressed her. She told me that Bailey was like a jack-in-the-box before the show. She told him to take a deep breath and then he was able to sit down, sit still,and get his makeup applied. I was so pleased for Bailey that he has a tool like that to rely on in times of stress. I will encourage him to keep it up.

A few days ago we found out that Sainoor will be moving to upper elementary class (the Montessori school is organized in three year blocs so that there are mixed-age classrooms - ages 3-6, 6-9, 9-12) and since Bailey is moving up also, she will continue to be his teacher. Though we are sorry that Sydney will not have her as a teacher (Syd is also moving up to a lower elementary class for the fall) we are so pleased that Bailey will continue to have her influence. Sainoor has some challenges - she is the tough teacher at school and some of the kids are afraid of her (as are a few parents!) but she has done wonders for our child, and Bailey respects her and her methods. He works to please her, which pleases Marc and me, too.

It's been a wonderful school year. We have loved our first school year here, and look forward to seeing you Stateside all summer!