Maloney Adventures: Sayonara friends

We have discovered that the life of an expat is quite an emotional roller coaster. We all cried last summer as we told our family and friends goodbye before leaving Cincinnati. We cried for a while after arriving in Kobe because we missed our family and friends, our home, football, reading signs in English, …. Our life in the US. Then, we started making friends, enjoying the Canadian Academy school and the adventures that we were experiencing while living in Japan. However, May arrived. The tears began again as we had to say goodbye to friends who were leaving their expat assignments in Japan either to go on to new assignments or to return home. There were parties, lunches, happy hours, Sayonara dolls to sign. This time, we were saying goodbye to folks that we may never see again. The bonds you form here are very strong as we are instant family, and we can stay in touch via facebook. Yet, the reality is that everyone moves on with his/her new lives, new jobs, new friends and the miles apart are real. So, yes, May and early June were pretty sad. Yet, we were also happy to be heading home to Cincinnati for 6 weeks! Did I mention the emotional roller coaster? One thing I have noticed as an expat (and have discussed with many of the expat moms) is that the “highs” are higher and the “lows “are lower than ever before. I am not sure why. Maybe we tend to wear our hearts on our sleeves a little more being so far away from home.

Temple Sale and margaritas

Sayonara party at Macsys

In addition to all of the goodbyes, we had some fun. I got to go to Fushimi Inari with some friends. Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head shrine of Inari, located in Kyoto. The shrine sits at the base of a mountain also named Inari, and includes trails up the mountain to many smaller shrines. Since in early Japan Inari was seen as the patron of business, each of the Torii is donated by a Japanese business. Importantly, Inari is the god of rice. Merchants worship Inari for wealth. As for the 6 of us, well, we just enjoyed the beauty of walking through the torii gates up the mountain path. We were also very popular with the Japanese middle school students! They enjoyed practicing their English skills on us, so we were stopped several times for interviews and pictures. :)

Jessica finally got into a gymnastics program on the Island. We had been told last fall that there were no openings for her age group. So, with April as the start of the Japanese school year, the gymnastics school had try outs. We got Jessica all signed up, and the big bonus is that she gets to participate in the group with her 9 year old friend Isabella. The bonus for me is that I get to catch up with my friend (and Isabella’s mom) Cassia every Tuesday night!

Matthew and Jessica performed in the piano recital organized by their piano teacher Otake-san. They both played great and looked just gorgeous!

On the opposite end of gorgeous, however, was Matthew’s role as the Trunchbull in the 4th grade play! The play consisted of scenes from different Raoul Dahl’s books, including Matilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, George and the Marvelous Medicine, etc. Matthew had a great British accent and did an awesome job as mean principal Trunchbull from Matilda. He even walked along the front row of the audience of other students, pointing and saying things like “You, grow up faster!, You, detention!” I think Matthew had a lot of fun being in character! ☺

Matthew as Trunchbull

Jacob concluded his first year of middle school sports with volleyball. The Canadian Academy has finished first in its league in baseball, basketball, and soccer. They did not do so well in the volleyball tournament. Yet, Jacob really enjoyed learning a new sport and, of course, hanging out with his middle school friends. All 3 kids finished the school year with terrific report cards, good friends, and a whole lot of memories!