Bonding for
Beginners by Suzanne Kamata. In this beautifully written short story, American writer Suzanne Kamata,
herself the mom of bicultural kids in Japan, presents a mother's struggles
with the unfamiliar customs at her daughter's kindergarten - from name-tag
perfectionism to a class sleepover and bath with the teacher - and her
gradual appreciation of the human kindness behind them.
2002
Archived Articles
July
Driving by Suzanne Kamata. Yvonne loves the new house she and her husband Ryu have purchased in Japan -- it is a "haven" where she can "be wholly herself." But then Ryu invites his widowed mother to consider moving in with them ... and Yvonne is paralyzed by visions of serving endless rounds of tea, driving Ryu's mother to all of her appointments, and having to follow Japanese rules of politeness every moment of the day. It doesn't quite work out that way, however, in Suzanne Kamata's witty and perceptive short story.
2001
Archived Articles
December
Out With a Bang by Kelly Bembry Midura. There are many ways to ring in the New Year, but finding your husband's corpse isn't usually in the party plan. Yet Foreign Service spouse Maggie Mulhall, the feisty heroine of author Kelly Midura's series of mini-mysteries, finds herself involved once again in the investigation of a suspicious embassy death.
December
Running... by Amanda Holmes. A story about a "trailing spouse," who does anything but trail.
2000
Archived Articles
August
How to Knit an Icelandic
Sweater by Kathryn Schmiel. For a newly-arrived expatriate, the
art of knitting opens the door to the local culture.
June
Love and Larceny in
Lusaka by Kelly Bembry Midura. Amateur sleuth Maggie Mulhall uncovers
the horrible secret behind the death of a Foreign Service secretary
in Zambia.
May
A Real Woman by Patricia
Linderman. Elizabeth adapts so well to each foreign post in succession
that in the end, nobody knows who she was ...
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