Yesterday I posted about how I appreciate America and our veterans. I am also very thankful for other countries.

I was born in Japan. And I lived there for 3 years during kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade. Here are some random things I love about Japan:

- Squid jerky. They sell this stuff alongside potato chips and other snacks. It's like beef jerky, but sweeter. And made of squid.

- An appreciation of nature. I think Japanese people appreciate nature like no other people. I have some traditional Japanese woodblock prints of trees hanging in my house. The artist who created these focussed almost exclusively on trees his entire career. They are some of my favorite works of art.

- Late night lantern festivals. I loved going to the park at night with all the paper lanterns, listening to the Taiko drummers, playing games, and winning goldfish.

- It seems to me that Japanese people are super well educated, super precise, and super clean. When I'm looking for woodworking inspiration on YouTube I like to watch JSK-koubou.

- My family and I love the Miyazaki films. I especially love My Neighbor Totoro. I wish cat busses were real.

- An appreciation of quiet peace. One of my kindergarten classes always began with all of us sitting in a circle on the floor. The teacher would ring a small bell and it was our job to keep our eyes closed and listen until we couldn't hear the bell anymore.

I am thankful to have experienced a bit of Japan. And I'm thankful for a lot of other countries and cultures. I'm a little bit worried about an America First isolationist policy. To me it sounds arrogant at best, and at worst it sounds recklessly selfish. I'm thinking about how much I appreciate our democracy and freedoms and how much other democracies, like Ukraine, need help, not abandoning. I'm worried that deporting immigrants will cost a fortune and cause far more harm than good to our country. I'm sad that people believe things like "They are eating our cats." I'm sad that the new position of "border czar" (Czar is another word for Caesar, BTW) will be held by a man who started a needlessly cruel policy of separating children from their parents. Unless you are a Native American, there's a good chance your ancestors, your family, came to America, without permission.

I know this post is taking a turn many won't appreciate. I hope you'll remember we're talking about real people - families, children.

I'm posting a picture from my Japanese kindergarten yearbook. It's the original social media platform! Complete with "likes" and posts in the margin!