Samuli is just getting ready for another day in Tokyo - Riikka and the kids are sound asleep in Helsinki getting ready for another schoolday in 6 hours.
This video captures the duality of Tokyo, it was this duality that made me love Tokyo since my very first visit in 2004.
Beautiful and ugly, old and new, back streets and high streets, calm and busy, shiny and rusty, commercial and zen ... and the sound of semi at the very end - urban nature.
Huomaan usein samaistuvani oudolla tavalla Ismo Alangon teksteihin. Tähän päivään sopii parhaiten pätkä Hassisen Koneen ajoilta:
Ja mä kävelen tätä tyhjää tietä
taloon, jota kodiksi kutsutaan
vaikka siellä ei ole minulle ketään
olen yksin tällä tyhjällä tiellä
olen yksin tällä tyhjällä tiellä
tällä tiellä
tällä tiellä
Tällä Tiellä
I just watched this amazing video and want to dedicate it to the people at MST who provided great education to our children during the past 3,5 years. A BIG THANK YOU to Pete & Mariko, Lynn, Jere & Lynn, James, Minako, Naoko & Nadine, Zach, Patrick, Laurie, Miho, Shukuko, Emi and others who supported them!
See also:
Square root of 646416 and counting 4132+4325 (in Finnish)
Birthday Story: Aura
Logic break
Aura concentrating (see May image)
Book review
Model of MST Upper EL 2006-2007 (special feature: the making of)
Finland class
Periodic table of Elements (by a fourth grader - third grader in Finnish system)
This morning I read from the front page of Daily Yomiuri that:
The Democratic Party of Japan likely will include a policy of raising disposable household income by 20 percent in its manifesto for the next House of Representatives election...
The party plans to achieve the proposed increase by reducing the cost of living through means such as making high school education free. It also will increase direct financial support to households, such as providing a monthly child benefit payment of 26,000 yen for every child until graduation from middle school.
...
Sounds good and quite familiar - in Finland all education is free by constitution and child benefit of about 100 euro is paid until the child turns 17.
See also previous blog posts about Entrance exams to primary schools and about How do we educate our children.
Tokyo summer is approaching, it's not yet too hot, but the humidity is really high. You can not avoid getting sweat just by being outside.
There is so much humidity in the air, that you can not see far. But better that than the grey skies in Korea I saw during the past couple of days.
She took us to places like Odawara, Disneyland, Finland Village, again, again, again, again and again, and Hakone.
She never let us down - in town, on the highway, and not even in the toughest conditions!
She had plenty of room to transport furniture or bicycles.
She had two extra seats to fit our friends to take them places like Disneyland with Grandma and Grandpa, Finland Village and Mt Fuji with Samuli's aunt and her family, Hakone with Grandma and Grandpa, fishing with Grandpa, Finland Village with Michael and Sonoko, or Hakone and Mt Fuji with Jonni and Mannu.
After 12 years and only 40 500 kilometers she is in very good shape to spend her retirement days most likely in Russia, Pakistan or some other exotic destination.
We will miss our Old Faithful Toyota Ipsum!
Sunnuntaiaamu on ollut sateinen ja näkymä ikkunoistamme on varsin harmaa. Viime viikon muuton jäljiltä olemme kaikki uupuneita ja päivän suurin ponnistus on sunnuntailounas jossain lähiseudun ravintolassa.
We participated the 10th TELL Charity Walk and Runathon! Samuli ran two laps around the Imperial Palace (10 km), Riikka walked one lap with the kids. It was +24C and we really enjoyed it!!
Samuli going along his own path.
Downhill in the beginning.
Imperial palace gate.
"I am thirsty!"
"I am flying!"
Aura finishing the race (Oskari finished 15 minutes earlier).
We did it!
We all did it!
Oskari took a closer look at my old picture and saw an Easter Witch flying by the moon.
Oskari katsoi vanhaa kuvaani tarkemmin ja näki noidan lentävän kuun editse.
Hyvää Pääsiäistä - Happy Easter!
We went for a walk on this sunny Sunday afternoon. The neighbourhood has several coin laundries, like this "USA Coin Laundry", and people hang their laundry to dry on the balconies or outside their windows. It's very typical scenery in Japan.
Syksy on parasta aikaa Tokiossa. Ilma on kuulas ja kuiva. Illat ja yöt alkavat olla viileitä - marraskuu Tokiossa on hieman kuin syyskuu Suomessa.
