That is February done and dusted for 2023! It was a short month so it crept up on me fast. I had a glorious February birthday month full of celebrations and love and caring from friends and family and felt blessed.

My home country of New Zealand has suffered devastating damage with successive flooding and extensive burden to more than 300,000 households in the Gisborne and Hawkes Bay regions from the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle. If you enjoy wine from Hawkes Bay and fruit and other produce from Gisborne you will know these areas are rural and the livelihoods of the people there will be affected. If you are interested in supporting I encourage you to visit the New Zealand Embassy, Tokyo Facebook page for a list of organisations that are accepting relief funds. Also two of our guests on the Jandals in Japan Podcast, Adam Hall and Don Roxburgh have put together a “Kiwi Bundle” of lovely NZ products that you can purchase. All sales in March go to New Zealand Red Cross and a grass-roots support group in Gisborne called SuperGrans. Click on the flyer attached and purchase to support. Every little bit helps!

In other news these are some wrap-up highlights from the month of February! 

• I spent a gorgeous afternoon at the Shangri La Hotel with lovely girlfriends for a Birthday afternoon tea. The bonus that day was it snowed. The only day this year that I have seen snow so that was an unexpected gift!

• I treated myself to a pair of earrings from Biku Designs. These are GREEN and made from obi-jime which is the cord used to tie the belt of Kimono. Aren’t they so cool!

• I am announcing here my Word of the Year - the word that is the theme that guides me and for 2023 it is BOLD. This word means to me showing a fearless spirit and a willingness to take risks and to put aside shame or rejection in social situations and perhaps even slightly bend the rules of etiquette and politeness if there is a just reason for it in my bold opinion! A bold person is ever ready to step out of their comfort zones and take action when the occasion calls for it. Boldness though, does not connote rudeness or disrespect; it rather shows great self-confidence! 

  In celebration of my word of the year I have a charm created by Off on a Whim Jewellery. Erinn LaMattery is a small jewellery maker and it supports her business. If you like what you see in the photos you can order one too using my Lawyer on Air discount. It’s good for 10% off your entire order, no minimum purchase required, and good for a one-time use that doesn't expire 🙂This is not an affiliated link (no commission to me) - I am simply passing ont he love to supporting a small maker! Whim discount code is: LoaHappy10

• I got up close and personal to the FIFA Women's World Cup (football/soccer) trophy at the Australian Embassy. The Women's World Football tournament kicks off (literally!) in July and runs to the end of August and is hosted by New Zealand and Australia. The trophy is doing a world tour to all the finalist countries and Tokyo was the first stop on the tour! We all can’t forget the bravery of the Japanese women’s Nadeshiko Japan team who won in 2011, the year of the triple disaster quake/tsunami/nuclear power station meltdown. Their win boosted the nation. Good luck to Nadeshiko again this year!

• I met with the female CEO of ANZ Bank in New Zealand and her team on a visit to Tokyo with the meeting at the New Zealand Embassy. We took a lovely photo together.

• It’s not everyday you get to meet the New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs. I did just that on February 28th at a reception for “people who have strengthened the relationship between New Zealand and Japan.” I was nervous to meet Hon. Nanaia Mahuta but seconds into the greeting that fear melted away - she is a friendly and personable women and I was proud to have a few moments to speak with her

• I had a glorious meet up with Debbie Howard at a New Zealand Wine dinner at Tokyo American Club. 

• On February 2nd I attended an event hosted by ANZCCJ and other Chambers celebrating 200 Years of Rugby, and met a few rugby celebrities from Australia and Japan. In person events are the best

• I released TWO new episodes of the Lawyer on Air Podcast with Marose Pereira as Season 5 Episode 2, about “Leveraging Volunteer Activities to Sustain Your Legal Career” and I had special guest Sam Inohara come on the show as Season 5 Episode 3 of the podcast with a very timely chat about “What You Need to Know About Joining the Japan Legal Market in 2023” 

  If you are enjoying my podcast episodes, I would love you to take just a few minutes of your time over this holiday break to leave me a rating on Apple podcasts, and write a short review so more people can hear about the podcast after reading your words to encourage them to do so. Thank you!

• Together with co-host Jayne Nakata we released another two new episodes of the Jandals in Japan Podcast. 

  Episode 24 was with Tim Harvey who is a top contract negotiator for contracts in Japan 

  Episode 25, we went into the wonderful world of the future of wine and sake with Wayne Shennan

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And finally… 

It was a shock to have a health issue! After three nights of 4 hours standing in high heels (at several of the above-mentioned events!) I have managed to damage the meniscus on my knee with an overload of stress from these heels! Beware all wearers of heels! I am banned from walking (oh that is so tough!) and standing up and this is now 4 weeks. I am improving thanks to my physio Sam at Club 360 but all I can say is - Beware high heels! 

That’s all from me for this month. See you in March.

Catherine