Cultural Exchange

One of the best parts of my job is the fact that we have opportunities for cultural exchange with local students. Recently a Japanese summer school where the kids learn English asked if we could bring some students out for some interaction. A little bit of the email was lost in translation and we were basically told that "we would play tug of war in a rice patty" and we were asked to bring the rope. With those sketchy directions we gathered 13 kids and headed off for a day of fun.

When we got there we were surprised at how many Japanese students were there. We thought it would be a small gathering. Despite the numbers, they were a very orderly and well behaved group and they had prepared a song to greet us:

After the song our students introduced themselves and we participated in a game of Telephone. Sometimes it would be English words passed down the line and sometimes it would be Japanese words. It was fun to see the kids faces when they didn't know what the person had whispered. Then we played some tug of war. Sadly, we just played in grass. There was no rice patty to be found.

After lots of rounds of tug of war it was time for lunch. Their idea of a picnic was awesome! They busted out some gas powered wok/bbqs and made yakisoba, chicken skewers, and hot dogs.

After lunch there was a rock, paper, scissor tournament where the kids could win prizes.

We took some professional pictures:

After the pictures we headed to the "rice patty" which was more like a mud pit.

The kids started off looking for 30 film canisters buried in the mud. 25 of them were winners and earned the lucky finder a prize and 5 were duds. After about 20 minutes of searching only 2 canisters were found, one lucky and one unlucky.

When the kids got tired of not finding canisters they switched the game to a capture the flag race. It was hilarious! Kids were diving into the mud and going all out to reach the flag first.

The kids were then hosed down, given popsicles to cool down, and loaded back on the bus to head home. Everyone had a great time and, despite our lack of verbal understanding, friendships were formed.

Well, I finally did it...

Today was the day. For the first time in the year we have lived here I went clothes shopping in a Japanese store. Not only that, but I went bathing suit shopping in a Japanese store! (gasp) Now, I'm not calling myself fat, but I am definitely larger than the normal Okinawan woman. A few of the reasons I was hesitant to shop in a Japanese store were:

1. When Chris had to buy bike shorts at the sport store here he was a large to extra large! If he's an XL, I don't want to know what I am.

2. Their sizing is different. For example, if you are a size 10 in the good old US of A, you are now a size 15! Thanks Japan!

3. I heard a horror story from a friend who was previously stationed here. She's about my size and when she went into a boutique she literally got shooed out of the store and told "we have nothing that fit you." Ouch. if that doesn't crush your ego, nothing will.

However, this weekend as we breezed through a Jusco (think large department store with a little bit of everything) I saw some swimsuits that looked like they would work for a triathlon and it looked like they would have my Japanese size. Combine that with the fact that Jusco is big so I was pretty sure I wouldn't get shooed out and I figured I was ready to shop.

I tried on four suits and liked two. I only bought one but I am thinking that this is a great success. It's nothing sexy - kind of a zip up tank and some bike short looking bottoms. I was feeling pretty good until I went to the register. The cashier made sure that I had tried it on because there is no bringing back swimwear. I told her I had and we were good to go. She takes the top off the hanger and unzips it (not sure why - probably so she could fold it into a beautiful piece of origami before putting it in my bag) and says a sentence where the only word I caught was "big". Well, I politely say, "sumimasen?" and again I hear "big" in the sentence multiple times. Due to my fragile mental state caused by bathing suit shopping I interpreted it as "I have never seen such a big piece of material except when my grandfather was making a car cover." So, I replied, "No, no. It fits." She folded it up, I paid, and I was on my way. But now looking back I think I'll interpret her words as, "how could this big piece of material fit on someone as svelte as you?". It's amazing how much better you feel when you employ positive thinking.

10,000 Eisa Dancers Festival

If you haven't heard, Chris is finally home! Woohoo! It's so nice having my better half back with me. We make real dinners, he helps walk the dog, and it's just nice to have him around. Also, our friend Pablo (he was stationed with us in England) just moved here on Friday. He's staying with us until he finds an apartment. He's a great house guest. Seriously, he even remembers to empty the lint tray on the dryer. Being the incredible hosts that we are (buy your plane tickets for a visit now folks!) we've been showing him the sites. We've gone out for sushi, taken him down to the seawall, viewed some cars, and on Sunday we went to the 10,000 Eisa Dancers Festival down on Kokusai Street. Some of you might remember Kokusai Street from our post on the Tug of War last fall. Apparently, this is where a lot of festivals are held.

An Eisa dancer is a folk dancer that is original to the Ryuku Islands. According to my students Takako and Yukiko who met us for the festival, each area of the island will have a dance group and each area's style of dance is different. This festival is held to mark the end of the Obon Festival. Obon honors the spirits of one's ancestors and was started by the Japanese Buddhists (Thanks Wikipedia!).

We didn't count, but it certainly seemed like there were 10,000 dancers there. It was really interesting to watch the dancers in all of their different costumes. There were kids as young as four years old participating in the dance. Here are some pictures of our day:

Long lost Chris and Pablo

This girl was very intense and fun to watch.

This girl was adorable. She did a great job, especially considering that her older sister was standing next to me making faces and distracting her. I guess annoying siblings are in every culture. I know Monica would agree with that, at least when we were younger.

This little boy was too cute to not take his picture!

Chris and I are as cute as ever despite our months apart.

A few locals will dress in their summer kimonos and they'll always flash the peace sign if you've got a camera.

This boy was tiny and he was awesome! He never missed a step, a turn, a song. He was great!

This was the group Pablo wanted to see, but they marched past us and danced further down the road.

Takako and Yukiko - it was nice to have locals with us so we could ask questions. This was the first time Takako had been to the festival or ridden the Okinawa monorail.

Me with some sanshin (guitars made out of snakeskin) players.

We parked at a Jusco and on our way back to the car decided to take a looksie so Brandon could see what it's all about. We were looking for the microwaves when we came across this horse riding practice machine. You can't tell from the picture, but that thing moves forward, backward, up, and down. It was a pretty sweet ride.

A few of my favorite things...

So, my favorite thing in the world is, of course, my wonderful husband. Well, this past Sunday was his birthday and he wasn't home to celebrate. Don't worry, his friends in Albuquerque made sure he had a nice time. However, we didn't want to let the day go by without celebration here on Okinawa so we got things ready for when Chris comes home (which, by the way, will be this Wednesday!). Here are some pictures:

Rana wasn't too sure about the signs.

The sign says it all.

Oscar tried to help celebrate, but Rana had other ideas.

One of my other favorite things is crazy Rana. I know, I know. She's naughty and she's spotty, but I just love that face! On Sunday Rana got a play date with my co-worker Magda's dog Casper. Besides Rana's normal rude behavior of skipping all the intros and sniffing, the play date went really well. Casper is definitely more subdued than Rana, but he's faster than her so he could make a get away.

Our first mistake, was introducing them in the van. Casper did not want to have to get in the back with Rana and I can't say that I blame him:

It got better when we got to the beach and they had room to run:

Here are a few still photos that I thought were too cute to pass up:

Look at that tongue!

Enjoying the ride

Calming down a little after almost 2 hours of romping.

Thank goodness she's not a kisser because that is some big time slobber!

So sleepy after her big beach day. She still tries to wedge herself into the cat bed. She fit when she was a 17 pound puppy, but at 60 pounds it's getting a little tight.

Follow this with the latest Harry Potter movie and it was a pretty darn good Sunday.

100 Yen Plaza

I can already hear my mom's heart beat quickening as she realizes this post is about a place where you can get bargains! I got it from both sides growing up when it came to looking for a deal. Chris is amazed at how quickly I can give him a percent off at a sale, but I've got nothing on my mom and dad. They grew up in the time before we "cheated" with calculators and their math skills are razor sharp. I don't know if the 100 Yen stores ever have sales, but they definitely have bargains.

I went with the intent of getting stuff for my best friend's birthday and on that end struck out (sorry Mary - your present might be late). However, I did come home with some pictures of some pretty funny things you can buy for just 100 little yen.

My first stop was a section completely devoted to insect care. Yes, that's right - insect care. Why, you ask, would anyone need to care for insects? Well, because people keep giant beetles for pets!

This beetle was on our front porch one night, but I've seen these guys for sale on the side of the road.

If you decide to invest in a beetle, you might need this:

"Big Insect Jelly Brown Sugar" - mmmmmmm...

And if you really love your beetle, you are going to need this:

Your very own insect care kit! I'm not exactly sure what you're brushing on a beetle, but you've got 2 brushes to choose from.

Those of you who live here already know that a lot of Japanese smoke. I mean a lot! Well, the 100 Yen store had lots of ashtrays to choose from, but this one was my favorite:

"Taking break refreshes your mind. Be careful not to smoke too much." I think it's almost as good as the surgeon general's warning.

And while Okinawans might not be opposed to lung cancer with all their cigarettes, they are definitely against skin cancer (or at least getting a tan).

This desire to stay light leads to items such as driving gloves and arm covers.

When you're done playing with your beetle, smoking, and driving you might want to take a bath. Maybe you could use one of these:

Charcoal soap (thanks for the heads up blogger Mary)

Or maybe this is more your cup of tea:

Green tea soap - I tell you there's green tea in everything here!

Or maybe you'd like a nice family bath:

Alright, I don't know if this is really for a family bath since it's all in Japanese, but that's what the picture looks like to me.

When you're nice and clean and it's time to cook a little dinner for your family, don't forget to use the right tongs! I have never seen so many tongs. You've got your:

Spaghetti tongs and Ice tongs

Multi-purpose tongs (if you're a slacker who doesn't care about if your family has their food picked up by indeterminate tongs)

Sugar tongs

Serving tongs

Strong nylon noodle tongs

Or maybe you prefer metal noodle tongs?

Fried food tongs

Turner tongs (that's right - tongs just for flipping food over)

The ever useful combo salad and bread tongs.

With all these tongs you can't go wrong. However, if the dinner you're preparing looks a little scummy, you might need these:

"scum remove sheet on a ladle" OR

perhaps a "scum absorbent sheet"

When you're done with your perfectly tonged, scum free food you might want to relax with:

I'm not sure if they actually contain any part of the snake or turtle, but I have heard that locals believe that drinking the venom from the Habu snake will give you vitality.

Apparently, even skinny Okinawans worry about their weight because I found these:

I've got to say the cheese flavored one kind of scares me.

I hope you've enjoyed your 100 Yen Store tour. It truly is a place with unlimited treasures just waiting to be discovered.

Best Boss Ever

I know sometimes I complain about having to work an extra weekend now and then, but my boss Teresa is the reason why. She's great. We just spent the entire week at Okuma (a beach resort for those of you not on Okinawa) with 50 kids from 8 different bases around the Pacific for a Camp Challenge. I was a counselor and was absolutely exhausted after every day, but the amount of work I was doing had nothing on Teresa. She was in charge of all the organization, coordinating with all the bases, setting up all the challenges, and basically just making sure things ran smoothly. She also spent the Sunday night before camp at the Youth Center with the out of towners, as well as the Friday night we got back. Plus, she made about 8 trips to and from the airport getting everyone where they needed to be. And she did all of this with a smile. On top of all that we had an International Lock-In Committee meeting the Saturday after we got back from camp. By the end of the meeting we were both dead on our feet. My eyes were stinging they were so tired. When we walked out of the Youth Center to head home I had a flat tire. I could have handled it, but Teresa stuck around and helped me change it. That's why when I work an extra weekend shift I stick it out and don't quit. It's hard to find a boss that is kind and passionate about their job. I've got a lot to learn from Teresa. I'll write more about the Okuma Camp Challenge once I muster up the energy to go through the 550 pictures I took.