Newcomer's Tour

So today, roughly 6 months after getting to the island, I finally took the Newcomer's Tour offered for free on base. It was fantastic! They provided the bus and all the information and all you had to bring was some yen for lunch and souvenirs. We started at the Zukimi Castle (which I've already blogged about), then went to the Yomitan Pottery Village, the Onna Glass Factory, the Onna Station for lunch, and then to Ryuku Mura to watch some traditional Japanese dancing. Here are some pictures and video clips of today's events:

The 3 images on the left are funeral urns. The picture near left is a wall at Zukimi Castle - the oldest castle on Okinawa.

The far left are Shisa Dogs from the Pottery Village. The near left is the climbing kiln. There are multiple fires along the slope of the kiln, the hottest being the one closest to the bottom. They only light the kilns 4 times/year, but when they do the temperatures reach between 700 and 1200 degrees F.

Here I am with the owner of the Onna Glass Factory and some of his company's products. Look how hot the glass is when he's working with it. This factory uses all recycled glass and the hardest colors to do are pink and red so they're the most expensive.

The above left is a bento box. Japanese Moms will spend hours making their kids a healthy, compact, fun lunch. Whenever I see school groups out on field trips I always see them with their cute hats - usually yellow or red. The above right picture is the workers and wood oven used to make incredible desserts at Onna Station. I had soba noodles (Okinawan soba is different from anywhere else because of the way they make the noodles) and a stuffed steamed dumpling. I know it looks a little gross, but the stuffing was made with mashed sweet potatoes and sweet beans and then sprinkled with bran flakes for good measure. It was yummy!

Here are some of the traditional dancers at Ryuku Mura. The dances were very entertaining. I have some good video, but the website isn't letting me upload right now so make sure to check back to see them in motion!

Here are some friends I made while on the tour! But seriously, I did hang out with a lady named Hannah who seems nice and has no kids. We exchanged numbers so hopefully we'll get together and do something!

Another week, another lunch

The lunch lady group I normally lunch with has taken a short break while the main organizers have friends and family in town. So last week I went out to lunch with Jessi again. We went to a place that is right outside one of the Kadena gates. This means that along with the picture menu you get a few English words thrown in as well. So, this week I was pretty confident that I was going to be eating beef. However, looking at the picture menu I thought I'd be getting a little pasta with it, but was happily surprised when it came out with french fries (don't worry mom - I only ate 8 and put the rest to the side!). I like that on Okinawa you get a set meal. Mine came with rice (of course) and miso soup. Jessi's pork came with rice, soup, a gelatinous, nutty tasting dish that Jessi liked, and some seaweed. Everything was delicious - my beef was really tender and Jessi's pork was breaded in something they call Pankow (spelling?) that is so good. Most people I know who have the Pankow say they'll never go back to regular bread crumbs again.

Rana was jealous of me going out to lunch so decided to make a special meal of her own - chicken soup! Just look at that face - looks like trouble, doesn't it?

Well, I'm off to do the newcomer's tour so I should be posting again soon! Have a great Wednesday!

Whale Watching...sort of

So, Sunday I went whale watching with Jessi and her husband Neil. One month old baby Kenny was there, but you wouldn't know it because I swear he didn't make a peep all day! That's my kind of baby. Well, for those of you who know me you know that boats and I often don't mix, but I really wanted to see some whales so I was willing to give it a go. In preparation for the boat I took the improved version of generic Dramamine (that's all they had at the BX - believe me, I'm willing to pay top dollar for no puking medicine). Well, I didn't get sick, but I didn't feel great either. Plus, this new and improved non-drowsy formula made me so sleepy that I literally had to take a 30 minute nap during our 3 hour tour (insert Gilligan's Island song here). It was a very gray day (which seems unusual for Okinawa), but it wasn't overly wavy - just enough to get a good rocking motion when we slowed down.
Honestly going into it I was expecting more. I was thinking National Geographic pictures and whales breaching the water's surface. Now, don't get me wrong. We saw whales, but it was more the water blowing from the spout, some backs just breaking the surface, and once we did get to see a whale's tail. The gray weather combined with the blue gray water and gray whales resulted in absolutely zero pictures!
However, after the whale watching we drove around Naha and found Kokusai Street. This is a big shopping district and where a lot of the festivals happen (it's where we saw the tug of war festival). In our search for Kokusai we found a covered street market that was a huge maze that I thought was way cooler than Kokusai Street, mostly because there were far fewer Americans. We wandered around, took pictures of signs and things that got lost in translation, and eventually ate lunch at Hotto Motto. This is a fast food place and I'll tell you it was a real struggle to find something on the picture menu that wasn't fried. What I ate tasted kind of like stir fry and was decent for fast food. We also checked out a Pachinko place (think slots), but left pretty quickly because it was so loud and smokey. From what I understand you aren't allowed to gamble for money in Japan so the machine spits out tokens or marble-looking things and then you trade these in for prizes. I took a little video clip so you could see how loud it gets, but the video isn't that great because you're not allowed to record in a Pachinko place.

So, here are some pictures of things I thought were cool or funny while in Naha:

The place we parked our car was a triple decker parking lot, but instead of ramps that led you into your spot it was kind of like bunk beds. The garage man drove the car into the big blue elevator thing(picture on the right), made it go up, and then drove you car off into its space.

Close to the place we had lunch we saw people making tatami mats. These are found in traditional Japanese houses. Most traditional houses actually have a tatami room.

Like a lot of young Americans, young Japanese like to trick out their cars.

Japanese doesn't have the letter R so it often gets changed over to an L in translations and vice versa. If you look close this shirt says "Flesh Orange Juice". Mmmmm...yummy!

The cool covered shopping are we found, one of the souvenir shops in the shopping area, and a whole lot of Shisa dogs! I think almost a quarter of the store was dedicated to the Shisa.

I keep wondering why Okinawans live so long and maybe it's their love of fruits and veggies. Stuffed animals of pineapple, bitter melon, and their local purple sweet potato are all very popular. I can't say I've seen an American kid hauling around their stuffed okra doll.

This was at an icecream store. Check out the ta-tas on that heifer!

I took this picture mostly for Chris because he likes cool vehicles. It's the modern, Japanese rickshaw.

I've got no idea what this sign says, but boy does that baby look angry!

I hope you enjoyed this journey and I'll write again soon! I miss you all!

Keeping My Fingers Crossed

So, the latest update in the job search is that I should be getting an official job offer Monday. I actually got a job offer from the Youth Center earlier this week, but turned it down because it included working every weekend. I asked the lady at Human Resources to please tell the director at the Youth Center that I loved her programs and facility, but I just couldn't work every weekend. Well, two days later Theresa (the director) called me and asked if I would take the job if I only had to work one (and on the rare occasion two) weekends per month. Well, that seems very reasonable to me and I'm starting to get excited about this job. It will only be part time (2-6pm) which I love because that means I still have time for the gym and to do errands in the mornings. Plus, I can keep teaching my Japanese students! And extra bonus, since originally applying for the position the salary has gone up $2/hour with the potential to make more after some training. So, I won't be making a ton, but for a base job it's not too shabby. So, everyone please keep your fingers crossed that this job actually goes through!

In other happenings, I went to lunch with my new friend Jessi. She's a spouse from the squadron and just had a baby 3 weeks ago. She's sweet and upbeat and a lot of fun to be around (baby and all). We went to lunch at this little cafe called Cafe Casa. It's off base and has a great laid-back vibe. It has lots of coffee and tea options as well as a great looking menu. Everything is homemade - the desserts, the breads for sandwiches, etc. I got a naan pizza that was delicious and a piece of coconut lemon bread that had good flavor, but was a little dry.

Jessi was happy with her caramel macchiato (she said it was the thickest whipping cream she has ever had) and her B.E.L.T. (Bacon, Egg, Lettuce, Tomato). It was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon.

Earlier today Rana had a play date with Luna, a 9 month old lab. They are the perfect size for each other and get along great. I know Rana wants a buddy, but I also know that I can't handle 2 dogs without a yard. She'll just have to be happy with me as her buddy for the next few years.

A family that plays together...

Well, these pictures are obviously a few weeks old since Chris is in them, but I love these shots. Chris and I run our own pace (he does a 5 mile loop in the time I do a 4) and then we meet up, stretch, and then walk Rana for a cool down. On this day Rana decided she needed to stretch too!

Rana is such a helpful little dog! I think while we were out on the stairwell, Oscar was inside enjoying some peace and quiet.