Thoughts from a young mother in a foreign metropolis

Sometimes life in the city can be overwhelming. Especially when your constant companion is a 18 month old-energetic-endlessly curious-little boy named Rowen. Coming from rural America, it has been an adjustment to say the least! When you plan to go somewhere, first you have to consider how you will get there-if you go by train or subway, you have to plan ahead and figure out where all of the elevator exits to the station are located in order to use the stroller. This can require a lot of extra walking and time because each station usually only has 1 elevator exit. Sometimes we drive when Jay (the family chauffeur) is available, but then you have to figure out where the pay parking lots are located, how much it will cost for the amount of time you'll be out, and whether it will be more economical to just take the train. If we drive somewhere, we can usually plan on stress levels being high due to the complexity of the roads here. There are very few roads with names-instead, intersections are given names. There are many narrow roads, winding mazes of one-way-streets, and toll expressways that you might not be able to get off of until you are half way to China.

I was going through a season of feeling sad for Rowen because he might not ever have a yard to play in. His childhood will look incredibly different than mine, or Jay's, or any average American kid. But he is creating his own childhood, and I've realized that just because it's different than what I experienced, doesn't mean that he's missing out. He has had many opportunities already that have been a lot of fun and uniquely urban.

We often go to play at the park. I usually meet several moms there, but 2 in particular have become good friends and have invited us to other play groups. It's a challenge for me to learn about play groups and other opportunities for Rowen due to my poor Japanese level, so I am so grateful for these kind mothers who have invited us to join them!

I wrote a post about this earlier, but I have been taking Rowen to a preschool play group that meets about 3 times a month. It's great for both of us! I can meet other moms and practice Japanese, learn Japanese kid songs, and have more clarity about the culture of being a mom in Japan. Rowen gets exposure to other kids and also loves playing with the toys there. I hope he's picking up a lot of language too. He isn't very verbal yet, so I hope that whenever he does start speaking, he'll have a lot of Japanese logged in his brain. He is very good at communicating with sign language, so that helps me to be able to care for his needs.

Rowen at the play group

After a recent season of discontent and homesickness, I am so grateful for what God is doing in my life. I am focusing on all of the positive things about city life (seriously, there are so many cool things about living in the city!). I am trying to be more proactive--taking initiative and looking for opportunities to teach Rowen and give him good experiences as an urban kid rather than letting each day slam into me like a tsunami of culture shock and regret that his life will be void of many of the pleasurable things from my own childhood. And most importantly, I am praying praying praying asking and wanting for God to be my true sense of joy and fulfillment. He is already all that I need. I mustn't forget that.