Living In Japaaaaaaan!

The title of this is totally supposed to be sung out loud like James Brown's "Living in America" by the way. I live in Japaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!

I actually can't believe it. After three epic visits and falling in love, I'm here. Hopefully for good, cuz my love and I are fully "90 Day Fiancé-ing" it and this girl is gonna live happily ever after thankyouverymuch.

Not gonna lie, a LOT has happened in order to get here. I brought a dog and a cat for example, which was about 7 months of work ahead of time and I had to get a few things squared away so I can get married. I also had to sell off a ton of my stuff, take a leave of absence from my job and sublet my apartment. In other words, this last 6+ months has made me adult like I've never adulted before. BUT I GOT IT DONE AND HI, I'M HERE.

The jetlag is real and happening. The shock is real and happening. The pets are happy to be with me but also like "NANDE YA NEN!" (aka WHAT THE HECK) and I don't blame them. Basically, I dunno what is gonna happen either but I'm really excited to be living my dreams which includes marrying my dream man.

I'm going to keeping this blog up to date with all my shenanigans here, and answer some of the most random things you've ever wanted to know about Japan. I'll write about; general day to day life, random wackiness, how to bring pets here (as in, not just the process but what it's actually like going through the quarantine), what having pets in Japan is like, getting married, DJ'ing, shopping, and basically just existing as a half black Canadian woman living in Japan.

You dig? Stay tuned. I'm here now! And follow my adventures on Instagram @fujiiyamamama

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Yoshi's First Holidays!

The doorbell rang, pin pon! Who could it be? I grabbed Yoshitora and ran to the door. The camera was ready. It was Santa and Rudolph! They were making their Christmas Eve rounds and decided to pay a special little boy a personal delivery for his first Christmas. The bewildered Yoshi didn't really know what was going on, but Santa didn't miss a beat. He informed Yoshi that tonight was Christmas Eve and that Yoshi had been a very good boy. So good that Santa had brought him a special gift. He reached into his sack and pulled out a large present. We took pictures, and I profusely thanked the incredibly wholesome Santa and Rudolph for making this night so special. Christmas isn't a huge deal in Japan. It's not a holiday and is celebrated more like Valentine's Day as opposed to what I'm used to in the west. Typically couples go out on a date while families keep it low-key with one or two presents for the kids and a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Jesus is largely a

Inaka Life

We both sighed heavily. We were next in line but the senior woman ahead of us and the cashier were having a lively chat, disregarding the time it was taking to finish checking out. My husband, Yasu and I weren’t in any particular rush ourselves, but waiting was frustrating. Yasu mumbled something about them needing to hurry up before catching himself. “Wait.” He said, “they aren’t wrong. We’re wrong. We need to slow down, like them. That’s inaka life.” I nodded in wise agreement. It was the first of many times we’d been reminded to slow down since moving out to the Japanese countryside. It’s been two months since moving to Eiheiji, Japan; famous for its temple and the slogan “Zen: Do you feel it?”. We arrived from Osaka without an ounce of zen in our bones and made the decision that needed to change. That wasn’t the only thing due to change though; two city folks moving out to the country meant a lot of adjustments were going to have to be made. Our local train station, very differ

Yoshi's First Cherry Blossoms

It’s the best time of the year here in Japan - sakura season! Coming from Toronto where there are only a couple of crowded spots to see the cherry blossom trees, living in Japan has made me spoiled. Here, the cherry blossoms are everywhere; in parks to parking lots - I can see them no matter where I look. One of the most time tested traditions is hanami (admiring the blossoms) and this is usually done by gathering under the cherry blossom trees to indulge in food and drink. It’s one of my favourite leisure activities and this year I was able to bring Yoshitora to indulge as well. I didn’t explore as many places as I did in previous years but went to two pivotal spots in Osaka; Mt. Showa and Osaka Castle Park. Photo: Brooke Fromm-Sarto First, Yoshi’s papa and I took him to Mt. Showa, a man made mountain not too far from us. Built in 1970, Mt. Showa is 108ft tall, offering a great view of the city as well as the nature within. This was Yoshi’s first chance to see the blossoms up close a

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