I am a parent currently living in Japan. I am not Japanese person, I moved here with my family and very much enjoy living and working here. I maintain a variety of websites, but I wanted to have a space where I could share ideas and information about being a parent here in Japan. So I’ll use this little part of my bigger site.
I know some of the ideas I have on here have been echoed on various websites and social media places before. However, my intent is not to supplant any other source of information, but to simply add my thoughts and ideas into the conversation.
The first thing you should understand is what I mean by ESID. ESID is a life principle. I first learned of it here in Japan, however it applies to all walks of life. ESID stands for “Everyone’s Situation is Different”. I don’t think anyone knows who came up with it (although feel free to enlighten me), but it covers something that is keenly felt by those who have one set of similar circumstances, but all the rest completely different.
Here is what it means to me and what my purposes are for using it for my website. One, I might make a claim for something in a post, maybe, “My child wears a school uniform.” I may then get a numerous number of comments stating that “My child doesn’t wear a uniform.” or “In my city there are no uniforms.” I know, I know, however, in my experience, and in my situation, my child wears a uniform. I am writing about my experience, and what I have experienced. I may say, “a Japanese temple is a very peaceful place”. This is because, from my experience, in my situation, I have experienced only peace during my temple visits.
Many parents, when moving to Japan ask, “what can I expect for this” and “what can I expect for that”. Those of us here can advise them, however, in the end, their situations, while in some ways might be similar, in many ways will be completely different.
Face it, it’s a human world, and your interactions and situation will be characterized by the human interactions that you have as you tread through life. Hopefully you encounter more nice people than not.
Click through the listed posts, or find a tag on a topic you need from the word cloud. And, feel free to email any questions you may have, I’ll try to direct you towards somewhere where you can find an answer.
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