Recently Kumiko Ekstedt and I recorded an episode for her podcast in Japanese: Sweden NOW!: Kumiko's (basement) room.
It's been a while since I have spoken in Japanese on a podcast, but it was a lot of fun to talk about how I choose to live in Japan and I continue to choose that every day. And as we approach the 13th anniversary of 3-11, in particular, I choose to live in Fukushima.
We talk a lot about the struggle to adapt to one of the most Japanese of all Japanese environments: a public junior high school, as an incredibly poorly paid contract teacher 20 years ago. Also what it feels like to be constantly out of step when everyone else knows all the dance moves - this is how I experience being a parent in Japan. Thankfully I had two children because I get to use everything I learnt the first time round for the second time round. However, the second child recently went off script and insisted on joining a baseball team while the first child is now set to become a volleyball team member. Send help.
Listen here: