BAMBI Magazine September 2026

View BAMBI Magazine September 2026.pdf

Dear BAMBI families,

I hope everyone had a fulfilling summer break. As the academic year starts this month, many families may already be shifting gears—our theme for this issue. When I think of my own life, the biggest shift was not only becoming a parent, but also changing my whole style of living.

Before having a child, I had spent many years in Bangkok, with my days shaped by my own interests, social life, and familiar routines. I had always imagined that becoming a parent would make my world smaller and more private. Instead, it made my life more shared. One of the most unexpected parts was living in a shared home with friends I had known before giving birth and watching my child grow up surrounded by adults outside our little family. They read him books, shared snacks, listened to his little stories, and simply greeted him warmly when they came home.

I had unconsciously imagined a more typical family life: parents and a child, a private home, and clear boundaries between family and others. It was a model I had often seen in my hometown, Tokyo, and in many other modern cities. But life in Bangkok showed me a different way. For my son, my friends became familiar adults who were neither relatives nor teachers, but people who naturally belonged to his everyday world. Our Thai nanny also helped him connect with the warmth of local Thai communities that I cannot reach on my own.

This lifestyle gave both me and my son a wider sense of belonging. It showed me that there is more than one way to build a family life. I came to realize that shifting gears for me meant widening the circle around our family, while the Bangkok expat environment offered us the opportunity to discover this.

As a Me-Time Coordinator, I hope our events can offer parents a similar kind of experience: a chance to explore beyond our familiar interests, meet people from different backgrounds, and discover new ways of belonging. I look forward to seeing you there.

Tomomi Furuyama

Me-Time Coordinator