"Eric Takabayashi" <etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> wrote in message
news:3FC20727.E297EE4@yahoo.co.jp...
> The thought saddens me. I will have to teach my children to keep up their
> studies by themselves, or to be satisfied as they are without being
concerned
> about what people around them think, if I want to spend our "holidays" as
a
> family. I believe it will be difficult.
>
> How do other families handle this issue, particularly those who send their
> children to Japanese public school?

Well, Sage's school runs on the American schedule, so he gets the long
summer vacation and Christmas holiday. That's not an issue.

But when we went back for a month in July/August (including a week in the
Philippines), it was just too long. In the future, I don't plan on taking
trips longer than 2 weeks at a time, which should fit into even a Japanese
school schedule (although you will pay the megabucks for traveling AT THE
SAME TIME AS EVERYBODY ELSE AND THEIR GODDAM UNCLE).

We figure that if we want to spend longer than that in another place, we'll
move there for a year or two, although it's yet to be determined how we'll
do that with our current commitments. I don't relish moving ourselves, two
elderly parents, two dogs, two cats, and a hamster to some faraway place,
just to do it all again after a year or two.

Instead, I think I'll wait till our commitments are a bit lighters, the
mortage is paid off and the sprog has gotten the boot, before doing a little
globe trotting. I already told my wife, the 3 million yen we saved by
getting a 20-year loan is earmarked for the down payment on a sailboat. All
I have to do now is learn to sail over the next 20 years...

Until then, trips of 2 weeks or less is the call.

-- 
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom