Approximate normalcy...

This post is mainly for you folks being doused in cable news over in the states. We are still sad here, and still alert. Yet we also continue to be more than 500km away from Fukushima, and still Southwest. (Unfortunately, that means The Plume, if there is one, is going to California, not Kyoto) (And at the risk of spreading more fear, it would be very dilute!)

Some of you may enjoy this cartoon depiction of the nuclear event. We sure did.

In the meantime, here are a few simple images of our day. Nothing special--but that's the point.

I bought this at the grocery store. I couldn't resist:

Alek didn't like it.

Max, however, really did.

It wasn't sparkling soy sauce (my first guess). It was sparking soy milk.

We have a new bakery down the street called Panda. This place is helping me pack on a few extra kilos in time for spring. We tried their cinnamon buns today and they are awesome!!!

Later, the boys and I went to the sanjo shotengai park. We hung out and watched them shooting a scene for a TV show or movie.

Then we found the most amazing pizza place! Cozy decor and fabulous pizza.
We each got the lunch set for 900 yen (salad, pizza, drink). I asked Alek to tell me how much our bill would be. He said, and I will try to quote:

"That's 9 multiplied by 4, right? OK. So 6 plus 6 plus 6 is 18, that's two nines. Plus three is 21, that's 2 and one-third nines. Plus six is 27, right? OK. So then one more nine. That would be" (fingers come out at this point) "28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36!" Max and I can't stop laughing. Then he adds, "But in thousands! So 3600 yen!"

Not sure WHAT he is learning at that school but it sounds very complicated....

heart and head

As the news gets worse, we are still moving on day to day. In Kyoto, we are very far from the Fukushima power plants, so in my head, I feel safe. But the more I watch the news, the more I feel sad and scared. In Kyoto we are more likely to be hit by a car (heaven forbid!) than affected by errant radiation--we are far away, and we are West. You can worry about us, but you should also know that we will come home if the embassy feels we are unsafe.

Even if it weren't for the power plants, the news from Tohoku gets worse and worse. People in Kyoto are walking around, going to the supermarket, pretending to work. Plum blossoms are out. School is on. But we are all sad and distracted.

Alek decided to gather together some clothes that are too small. He will take them to school for a collection they are planning.

Not only that, he folded them all himself. Which one makes me more proud?