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ようこそ Welcome
What is rightricepaddy.com? It is a place for resources, education, and inspiration for those who straddle the American and Japanese worlds.
Continue reading “ようこそ Welcome”
Summer in Japan: The heat brings sweet treats.
Grace = I can wear heals!
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For an American woman, I am not that tall. According to a quick and totally reliable Google search, I am exactly the national average of 163 cm (approx. 5 feet and 4 inches). However, this compared to the same extraordinarily scholarly quick Google search, the average Japanese woman is 158 cm (approx. 5 feet, 2 inches), which means that I am usually one of the tallest women in the room.
This has been my experience, and as I happen to also be Caucasian, standing out,
(pun intended) even more than I naturally do, is something I have tried to avoid. (Perhaps I should mention I live in Japan)
My Son Who
This poem is inspired and modeled after the poem Abuelito Who by Sandra Cineros.
https://mrsbraman.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/sandra-cisneros.pdf
My son who is Japanese
My son who is American
Who is both and neither, because he is himself
Mommy`s treasure whose hair is rabbit-silk
Whose uncle nicknamed him Tater and it stuck, so now he’s my little Tater Tot and Potato too
Whose laugh is bright and sparkles
Who has his daddy’s oriental eyes and surprisingly mommy’s occidental coloring
Seeing me in the doorway, clambers over, mouth wide in endearing honest elation
And whines until I pick him up because his gums hurt
Who has one tooth
Who steals my sleep but gives me the drive to get up again and again and yet again
Who is the reason I work and the reason I want to be home
Who’s my shadow and whose snow-tread-crunch like diaper is my soundtrack
Talks with “Ba`s” and “Woo who uh`s,” but communicates with his eyes
My son who was in my body
Who will be in my arms tonight,
Is often on my mind
And always in my heart
My son who is loved