Family Fun

It's been a lot of fun having my family around for the holidays. I'm actually able to relax and use my vacation time as a vacation (fancy that!). However, it hasn't simply been days of lounging around. We've been busy...

baking lots and lots of cookies with mom (although I prefer eating them),
checking out the humongous jacks and walking the dogs,

getting beautiful pedicures (mine is the blue and white one),
eating new foods and using chopsticks,

trying Okinawan sake for the first time (response: "Not bad, I like it."),

posing in the traditional Okinawan dress at Ryuku Mura (this one's for you, mom),

braving the crowds at the aquarium,

enjoying the treats on Kokusai Street,

and viewing Maeda Point.
More to come!

Family!

We are so fortunate to have my family (who taveled all the way from New Hampshire) out this year for Christmas. Yesterday, we braved the rainy weather to see Shuri Castle. Although the weather was blah, we still had fun seeing the sights and attempting to stay dry.

Kinder Tradition

In addition to hosting a classroom party, surprising the students with filled stockings, and decorating the whole classroom, Teresa and I have made it a tradition to have the kids make "gingerbread" houses on the day before winter break. The houses are actually graham crackers and we spend the night before making all the houses so that all the students have to do is put on the decorations. It's a big hit - the kids love it! I'll certainly continue this tradition next year!

Here I am with one of the decorated houses. They are really cute!

Like the gingerbread apron? Teresa made them with some kits we bought from Oriental Trading. Gotta love Kindergarten - you can get away with wearing something like this.

Here I am with Teresa in our matching hats and aprons. We are both exhausted in this photo due to all the work and preparation for this last day before the break. It's a well deserved break after all this!

Gone to the Dogs

Even the dogs are getting into the holiday spirit - check out their new collars from Shaka Dog.

Hampostle Elves

Jess sent me the funniest Hampostle-themed thing yet! Check it out: Hampostle Elves

Watch Noa's character - we think it's a riot!

Trees!

One of my favorite things about living here during the Christmas season is our church's Christmas decorations. A bunch of church members spend a day decorating our little church and I think it looks so beautiful. My favorite part is the sanctuary where they put all the Christmas trees. I love how festive and warm it feels. I think they use over 10 trees on the stage.

White Trash Party

Last weekend we went to Tom & Laura's annual "White Trash Party". It was a new idea to us: dress like your part of the Jeff Foxworthy Show (think, "you know you're a redneck if...."), eat, drink, and be merry. It was more than a costume party, though - there were games, such as a seed spitting contest and a large bonfire in a rusted garbage can. We had a blast and I'm already planning my "look" for next year.

I had an 80's bang look going for me (well, at least my bad haircut was put to good use) with a denim ensemble and Noa was "trashy doctor". He had on a name tag that read, "Docter Hammer" and had a pack of cigarettes in his pocket.

Tom creates the fire. Their new house has a beautiful view of their prefecture and the ocean. You can see some of the lights in the background.

Some of the guys. The guys in flightsuits won for the overall costume contest, although with these looks, it's hard to define a real winner. You gotta love them all.

I [Heart] Tokyo!

Jess and I joke that we want "I [heart] Tokyo t-shirt because we had so much fun there! I would have posted sooner, but our picture-sharing has not gone as planned (darn that technology). Anyway, since Jess covered our trip fairly well, I'll post a few pics to add to her blog about our time in the city.

The Hampostles on the plane from Okinawa to Tokyo. It's about a 2+ hour flight.

Here's a map of the subway system. Although most of the maps are written in Japanese, there were a few in English and the system was surprisingly easy to maneuver.

Mike buying tickets for the subway.

Jess and I ready to take the city by storm!

A view of Rappongi, an area with an active night life.

Stumbled upon this little gem while walking through the city.

We did some sightseeing and shopping in Ginza (where we went to the Gap!). I was surprised to see lots of holiday decorations, Christmas trees, and signs in neighborhoods about the holiday season. Okinawa has some of that, but a lot of it is pretty tacky and I assumed that it was only put up because of the heavy American presence here.

Team Juloa in Ginza.

We drank coffee in the first Japanese Starbucks store.

I was so happy that I got to see foliage this year. I've missed this since leaving New England.

Here is a blurry picture of the busiest intersection in the world. It's in Shibuya. I was able to take this while eating dinner on the 5th floor of a restaurant located right on the intersection. It was pretty cool.

This sign cracked me up. Talk about bad family dynamics.

Here a mother and daughter at the Meiji Shrine in Harajuku. We were also able to see several wedding processions here. It was beautiful.

Later, in Harajuku, Noa volunteers to get free hugs.

He realized too late, that it was actually a guy who was giving out the hugs. Whoops!

Hampostle Reunion!

Mike and Jess arrived in Okinawa on Thanksgiving night. All was right in the world again when the Hampostles were reunited once again.

Noa and I have spent months saying things to each other such as, "I can't wait to show Mike and Jess this..." or "When Mike and Jess come to Oki, we should do this." When they finally came, there were so many options it was hard to narrow down what to do in a short amount of time. But, we tried to give them a good sampling of life in Okinawa. Here's a glimpse into their time here (thanks to Jess for sharing her amazing photos*):

The first order of business was to take Jess to Cocok's. We went to the smaller shop by the sea wall (which I had actually never been to myself) and we got our pedicures while watching the sun set over the ocean. Beautiful!

Jess getting snowflakes carefully painted on her holiday red toes.

The finished products. You can't tell, but mine are red with white dots and silver dircles (you can't see the circles in the pic). Jess went with the holiday theme. It was a perfect choice given that when they left Colorado there was already about a foot of snow on the ground!

Jess and I also hit the major shopping venues - local gift shops on the bases, some local stores, and of course, the Holiday Bazaar held on Camp Foster every year after Thanksgiving. We were able to grab a few holiday treats there.

Meanwhile, Mike and Noa played golf. During their stay, the boys got to go golfing twice and one of those times was in the rain! Mike also joined Noa in his Sunday afternoon Ultimate Frisbee ritual and running along the seawall.

Karaoke was a hit! We all enjoyed "singing" (if that's what you call screaming into the microphones) and dancing the night away. We went twice - once with just the four of us and once with a group of friends.

Noa and Jess were superstars whenever a rap song came on. They knew almost all the words without having to look at the screen. Look out, Jay-Z, you've got some stiff competition out there!

Karoake with Oki friends, although we're missing a bunch who had to leave earlier.

We also took road trips to some tourist spots on the island. We tried to hike Hiji Falls, but the grounds are closed until April, so we drove up to Hedo Point instead. Hedo Point is the northern most place in Okinawa. It was beautiful, but extremely windy.

Despite the strong winds, Mike and Noa decided to climb the rocks to get a better view.

Jess and I smile for the camera Japanese-style: peace!

We made a quick trip to the Pineapple Park. The ride in the guided Pineapple Car is always interesting. To quote the narrated voice that is played through a loud speaker in the pineapple car (during the tour): "Do you know where the word 'pineapple' comes from? It comes from the words 'pine' and 'apple'." Okay, so maybe we didn't learn a lot while there, but we feasted on lots of fresh pineapple.

And, we couldn't forget Pizza in the Sky. We got there just in time for the sunset (except the clouds got in the way).

Waiting for our table.

The 'Postle' part of Hampostle.

It's hard to say what the best part of their visit was. Travel and touring is always fun. However, it was so great to have them see the different aspects of our lives, such as work, church, our friends...but really, I just loved coming home from work and simply hanging out together.

Coming Up Next: The Hampostles take on Tokyo!

*If you haven't already, check out Jess' new photography website! I think it's the best out there, but I'm kind of biased.