Rainy day play

We all needed something to do during the torrential rain that poured down all day yesterday. I wrote about travel toys between making puzzles and playing with Catie. Andy knit. We all went a little stir crazy. 

The rain caused enough flooding that we got a text from the authorities to excavate low lying areas (don’t worry, we are up pretty high). It actually took Andy a good 20 minutes to decipher the introduction to the text, during which he taught me how to use a Kanji dictionary. Kind of cool to know how to do, but painful to actually use! 

The whole concept of the government texting warnings like this is interesting. We got a text last week after the earthquake too. It makes us wonder what happens to the people who do not have cell phones. What about the homeless, poor, foreigners who cannot read Japanese? What if this were an evacuation for something else, like a nuclear disaster? Equally, why doesn’t the US use texting for warnings? These all seem like good things for Andy & his students to discuss in their disaster management class. 

In the afternoon, Yuki drove us over to a former host family’s house for a playdate with their 3-year old granddaughter, Angela. The daughter (Tomoko) married a Canadian and they are raising their child to be bilingual. It was a lot of fun and Catie was happy to play with Angela’s legos and Thomas keyboard. Angela was thrilled to see that Catie had curly hair. She too has curly hair, but is very concerned that her own hair is brown. Apparently brown curls are not acceptable to the Disney princess set. Damn Disney Princesses! I guess we should be happy that Catie has not been interested in them if they can affect a 3-year old’s self image. Angela and Catie both chatted non-stop, but rarely to each other. Overall, I think the playdate was a success. Plus, I loved getting to talk to another mom of a preschool age daughter! 

Tomoko was full of information about playgroups and how to get access to preschool playgrounds on certain times or days of the week. The city actually runs a permanent play area for preschool children and their families on the 4^th floor of a building downtown. You just have to register once and then you can use the facility as much as you want. I can’t wait to try it out! 

Living here has given me an even greater sense of empathy towards all the Japanese moms living in Richmond. It’s hard enough to live in a foreign country with a different language when you are alone, it’s a whole different situation when you have a young child to keep busy! I hope I can be as brave and strong as the ladies I’ve met in Richmond.