My children are now in high school and upper elementary school. Many of the moments we had experienced with the children had nearly faded away from my memory until I started penning this article, when suddenly, countless memories came rushing back, causing the article to grow much longer than I had planned. Since I was a student, I have always aimed to seize the moment, making the most of the opportunities available and enjoying them to the fullest. This article recounts my travels abroad with my children. We should never focus on the restrictions young children might impose on our travels; instead, we should welcome the adventures their youth allows us to explore. Though this advice may not seem directly applicable right now, I hope it serves as a source of guidance or inspiration to someone, somewhere, eventually.

1. Pregnancy in Germany

During my first year as a research assistant at Tokyo Metropolitan University, my long-aspired dream of going to Germany became a reality, where I spent a year conducting research at the University of Mannheim. I went to Germany single but got married to a fellow researcher during my stay and discovered I was pregnant before returning to Japan. My husband was back in Kyoto, so I was by myself in Germany during the early stages of my pregnancy. I would take an hour-long train ride to Frankfurt for checkups at a gynecology clinic that had a Japanese interpreter. However, there were times when the interpreter was unavailable, and I had to communicate with the German doctor in our limited English. Health checks in Germany involved pricking my finger for blood tests to check for anemia, with the results recorded in a Mutterpass (maternity record). During my morning sickness, the smell of German food on the streets felt overwhelming, but once I reached the stable phase of my pregnancy, my appetite made a comeback. I seized the opportunity to immerse myself in German opera, often visiting the local opera house. Living in Mannheim, a city celebrated for its musical heritage and once home to Mozart, I found myself profoundly touched by a performance of Wagner’s “The Mastersingers of Nuremberg,” which lasted until late at night. I stayed in an apartment designed for international guests at the university, a vibrant hub where people of various ages and fields from around the world came together. Among them was a female researcher living with her three-year-old daughter. She mentioned that having daycare during the day made life in Germany feel just as comfortable as back home. It was truly memorable to see her and her daughter joyfully attend the residence’s monthly social events.

In August, during my final month in Germany, the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) was held in Berlin. Just prior to this, a satellite conference on algebra took place at the University of Essen, by which time my pregnancy was quite visible. I was honored to chair a session at an international research meeting for the first time, thanks to the invitation of a female researcher who was organizing the event. Interestingly, among the few female attendees, three of us were visibly pregnant, which was quite unusual. The ICM in Berlin brought together mathematicians from all over the world, and my prominent belly often surprised the Japanese mathematicians I had not seen in a year. However, I fully embraced the mathematics events and the chance to explore Berlin. I fondly recall how the baby inside me vibrantly responded to the singing of the Queen of the Night from Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” during one of the ICM events.