“I’m from Lithuania and he’s from Nepal. We met while studying in Japan. We never thought we’d stick around after graduating from university, let alone start a family in our adopted country. It’s kinda weird raising what people these days call ‘third culture kids’. Our eldest attends Japanese school and it can get tricky sometimes. She wonders why we don’t always observe local customs and traditions like her classmates do. An example is when three-year-old girls visit a shrine or temple in November to pray for health and give thanks to the gods. She asks us, ‘Why do other kids get to dress in a kimono and I don’t?’ So I think we’re gonna have a long talk about identity and all that stuff. Good thing she’s very perceptive.”