nay participated in the blog interview. i have never done it before, so i signed up. here are her questions, and my answers:


1) Where and when did you meet your husband? Was it love at first sight?
yoshi and i met at a christmas party nearly six years ago. we met on december 22, had a 13 hour date on the 23rd, and he asked me to go to an onsen with him and his 'aunt' and asked to introduce me as his girlfriend. we've been together since then. as for love at first sight...i thought he was really hot when i met him, but i didn't fall in love right away. yoshi on the other hand.... ;)

2) When you first got married, how many children did you plan on having?

for a very long time i have wanted to have three children. both yoshi and i have good relationships with our siblings so yoshi, too, wanted at least two. but when we got married...i was already pregnant with hiro so we were having at least one!!

3) If you could change one thing in your life, what would you change?
when i was eighteen, i went to pennsylvania to be a nanny. basically, the other side of the country from my family. it didn't work out, and instead of expressing the reasons why (um, the mom was crazy!) i just said i was homesick and wanted to go home. it cost me $300. instead of crying about it and making myself feel bad, i decided right then and there to never regret anything i did in my life. i knew that i would make mistakes and sometimes there's nothing you can do but move on, and that's what i've done. so, in short, there's nothing in my life that i would change, i have no desire to. but i do wish i were thinner! lol

4) (this is a question I think about a lot)... Do you plan to stay in Japan indefinitely, or do you want to go home eventually?

this is a hard question to answer. i do see myself in japan indefinitely. i am thinking of following another foreign wife's plan of moving back 'home' after retiring, or when her husband dies. if yoshi and i grow old together, i hope that we can retire to a third country (he really loves australia, but i think that would be too expensive, but you never know). a lot depends on the children, though. where will they end up? japan? the US? europe? so for the moment, i see myself in japan for the long term.


5) Is there one item that you own, that you can't live without? Please explain.

ok, this was actually the hardest question to answer! i thought and thought and i just really couldn't come up with anything. the car would be the one thing i can't live without, but technically i don't own it. part of that has to do with the fact that i'm really bad with money (and so don't have my own), and part of that has to do with me living in japan. i don't own the house, i don't have anything but little superficial things. and i can live without the keitai, the computer (though at first it would be a wrench), we don't watch tv much and there just doesn't seem to be anything i wouldn't miss. even this house (though if i was homeless, i would miss it). but the car...i need it to 'escape'. i hate the watchful eyes that are all around in a neighborhood, and the need to talk to you about whatever it was someone saw you do. not that the person talking to you is trying to be spiteful, most likely they just wanted a conversation starter, but it's really embarrassing (for me) when someone comes up and says, 'so, did you enjoy your steak?' or 'i saw you walking yesterday morning. are you exercising to lose weight?' (actual questions asked in the past. mortifying!) the car takes me to other towns and cities where i actually become a bit anonymous. plus there's no starbucks in this town. ;)



Now it's your turn. If you want to be interviewed, leave me a comment including the words "Interview me." I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. If you don't have a valid email address on your blog, please provide one. You will update your blog with a post containing your answers to the questions. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.