GOING DEEPER
Along with all the recipes, I also use this blog to share who I am as well as bits and pieces of my life and characteristic – from photos of my favorite trips, to reflections on life in the US, to life as a mom.
- Travel: My first country to visit was Hawaii with my family. Since then, I’ve been traveling as much as possible. The countries I’ve been to so far are: China, Taiwang, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Cambodia, Italy, Poland, Czech, Peru, Bolivia, Canada, Mexico and the US (Main land, Alaska, Guam and Hawaii). While we’re staying in the US, I’m trying to visit every state in the US with my family. So far, we have visited 26 states. Oh my gosh, I absolutely love to travel around the nation! You already have “the world” in the US. It’s very interesting to see different vibes, food and people in each state.
- Blog: I’ve been blogging on my Japanese website, “じゅんころのおいしいって幸せ” which is written only in Japanese. I usually get 300 views everyday, and most of my readers are mothers living in the Tochigi area. It always makes me happy to hear from a reader that she/he knew me before being friends here in the US. Please take a look at my life since 2008 if interested.
- Motherhood: In December 2012, we welcomed our first baby girl, Kaho. In November 2014, we happily expanded our family with our second girl, Waka. We named our daughters with the same meaning, “Moving forward beautifully,” by using Kanji characters. I’ve written a lot about them and my experiences with motherhood, which you can take a look at many of my videos and blog posts. Any questions about parenting are welcome!
PUBLIC RELATIONS JOB
I’m an only child. My parents spoiled me so much in my childhood that I don’t remember if I’ve ever been yelled at by my dad or my mom. So… yes, I was so spoiled that I thought I could do anything I wanted to do. However, I finally realized the world outside of my hometown when I got a job in public relations and started to live alone.
There was a senior coworker, Ms.N. She was a leader of my group and my boss. She was pretty frustrated by how rude I was even though I was not skilled at that time. Regardless, she tried to mentor me in my PR role. When I reflect back on it, she was very strict but I remember I still felt like she cared deeply for me. She taught me a myriad of business manners, as well as how to manage the tasks effectively and productively. Thanks to her strict but mindful coaching, I grew up so fast that I was in charge of large projects after just a few years, and I truly loved the job.
My PR job was all about planning and creativity. I would not say this field is easy but if you like to plan events and try new things, you definitely would like the job! As a result of my experience in PR, I became more creative and open to new opportunities.
MOVING INTO THE US
Now, I’m in the US. I had to quit the job that I loved and give up my career so I could move to the US with my family. Not all the things were good, but I had to be positive for my little ones. Everything was new to me. Sometimes I felt stressed and lonely, but it has always been fun to see a whole new world and meet new people. I started the group “Japanese Food and Yoga Lovers” on the Meetup app right after moving into the US to make friends. It became a great success. I’ve hosted around 200 events in two and half years, and it was an easy feat because I was just enjoying planning, meeting new members, and socializing. The number of members in the group grew to over 400. Then, suddenly the Covid-19 pandemic started in the US and we just had to stop “meeting up”. This has all led to the beginning of this web page. So here I go! I just created another page of my life now!
As I grew the group on the Meetup app, I decided to detail my journey publicly as somewhat of an “experiment.” The way in which you all make friends with a similar way of thinking, similar hobbies and similar experiences is AMAZING. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, what kind of background you have, how you look like, or how old you are. The similarities shared goes beyond all those differences. One of my dreams is hosting a worldwide event and offering an opportunity to gather the people from all over the world with similar ideas.
What I can do on this website is sharing easy-to-understand videos about Japanese culture, cooking, language, and yoga practice. I’d love to make an active community forum, like live monthly events where you can submit your questions and discuss the topics with others. In that way, you can find and connect with new friends (not only with me). I’m planning to hold some special events with regular members in the near future, maybe when Covid-19 is over. If you’re interested in learning more or becoming a supporting member, please CLICK HERE. Let’s keep in touch!!
