School update

A note about the kids' schools:

Lucinda's first 10 days at Nishimachi International School have gone very well, and I'm encouraged that she'll feel fully integrated into her new surroundings, with her new classmates, in the next month or so.

Lucinda, at 5, can be stubborn about small things when she feels anxious about changes in her life, which generates a certain amount of drama. This is true even though she usually enjoys whatever she tries, whether it's a playdate with a new friend, or eating sushi or seaweed.

We weren't sure how she would handle the start of kindergarten in Tokyo because she loved Parkside, her Seattle pre-K, and misses her Seattle friends and the rhythm and familiarity of the games she played with them.

To our delight and relief, though, Lucinda has been totally mellow about school here, ready to get dressed and out the door in the morning, and joyfully talks about the reading/math/art/music/Japanese skills she's tried that day. (On Friday she made clay in her first pottery class.) Her teacher, Penelope Amies, seems warm and plugged into the kids, and we are gratified that the good-for-Lucinda vibe we got from our visit to Nishimachi in June matches the reality in September.

Arno, who will be 3 in November, has started a bilingual (English-Japanese) program at the Willowbrook International School. He is in the "Umi" (Ocean) class, where the teachers speak English in the morning and Japanese in the afternoon. To symbolize the language change, the teachers Makiko and Sharee hang Japanese tapestries outside the door and in the classroom.

Arno is an easygoing kid, and he's been cheerful when I drop him off for his first days of school. He clings a bit, then trades his Crocs for his yellow, Velcro-ed New Balance "indoor shoes" - how Japanese! - and scans the small classroom for something to engage him. One day it was the astronaut costume, and another day, when the teachers put homemade red playdoh on the art table, Arno grabbed a big hunk of it and said, "Bye, Mom." No drama there.