before winter is over/冬が終わる前に

It's starting to warm up little by little in Tokyo. When I took Pineapple to the Ueno Zoo, we saw some cherry blossoms. We heard that cherry blossoms will start opening early this spring, but I didn't expect to see any already blooming!

However, some parts of Japan are still in winter. We're going back to snow country again this weekend. A friend of mine asked if we want to go skiing with her in Niigata. Since we didn't have any plan, our answer was easy - "Yes, we'd love to!" We had lots of fun in Akita last week, and I guess we'll try a little more skiing before winter is really over.

東京は少しずつ暖かくなり始めました。先日パイナップルを上野動物園に連れて行った時には、桜が咲いているのを見ました。今年の桜は少し早めに咲き始めるとは聞いていましたが、もう咲いているのが見れるとは思ってもいませんでした！

しかし、日本のあちこちではまだまだ冬です。今週末、私たちはまた雪国に行ってきます。私の友達が、新潟にスキーをしに行かないかと誘ってくれたのです。特に予定もなかった私たちは、「もちろん、行きたい！」とすぐ返事をしました。先週秋田でも楽しい思いをしましたが、冬が終わる前にもうちょっとスキーを楽しめそうです。

on daddy's back/お父さんのおんぶで

The last day, I stayed back at the pension so that I could finish packing and cleaning. Meanwhile, Pineapple had lots of fun playing in the nice weather with her dad and grandpa. She got to ride up the chairlift and ski down on her dad's back. Then, her grandpa pulled her around in a sled, and even sledded down the slopes together several times.

After I checked out the pension, I joined them for lunch at the restaurant in the ski lodge. There, I found this little girl lying on the table!! Her grandpa was sitting next to her, telling me that she fell asleep in the sled as he was pulling her around. The restaurant had typical hard cafeteria tables, so I didn't think it would be comfortable. However, she slept for one hour! She must have been very tired.

bath time/お風呂時間

The pension where we stayed had a nice family-size bath, fed by a nearby hot spring. After playing all day at the ski resort, Pineapple got in the hot bath with her dad and grandpa. She had so much fun playing with water and buckets. She kept scooping up water with the bucket and dumping it out on the floor. She doesn't get to do this much at home, so it must have been real pleasure for her to play like this. It seemed that she could have stayed in the bath for a long long time!

私たちが泊まった宿には、温泉がひかれたファミリーサイズの素敵なお風呂がありました。スキー場で１日遊んだ後、パイナップルはお父さんとおじいちゃんと一緒にお風呂に入りました。娘はお湯と洗面器でずいぶん楽しく遊んでいました。洗面器でお湯を汲んでは、お湯を床に流していました。家ではなかなかできないことなので、こんな風に遊ぶのがとても楽しかったのでしょう。娘はもっともっと長い間お風呂に入っていても良かったようでした！

from snow to snow/雪から雪へ

It snowed in Tokyo yesterday. We thought that spring was almost around the corner, but I guess it's not quite ready yet. We left Tokyo this morning, where it was cold and snowy, to another snow country, Akita, which had a bit more snow.

My husband was asked to talk about his experience with international relations at a party in the town where he taught on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program more than 12 years ago. So, we decided to take a few days to spend some time skiing at Tazawako Ski Resort. My parents, grandpa, brother, and aunt will join us for some parts of our trip.

昨日東京では雪が降りました。もうじき春がやってくると思っていましたが、まだもうちょっと先のようです。今朝、寒くてまだ雪の残る東京を出て、もうちょっと雪がある別の雪国、秋田に来ました。

旦那が１２年以上もに前JETプログラムで教えていた町のパーティーで、国際関係についての自分の経験を話すように頼まれていたのです。せっかくなので、田沢湖スキー場で数日スキーをすることにしていました。私の両親、祖父、弟、そしておばが所々で参加してくれます。

brushing teeth/歯磨き

In Japan, it's very common for parents to brush their children's teeth every night, or even after every meal. Usually the child lies in Mom or Dad's lap while their teeth are brushed. Dentists and public health nurses recommend that parents spend time doing so every night.

However, I just found out that parents brushing their children's teeth isn't common in the U.S. Instead kids are taught to brush their own teeth from the very start.

This is the second big cultural difference I experienced since Pineapple was born. (The first one was about baby clothing.) I wonder what Japanese parents who live in the U.S. do. Do they brush their kid's teeth every night, just like we do here in Japan? Or do they have their kids brush their own teeth and that's it? For my overseas readers, let me hear your cases!!

日本では、親が子供の歯を毎晩、または毎食後磨いてあげるのが普通です。たいていの場合、歯を磨かれている時子供はお母さんかお父さんの膝に横になります。歯医者さんや保健師さんは毎晩こうしてあげるように言います。

しかし、アメリカではこれはあまり見られないということを聞きました。子供は最初から自分で歯を磨くように教えられているのだそうです。

パイナップルが産まれてから、２つ目の大きな文化の違いを経験しました。（最初は赤ちゃんの肌着に関してでした。）アメリカに住む日本人の親はどうしているのか疑問に思ってしまいました。日本にいる時のように、毎晩子供の歯を磨いてあげるのでしょうか？それとも子供に自分で歯を磨かせて終わりでしょうか？海外に住む皆さん、お話を聞かせてください！！

here you go, bear/くまちゃん、どうぞ

One of Pineapple's favorite things to do now is playing with stuffed animals. She sits with them when she draws. She puts them in a bag or bucket and imitates going out shopping. She gives them a slipper or two to wear (picture). She pretends to brush their teeth or even take them to the bathroom!!

She's very attached to three of them in particular, and likes to take one with her when she goes to bed. Sometimes she asks for more than one, but I tell her that she can only take one and the rest will sleep downstairs. At least it helps her fall asleep at this point. It might not be the same way all the time...

最近のパイナップルのお気に入りは、ぬいぐるみと遊ぶことです。お絵描きをする時は一緒に座り、ぬいぐるみを袋やバケツに入れて買い物に行く真似をします。スリッパを履かせたり（写真）、歯を磨いてあげたりお風呂に連れて行こうとさえします！

その中でも特に３つのぬいぐるみが好きなようで、夜寝る時に布団に一緒に寝るのが好きです。たまに１つ以上のぬいぐるみを持って行きたいといいますが、一緒に寝るのは１つだけで他のぬいぐるみは下で寝るんだと私は言っています。今のところこれで寝てくれるので助かります。これからもいつもこうであるとは限りませんけどね・・・

fun at children's hall/児童館での楽しい時間

Pineapple looks forward to the "Children's Hall" at the neighborhood pre-school. It's open to the public and includes a half hour of activities for toddlers. She remembers the songs and dances that we play there, and does them at home as well. When we're getting ready to leave for the hall, she wants to go as soon as possible. Even on weekends when it's not open, she asks me to take her there!

My husband took the picture when he had a chance to visit before going to work. It was a treat to see him there for Pineapple, and she was very excited!

パイナップルは近所の児童館に行くのを楽しみにしています。そこでやる歌やダンスを覚え、家でもやるようになりました。児童館に行く準備をしていると、すぐにでも行きたいような素振りを見せます。週末で児童館はやっていない時でも、連れて行ってと言うほどなのです！

この写真は私の旦那が仕事に行く前に、様子を見に来た時に撮ってくれたものです。パイナップルにとって、児童館でお父さんの姿を見れたのは特別だったようで、とても興奮していました！

Valentine's Day 2/バレンタインデー２

Since my husband was busy yesterday, I did something different today. After lunch, we had chocolate fondue for dessert! I bought all the ingredients in advance, so it didn't take too much time to prepare. Pineapple was taking a nap that time, so we got to enjoy the dessert in a relaxed mood.

昨日は旦那が忙しかったので、今日ちょっと違ったことをしてみました。ランチの後、デザートにチョコレートフォンデュを食べたのです！食材は前もって買っておいたので、たいした準備はしないで済みました。パイナップルは昼寝中だったので、落ち着いた雰囲気でデザートを楽しみました。

Happy Valentine's Day!

My husband had to go to work in the afternoon, so he was kind enough to make breakfast this morning. He said that he would make pancakes. I didn't think much about it, but when he poured the batter onto the pan, it was pink! Then he shaped it into hearts!! He used strawberries to get the pink color. It was so nice. Pineapple and I enjoyed the Valentine pancakes so much that we didn't have lunch until 2:00.

旦那が今日の午後仕事に出なければならなかったので、朝食を作ってくれました。パンケーキを作ってくれると言いました。私は特に深く考えていませんでしたが、旦那がフライパンに種を流したらピンクだったのです！しかもハート形に型どってくれたのです！！ピンク色を出すために、イチゴを使っていました。とても美味しかったです。パイナップルと私はこのバレンタインパンケーキをたくさん食べたので、お昼ご飯を２時頃まで食べないでしまいました。

sorting beans/豆の選別

As most of you know already, my husband loves to cook and bake when he has time and energy. He baked bread two weeks in a row!! We're very happy that we get fresh baked bread so often. He likes to use whole wheat, soy beans, and black beans from my parents' farm.

Today, we found out that there are some kind of bugs in the bag full of soy beans. I helped sort out the beans from good to bad ones. I even found live bugs crawling around!! I guess that's going to happen with organic farming. In the picture you can see the holes they drilled in the beans.

ご存知の方も多いでしょうが、私の旦那は時間と気力がある時は料理をするのが大好きです。この２週間連続でパンを焼いてくれました。こんなにしょっちゅう焼きたてのパンが食べれるなんて幸せです。旦那は私の実家で取れた小麦や大豆、黒豆を使うのが好きです。

今日、大豆が入った袋に何らかの虫が入っているのに気がつきました。そこで私は豆を良いものと悪いものに分ける選別をしました。そのとき生きている虫が動き回っているのを見つけました！有機栽培だからこういうこともあるのでしょう。写真では、虫が豆に穴をあけたのが見えます。