Click
to enlarge.Emails from Kirsten and Naoto
September 2004
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2004 22:20:52 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Chechnya
Today I finally sat down at the computer and looked up the Chechnya hostage crisis. And I cried.
I'd been hearing "Did you hear about the school in chechnya?" and "all those kids..." from people for a while.
Truth to be told, I was too scared to look it up. When it's children on the news, I only see Maika and Mia's faces. And then my heart aches and I find it hard to breathe.
And then I want to turn away and not look and not acknowledge that the world holds such horror.
The situation in Chechnya; where human rights are being violated, isn't an excuse for producing the kind of militant that perpetrated this terrible crime. But doesn't it remind you of Israel and Palestine? or Afghanistan? or Rwanda?
When people are repressed, it seems to me that they learn how to be inhumane.
One of the Chechnya militants was quoted saying "They killed my children (speaking of Russia) now I have nothing to lose"
There is no excuse for using children as hostages.
Never.
Period.
Yet...
How can we all act so surprised and innocent when we condone the repression that molds people into child murderers?
How can we act so surprised and innocent when people, who are repressed as a result of the U.S.'s action or inaction (yes, I include sins of omission here) become the kind of people who wish us harm?
I don't believe people are so irrational that they just decide to become terrorists one day. Maybe there a few people like that in the world, people who truly desire to harm others. But generally speaking, I think terrorists are made, not born.
So where does that leave us? Not anywhere easy or complacent, eh?
It leaves us with the responsibility to do something. To protest the human rights violations in Chechnya
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/russia/chechnya/
To donate to organizations that monitor human rights.
To use our votes (yes, I know I said this already, but it bears repeating) for peace.
I just donated to my favorite organization, a home for street children in Mongolia.
http://www.lotuschild.org
It's a very little thing, really, and doesn't help people in Chechnya or Afghanistan.
But it does make the lives of some children a little better. Maybe.
And when it comes down to comparisons, my life and that of my family is truly blessed:
a home, jobs, health care, abundant food, and excellent coed education
This email list is often the vehicle for my complaints. But, truly, I am blessed and have much to be thankful for.
kirsten
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2004 17:39:54 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Now for something completely different
Dear Friends and Family
Someone remarked in an email to me that my emails have been kind of heavy lately.
Whoops. Sorry. Lots of life and death and value stuff on my mind because of Maika, I believe. (also the whole stay at home mom thing does tend to bring up issues)
Anyway, we've decided after much debate (actually only I was debating myself, naoto pretty much already knew, I think) that Mia is going to Japanese kindergarten as of April of next year. I considered many pros and cons about international schools, her age, etc (in Japan most children start kindergarten at age 3 although compulsory schooling is not until 5) and have decided to send her to Tama Midori kindergarten.
The biggest pro being that Tama Midori is right across the street.
Mia's freaking me out with how grown up she is getting. She busts out with complete English phrases now and then like "it's been a long time since we saw that" or "weeping willow tree, just like in boowa and kwala".
Maika is smiley smiley smiley smiley. She wakes up smiling. She loves looking at herself/you in the mirror. If she's upset (which she rarely is, maybe only 4 times in her whole life) if you go to the mirror it calms her down. She is grabbing things and holding them now.
She also likes to talk. She will talk to anybody. Or if noone is nearby, she will talk to the floor/couch/wall.
Now For something completely different
I don't have an overall theme today, just some bits and pieces that struck me in the past few weeks.
Naoto wore a suit this week because he was going to a client's office. He is getting ribbed mightily by his coworkers. (along the lines of "whose funeral?")
A visiting HR guy from Cognos in Ottawa is his best friend. They talk sports together, as well as comment about management.
This HR guy told Naoto that Cognos Japan is the quietest office he's ever seen. While Naoto was gone one day last week, apparently due to a typhoon it rained really heavily for about 10 minutes.
The HR guy said all of a sudden the whole office went to the windows and went crazy. He said it was the most excited he's ever seen the office!
Yikes.
Speaking of typhoons, I know Florida's taking a terrible pounding. But in the past week Japan's had two major earthquakes and two major typhoons. (as well as some ash and smoke from a volcano)
And I worry about getting hit by buses on the narrow streets. What am I worried about? Living here, nature'll get me long before humans!
Just to give you a taste of the craziness that is my life (sorry dad and linda, I already told you this story)...
The German lady who is coming to help take care of Mia and I took the kids to a children's center on Tuesday.
I saw an obviously non-Japanese woman standing in the hall and so went to introduce myself. (being American and the daughter of John Lincoln really gives me no choice about stuff like that)
It turns out she's Brazilian.
She speaks Portuguese, a little Japanese, and a little English. So I called over Suzanne (my german lady) because Suzanne is married to a Sansei (third generation) Japanese man from Brazil.
Suzanne speaks English, German, and a little Portuguese.
So we three stood there speaking English, Japanese, Portuguese, and my Spanish trying to weave little bits of languages together to create a conversation.
It was totally freaky. I bet we scared off every Japanese mother within a 10 mile radius of that hallway.
Sigh.
And finally, I am convinced there is an entire generation of grandchildren from Higashimurayama (my city) that is from the States.
Why do I say this?
It seems like every time I sit down with Mia and/or Maika outside, some old lady comes by and starts saying stuff like "oh I wish I knew English so I could talk to you" (which annoys me right away because OF COURSE there's no way I would speak Japanese, right? I have round eyes, I couldn't speak Japanese) "my daughter/son is in California/Utah and I went there to visit and I couldn't speak to my grandchildren." and "oh woe is me for not learning English"
I mean, what do you say to that as you try to keep Mia from getting chocolate all over her face or breastfeed Maika?
"Gee, that's nice. I'm sorry you don't speak English, too. Excuse me while I TAKE CARE OF MY CHILDREN you stranger." (and if it's a guy, add here "AND STOP SMOKING AROUND MY BABY")
I tell you, where are all the Japanese old ladies with Japanese grandchildren? Why does everyone in this city have a foreign daughter/son in law?
And why do they always want to talk about it to me?
love and light,
Kirsten
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