We have a Cul-de-sac

So, we live in a building with 50 floors. You can imagine that there are a lot of people in our building. One of the things I have missed most about not living in America right now is our cul-de-sac. We had a fabulous little cul-de-sac in a quaint little neighborhood with a Kroger and Chinese take-out within a five minute walk. We loved the privacy of our street and the seclusion it provided, the fabulous neighbors who looked after your home when you were out of town, and the safety it provided as our kids would grow up and play outside. I have complained a lot during our time in Tokyo of missing a neighborhood, a back yard, a place where I can just let the kids run with good neighbors to look after them. Well, funny thing, I have those things right here in Tokyo. They do not look the same as they would in the US. But, my backyard, well, it is the nikai (2nd floor) park right behind our building. I do not have to even go on a main road to get to two different playgrounds, full of swings, slides, and a great open space to kick a ball or play baseball. And neighbors, well, over the course of the last year, I have made some fabulous neighbors. Last year when we started yochien, we met a little boy who had just moved to Tokyo from Hokkaido. He and Miss M hit it off in school and we learned that he lives right above us on the 49th floor. Over the course of the past year, we have started playing more with him even though Miss M is no longer in yochien. It has turned into a weekly Tuesday late afternoon play date with typically four families, 3 of which live in our building. There are four moms drinking tea and 10 kids running around every Tuesday afternoon at 4909 Harumi View Tower. It is so fun to watch the kids play together. Miss M speaks Japanese with them and the moms and I speak a mix of English and Japanese. The K Man is the baby of the group but he LOVES hanging out with the big boys. A few weeks ago we invited all of the families including husbands over for a little party. We still had the Super Bowl DVRed on our Sling box so we told them they could watch American football. We all made appetizers and snacks and ordered pizza. It was crazy...18 people in our tiny apartment...kids jumping on beds...but boy was it fun. And after I cleaned up and plopped myself on the couch in sheer exhaustion, I looked at the hubs and said, "we have a cul-de-sac, the Japanese version of a cul-de-sac." I believe we are meant to live in community. And I am learning that community comes in different shapes and forms. Our cul-de-sac in Tokyo looks a lot different than our cul-de-sac looked like in the United States. But it is still a cul-de-sac, our Japanese cul-de-sac, with a backyard park and neighbors who take care of you and look after your family.