hear the army

(sample petition letters for download at the bottom of this post)

“I’d really appreciate your help. The Osaka City government is currently debating whether to burn radioactive Tohoku debris in Osaka in return for cash from the National government. Even several of the Tohoku government officials have stated they don’t want to ship the debris.

This is not only absolutely unnecessary, but will also have long-term consequences in a region that has been largely unscathed by the ongoing crisis in Fukushima….and where I live now. It will disproportionately affect children living in Kansai as proven by multiple scientific studies.

Most of the city assembly is against this proposition, but the mayor is staunchly supporting it while refusing to look at the scientific evidence showing the negative health repercussions. The final decision should take place at the end of this month, so I am working to support one of the assembly members to help gather official petition letters to protest against this policy.

They specifically requested letters from foreigners living both in and outside Osaka to show it is not just a local issue. Therefore I am kindly asking you to write a quick, one-page letter that would have an impact. The letter can be written in Japanese or English (as we have translators that can help). The Japanese letter deadline is March 14.

Japanese before he deadline of March 14, so we ask to have it arrive by March 7 if possible.

I know you are busy, but your help would be sincerely appreciated. If you can take 20 – 30 minutes…..

Attached is both the Japanese and English letter format which follows the legal requirements. . Please sign/hanko where it says signature.

For English, send by March 7 to:
Ms. Kinuko Motoshige
21-1107 Shinmachi
Daitou-shi, Osaka-fu JAPAN 574-0037
Tel: +81-80-4111-6608

For Japanese, please send direct to the city office:
〒530-8201 大阪市北区中之島1丁目3番20号
大阪市役所
市会事務局宛て

〒530-8201
Oosakashi Kitaku Nakanoshima 1-3-20
OosakaShiyakusho
ShikaiZimukyoku　Ate”

Petition Letter Format and Sample Petition Letters

• Required format for Petition Letter (everything must be included) WORD DOC
• Sample petition letter 1 (with hanko) WORD DOC
• Sample letter #2 WORD DOC
• English format WORD DOC

Another excerpt from an email to a friend regarding how we’ve handled childcare here so far:

Gosh, i’m trying to think when i started [using daycare]…it was when Bijou could finally go for about 4 hours between feedings because she refused to take a bottle so maybe when she was about 5-6 months? I would use the hourly day care place near my house JR Kids Room Rokkomichi if i needed some time.

Then I used a lady who posted her name on a board saying she would do housework or sitting for a few times but after a weird experience with her and when Bijou got a lot more mobile and a danger to herself i started using a licensed sitter from a service (Mary Poppins) – more expensive but worth it.

So now if it’s daytime I use the day care and if it’s night time (she’ll be asleep before i return), i hire a sitter. I think having someone to help clean and come around is a great idea. I never had the cleaning help but have definitely dreamed of it! I think most of the sitter services also offer that. I’ve never used it but also heard of a “Silver Service” or something where retired people who want to spend time with babies or help out volunteer through the city and it’s super cheap. Check the above link (Japanese only) or at your city/ward office.

The two services I know of: I use Mary Poppins.
Another friend also recommends this service (Japanese only).

I was recently asked by someone who is about to do her first international flight with her 18mth-old for tips and since I’ve now made the roughly 19-hour trip alone with a lap child 5 times total, I figured I am qualified to blog about it. The first 3 times Bijou was breastfeeding so honestly, there was no problem – when she got fussy, bust out the boob! 😉

Here’s what I wrote to her and hope will help some of you too:

Things I do (some i came up with but a lot i found on forums of other mom’s who have been there, done that): (more…)

Making sure your child is thriving is going to preoccupy all of your braincells for at least the first few months of you child’s life (if not forever) and while you’ll have no shortage of books and websites to help you along – things are done a little different here (well, I’ve never raised a child anywhere else, but I know at least the vaccine schedule is different than in the US), so here’s a preview of how things go: (more…)

I once blogged about what purchases really helped me while pregnant and have been meaning to tell you the same about the baby stuff for some time now, but I guess having a little over a year under my belt with said baby and stuff, I’m better prepared now anyway.

There are oodles of lists out there for you to google and find, but here is what worked for us. Mostly, it is based on what we lucked into as hand-me-downs or gifts, but some if it was really great stuff!

TIP: Get anything and everything you can used (except for breast milk related stuff and the carseat) – it was only used for a few months and sometimes not even that long and you will save SO MUCH MONEY. Put the word out to all you know, with apartment sizes as they are here you are sure to come across a friend of a friend who is dying to get rid of all the baby stuff they’re no longer using. Use things like Tell & Sell Japan and Free Stuff Japan and if your Japanese is up to it Yahoo Auction for deals. There are also used baby goods shops in Japan (like B・KIDS / BOOK OFF) along with local used clothing stores – check around your neighborhood!

Also – many things you can get at home you can get here also, you just have to know what they’re called. I tried to link to sites in Japan when possible to show you the Japanese terms and prices for things, but if there’s something you’re looking for and can’t find, let me know and I’ll give it a whirl.

Hope this helps and happy shopping!! (more…)

i might be an awful person, but i’m SO entertained by the recent development in bijou’s personality: being frightened by things. up until recently, the only things that made her cry other than the fundamental needs were not being near us when she wanted to be or actually being in pain. but now she’s apparently seeing the world differently – here are her two new greatest fears (other than me leaving her):

1. The song “I had a Rooster” (which i find to be quite fun, but when the mouse goes SQUEAK she bursts into tears!)

2. Bubbles. yes, i though all children found them magical and fascinating too, but not bijou. she looks at them in quiet wonder for a minute, then bursts into tears.

cute.

i innocently approach the clinique counter in SC and inquire, “do you carry the derma-white line?” to the african-american sales-lady. she replies with only a questioning expression.

“i don’t know if it’s called that here, but it’s a whitening line – do you have one?”

“that wouldn’t go over well here.” she responds, straightening her posture and looking me dead in the eye.

then it hit me – IDIOT! “oh, you know it’s just a line that helps reduce sun spots, and stuff…” i stammer.

“we have a BRIGHTENING line” she lets me off the hook and moves to present the product line.

yep. i’ve been away a long time.

Click here to read Being Pregnant in Japan – Part 1, Up to Week 12ish
Click here to read Being Pregnant in Japan – Part 2, The 2nd Trimester

You:

It depends on the person and the time of year, but things took a turn for the worse almost to the day of my 3rd trimester. Chalk most of it up to the fact that it was July 21st when the heat and humidity in Japan become close to unbearable. My entire body blew up like a blowfish and from that day forward I my feet and ankles were always in pain and i could no longer wear my watch, wedding band, and 98% of my shoes.

(more…)

as if i didn’t have enough to make me depressed and give me a headache with the israeli-palestinian conflict issue, a friend’s emailing me about how obama shouldn’t even have been able to run for president as he doesn’t comply with the requirements as set out in the constitution article 2, section 1!?! (more…)

the news of israel’s invasion of the gaza strip after the cease fire ended ( following rockets fired into israel) sparked a renewed fire in my husband to convince me how ruthless and greedy israel was and how my government not only lets it all happen, but encourages it.
now i can’t get away from it:
friends joining “the cause” “if americans knew” on facebook which claims that americans don’t get told how israel uses US funding to break international law and occupy land that doesn’t belong to them;
my best friend from HS (who is 1/2 israeli with family in israel) forwarding me photos of the israeli army helping palestinians out of the collapsed tunnels and offering medical assistance;
heck, even my brother forwarded me an article explaining how israel follows international law and hamas doesn’t.

so i figured i could spend at least a couple hours reading up on the subject…is israel as evil as so many are claiming because their attacks have claimed more lives? or are the intentions behind attacks rather than the body count what makes them wrong?

after following a couple links from a google search it was even more clear than the mixed messages i was already getting (see above from husband and friends) that it is close to impossible to get “facts” about this conflict that aren’t surrounded in a context supporting one or the other side.

here’s the scoop in an oversimplified nutshell as i understand it: (more…)

I think it’s useless to really participate in Christmas at home because it doesn’t really matter – my husband is at work anyway and we don’t really own many decorations (plus i’d have to find somewhere to put them if we did) – but then i feel all nostalgic (is that the word i want?) and end up listening to Christmas CDs all day long…

Ahhhhhh…Christmas. Also the time to recap the year and etch it firmly in my memory while catching up with all of those loved ones who I only seem to converse with a couple times a year. This year saw a lot of action – weddings, babies, travel, big family news, etc. – read on to get the full scoop and see a silly video! (expires 1/15/09 so watch while you can!) (more…)

i have yet to get past “easy” mode on our camera (partially due to the fact that all menus are in japanese) and have never edited video footage in my life but who cares – no better time to start than now! (don’t expect much – the point here isn’t art – it’s that she’s CUTE!)

enjoy!

if your computer isn’t able to load it smoothly, try a lower quality version here.

happy thanksgiving to ya!

nevermind the moutwatering cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie for breakfast tomorrow – i love this holiday cause it gives me another great reason to remember how f-in lucky i am. hate to brag and all but, well, that’s pretty darn lucky. eat your hearts out:

1. i have an amazing baby (who’s pretty darn cute to boot) who i get to watch grow every day

(more…)

Click here to read Being Pregnant in Japan – Part 1, Up to Week 12ish

You:

This is hands down the best part of your pregnancy! At least for me it was. Yeah, you have to pack away your old clothes and start hunting down ones that fit your “new” body but the tiredness subsides, the hormones kick in – and you generally just feel good! Not to mention you now feel as though you and your baby are confirmed and safe on this journey. (more…)

i know i’m an FBC employee but i have to sing the praises of what i discovered at Price Club yesterday:

(more…)

i nonchalantly referred to myself as “mommy” in a conversation with isseki yesterday.

someone kill me now.

last night we tried the tummy tub! developed in the netherlands and passed along to us by a dutch friend, karolien (thank you!) – it looks like a clear bucket but has design features that make it much safer and more comfortable than trying it with your own diy bucket.

the theory is that the baby will feel the comfort of being in the womb inside this warm, small, wet space. when we put bijou in she wiggled around a lot and cried a bit and i thought maybe it wasn’t for her but within a minute she calmed down and was even smiling! it relaxed her so much she ended up pooping in it! hope that won’t be a habit but we’ll definitely try it again!

yesterday was a big day!

we went to the clinic for my post-release 1 week check-up and other than my belly button healing a bit strangely, all looks good! i’ve grown to 2,500 grams in 2 weeks! that’s 200 grams in 1 week (i was 2,306g when released from the hospital) on breastmilk only! you can imagine how tired and sore my mommy is… (more…)

who would have thought the first day home could be so exciting!?!

we left the clinic in the morning but by late afternoon my scar was really painful – burning and stinging and it seemed red and swollen in just one spot. nervous, i called the clinic and they told me to head back in for a check. we got everything together to go out with our new baby but when we got to the car, we couldn’t get the car seat to fasten over her diaper without a lot of pressing and couldn’t figure out how to loosen it.

the dr. was waiting for me so we decided it wouldn’t take long so i would just run up and isseki would stay with the baby. no problem.

it doesn’t take too long and i head back nervous bjiou has been hungry and crying the whole time. the door is locked. eh!?! he took her out?
ok. no problem. i open the door… (more…)

i’m glad i had bijou in japan…don’t get me wrong, i am sure there are wonderful clinics and birthing centers all over the US but i wonder if they would be covered by insurance, etc. yes, it wasn’t cheap here either, but the 7 night stay (including the night of the birth – arrived 11pm) after a cesarean trumps what i hear the is usually only 2-3 night in the US and the food was amazing!

what could i possibly be doing all that time?
(more…)