At the time of writing this article, I’ve been living without social media for 3 years and without a smartphone for 2 years. Everything started as an experiment motivated by my privacy concerns.

1. Tagged with
2. social media
3. privacy

• 🏫 Leo is officially an elementary school student. We all got dressed up and attended his entrance ceremony – it was a first for both of us. Before entering the school, we received the class list and Leo is in the same class with his good friends from his pre-school (🎉). We immediately left him there and went to the gym where they had chairs setup for parents and students and it was decorated with some nice flowers.
  
  The ceremony itself was short and sweet. They (someone, not the students) sung the national anthem and the Yokohama city song. One thing I really liked was that it wasn't just teachers, parents, and students in attendance. The local neighborhood association heads also attended, which really gives you the sense that education, at least at the primary school age, really is a community thing. 
• 🌸 Cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Yokohama and Tokyo this week. They were later than they have recently, but more inline with when they "should" be blooming. Bonus points for the rain holding off so that we could get  photos in front of cherry blossoms during Leo's entrance ceremony all dressed up with his friends.
  

  

• 🤑 When I lived in the US, while I wasn't into churning credit cards to maximize points / miles, but I at least put everything on a decent card and the miles paid for a number of international and domestic trips. Points on Japanese cards aren't nearly as good, but I know I can do better than the Amazon card and getting Amazon points (that can't be converted to anything). The "best"-ish card seems to be the Marriot Bonvoy AMEX, as you get a free night per year, the points don't expire, and they can easily be converted to miles for any airline. 
  
  Unexpectedly, I was approved! This is the first time I've been approved for a credit card that I really wanted in Japan. It only took me having PR and a gold license to prove I'm a trustworthy gaijin.
• ⛺️ Later this month we have some plans to BBQ with some friends at their house. Leo's quite excited about this and wanted to BBQ at our house tonight...with 5 minutes notice right at dinner time. We came to a compromise that we could eat outside on the balcony. We took out our camp chairs and tables and enjoyed  dinner, just before it got dark.
  
  I must say, it was a nice change of pace. The weather is warm up now days that it's also feasible. It reminded me quite a bit of life during the pandemic as well – finding ways to be outside and socially distanced and just something to break up the monotony. We should do this again...but with twinkle lights!