Random Things

Some random things for the blog today. First, here's a photo of the folded t-shirts my students wore to the field trip to the Botanical Gardens. They are tie-dyed and paited with each child's name on the front. I can't take credit for this creativity though - a couple of parents made them. I just though the photo was neat. I get a new student tomorrow. That brings the class total to 23.

On a quick trip to the grocery store tonight to pick up bean sprouts and sushi, I remembered that we were running low on toilet paper. Instead of going all the way back to the base to buy some (where it's less expensive), I decided to buy a small package at the grocery store to tide us over until I had time to go to the base. When I brought the package home I discovered something very comical. Little did I realize how innovative the Japanese really are - notice that the package clearly shows that they turn their milk into toilet paper! Wow!! No wonder it's so expensive!

The Japanese certainly are smart and innovative. One obvious example can be found within their bean sprout packaging. The photo is not that great, but notice how the sprouts are still "planted" in a piece of this moist, foamy thing. The sprouts are carefully packaged and kept in these little cushions in order to be "fed" an ample supply of water. Personally, I think the sprouts last longer and taste better in Japan. I'm sure there's some interesting science behind the sprout cushion, but I don't have time to research it.



Finally, I've neglected putting photos of our apartment on the blog because it's not completely decorated yet. Still, there are some funny things about it that just need to be shared, like the fact that our cabinets are so high that I can't reach the top half of the shelves (the Japanese think we are all very tall, apparently). Another funny quirk about our place are the ceiling fans. Notive the faux sky-blue marble. Yeah - it's pretty bad. But, I've seen worse around here. Apparently, the rumor among the Japanese designers here is that Americans are into elaborate and colorful decor. I thought that looking at the fans everyday would just kill me, but surprisingly I don't even notice them anymore. Noa is starting to like them, which could prove to be a bad thing for future housing decor choices. Remind me to never let him pick out our housing fixtures.

 

Giving Back

We woke up Sunday* to some Japanese little leaguers out by the sea wall picking up garbage. I had never seen this before, so I don't know if it's a regular occurrence, but I found two things comical about it. One: they were using chopstick-like utensils to pick up the trash, and two; they were wearing their uniforms. I guess they don't want to be though of as just some great kids who are cleaning up this lovely island. Noa tried, in vain, to yell "thank you" to them (in Japanese, of course), but his calls went unnoticed.

This spurt of environmental responsibility spurred us to fulfill our planetary duty in keeping the earth green: we took the Starlet out to Kadena and bought some plants for our apartment! Now we have something to water and nurture...well, at least until the dogs get here.

*I've been trying to blog for a few days now, but the computer has been working against me...grrrr....

Botanical Gardens

Our kindergarten class went on a field trip today to the Botanical Gardens. Obviously, I can't share pics of the kids, however, I did get some shots of some of the beautiful plants around. The gardens were beautiful and we all loved seeing the animals, such as the goats, a giant iguana, fennec foxes, ferrets, tortoises, and hungry, hungry carp. You can bring old bread or purchase food for the carp. They are crazy! They'll jump on top of one another to get to the food. Here's a photo:

Anyway, the trip was a huge success. The kids had fun and behaved well. The parents seem pleased and now I am totally spent. I think I'll be going to bed early tonight.

Going Out

Noa and I went out to dinner the other night and we only got two pics (the camera died on us). Luckily, both were good enough for the blog (and as we all know, it's all about the blog). The restaurant we went to was above a bowling alley, so while we waited for our friends to join us, we decided to check the place out. We found this electronic version of that Dance, Dance Revolution game - except with drums. So funny- Noa looks like a natural, don't you think?
The second pic is me right before eating a piece of tuna sushi, which I think was pretty darn brave. Even though I'm smiling here, I can now say with absolute certainty that I don't like it. But, the tuna wasn't the worst part - the wasabi was my least favorite and then I had seaweed stuck between my teeth (how annoying). So, I'm going to continue ordering the cooked items when we go out to eat and Noa can stick with the raw items. 

Scuba Sunday

I finally got to get my feet wet here in Okinawa. The biggest sport on the island is scuba diving and Noa and I were fortunate enough to get certified while we were living in Florida. For my birthday this past year, Noa got me a ton of gear and I was anxious to try it out. Today I finally got to try out the China Sea.

We joined our friend Joe after church for an easy 40-foot dive off the Tsunami Sea Wall, which you will see in the photos, is colorfully decorated in graffiti. Here's a photo of us getting our gear together along the wall:

We entered the water through a set of man-made concrete stairs, which made it easy to get in and out. The area is full of people scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming, and fishing. And, we couldn't have asked for a better day - 84 degrees and sunny!
Here's a photo of the stairs near the sea wall:

Unfortunately, I don't have an underwater camera, so I can't share the sights from the actual dive. But I have to say that for an area that gets a lot of "traffic" from divers and snorkelers, it was very lush. There was a lot of soft coral in beautiful hues of pink and orange. I always feel like I'm diving in some kind of exotic fish tank because there were fish of all colors and sizes - I liked the angel fish. The strangest thing we saw was the sea cucumber, which looks like a big sea slug without a head. I stayed far away from those in case it felt like sucking me up. The coolest thing, in my opinion, was the black sea anemone that was huge (like the size of a basketball) - it was stunning.

Regarding the diving conditions; they were okay. Visibility decreased as the dive went on. My new gear was great and worked beautifully - I love it all. I was having trouble clearing my ears and now feel like I'm going deaf since they are still clogged! Hopefully, they'll get used to being in the water because I've got diving fever. I'm already pushing to go next weekend!

Here's two more photos from the day of me in my gear. We tried to get it so that you could see our apartment building across the sea, but it's pretty hard to make out. I circled it in red, but I don't think it helps very much. Anyway, you could see it, so I guess in a way I could stretch the truth by saying we went diving in our "back yard" today. Oki is so very cool.

The Way We Really Feel

It's been a hectic week at school. My paraprofessional(or classroom aid) has been out, each day we've had something out of the ordinary, like a fire drill or bus evacuation practice, and to top it off, we had our open house tonight. After the kind of week I've had so far (What? It's only Wednesday?!) I thought this funny forward would be perfect to share (normally I hate forwards, but there's always an exception to the rule). Jess, make sure Liz reads this!

YOU MIGHT BE A TEACHER IF....
...you believe the playground should be equipped with a Ritalin salt lick.
...you want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work 8 to 3:30 and have summers off."
...it is difficult to name your own child because there's no name you can come up with that doesn't bring high blood pressure as it is uttered.
...you can tell it's a full moon without ever looking outside.
...you believe "shallow gene pool" should have its own box on a report card.
...you believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."
...when out in public, you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.
...you have no social life between August and June.
...you think people should have a government permit before being allowed to reproduce.
...you wonder how some parents MANAGED to reproduce!
...you laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the "lounge."
...you encourage an obnoxious parent to check into charter schools or home schooling.
...you think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.
...meeting a child's parent instantly answers the question, "Why is this kid like this?"

Scenes from a Kindergarten Day

I've been putting in long hours at school again in order to get ready for Open House this Wednesday. I thought it would be fun to show some of the work that will be on display that night. Enjoy - you may start feeling the urge to go sharpen some pencils and head to school yourself.

 

After the Storm

Well, these photos just don't do these waves justice. On a normal day, the ocean is calm, barely lapping up to the sea wall. Today, however, the waves are crashing everywhere, including at the breakers by the sea wall, and the sea is covered in the white foam from their wake. We are now officially back to TC4, but I think it's still pretty windy and the ocean is still feeling some of the effects of the storm. I'm glad we are back to "normal" though because I need to run some errands today and if the bases were still on lock-down, I'd get little accomplished. 

TC-1E

Right now we are in the middle of a typhoon condition of 1E: emergency. The typhoons (otherwise known as hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean) are rated similarly to hurricanes in order for people to know what the conditions are. Here are the ratings:
Typhoon Condition 4: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are possible in the next 72 hours - we're pretty much in this condition at all times during typhoon season
TC3: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are possible in the next 48 hours.
TC2: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are anticipated within the next 24 hours, bring in outdoor items or secure outdoor items
TC1: Destructive winds of 50 knots or greater expected within the next 12 hours. If we were in school and this typhoon condition occurs then students are sent home.
TC1C: Destructive winds at 50 knots or greater are expected within the next 12 hours and the actual winds are currently 34 - 49 knots. All non-essential personnel are sent home from bases, including teachers, and the commissaries, PX/BX, and other stores close.
TC1Emergency: Actual winds of 50 knots or greater are occuring.
TC1Recovery: Winds go down to 34-49 knots.
Storm Watch: Typhoon is over, but the base is still feeling some of it's effects.
All Clear: No hazardous winds or conditions present. Resume normal base activity.


So, we're obviously at the worst of the storm. The bases all go into lock-down mode when the storm gets to a TC1C rating, but since we live off base, we can pretty much do what we want. We went over to Meg and Joe's place where they showed off their homemade wind tunnel by opening both their front and back doors. Notice Meg and I demonstrating above (okay, so the picture doesn't do it justice, but it's pretty cool). I also got some pics off their balcony. The marina nearby has all the boats up and out of the water, of course (notice the waves in the background). Then, instead of playing it safe at home, we all headed to another friends' place and played some thrilling rounds of Guesstures and Catch Phrase. We're not about to let a crummy typhoon ruin our game night!

As I write this, I'm sitting safely at home (not to worry), but it sure sounds crazy outside. The winds are just ripping around our building constantly and it's very loud. I now understand why everything in Okinawa is made out of concrete! Noa has to work in the morning, so I hope the winds die down by then or he'll have an interesting commute as he navigates the roads in such strong winds. I'll keep you posted. 

Ode to the Weekend

The weekends have yet to be work-free (both Noa and I are putting in time this weekend), still I feel like a Visa commercial is playing in the background as I go throughout my day.

General pick-up and cleaning of the apartment: 1 hour
Stopping by the classroom to take care of a "few" things: 5 hours
Catching up on paperwork: 3 hours
Talking on the phone to relatives and friends in the states: 4 hours
Getting to sleep in until 8:00: priceless!

If you know me well, you know it's all about the sleep! :)

On another note, I wanted to give a shout out to an avid blog reader: my mom! She celebrated her birthday this past week and has become an active reader and poster to my blog, so I thought I use this moment to announce to the world: Happy Birthday, Mom! You're the best! Love you! Here's a cute photo of my mom from my grad school graduation.



 

Shisa

Over the weekend, Noa and I found ourselves searching for the perfect set of Shisa. Shisa dogs are very popular over here in Oki. An old Okinawan legend says that the people of a local fishing village (now the capital city, Naha) were being terrorized by a dragon or a serpent of some type (it lived in the ocean). Upon hearing about this, the king gave a boy a small ceramic charm of a lion-dog and sent him to place it by the sea. The next morning, when the serpent came up on the shore for it's morning meal, the charm cracked open and a real lion-dog came out of the ceramic minature. The shisa emerged victorious in the fight that ensued and saved the village from the creature.

Now, shisa replicas are everywhere in Okinawa - mostly in the entrance of the home as a means of protection. There is the male shisa who has his mouth open and the female has hers closed. They are made out of all kinds of material and some are very colorful (I plan on getting some small, colorful ones for my desk at work). After searching for what seemed like forever, we were able to find our ideal set (after looking at hundreds - literally!). We plan on following the custom and putting them outside our door with some plants in the near future. 

Before & After

Finally! Here are the before and after shots of my classroom. These BEFORE pics are of the room after I was able to get all the furniture moved in and placed, but there are barely any decorations or materials. How very drab.

And, here's the AFTER!
This is the view of the room when you step into the front door.

The paraprofessional who works with me made the curtains (with clouds on them!) and we hung letters from the ceiling. I also found some colorful paper lanters as well.

This is my favorite part of the room; the book nook is where the students can cozy up and look at a book in our class library.

It's still a work in progress, but I'm happy with it thus far. I hope to get more student work displayed this next week. I'll post more photos when that happens.

The Clip

School has been better over the past couple of days - a nice improvement from day one. Part of the success has been due to the introduction of "the clip." This behavior modification technique was provided to me by the other kindergarten teachers. Here's how it works: a child is doing something they are not supposed to be doing, such as talking when the teacher is talking. I remind the student that they are not supposed to be doing this and the student stops talking. If the student starts talking again while I am, then I prompty give the child a clip, which is a clothespin that is put on his/her shirt sleeve.

This physical attachment usually brings on a change of behavior. The way a student gets to have the clip removed (in my class) is to begin showing good behavior, such as following directions, listening, keeping their hands to themselves. It works - I've seen a real improvement in their behavior overall. Now, if one of my students begins to to something they shouldn't be doing, I only have to start to remove a clip from my lanyard (where I keep them) and the behavior instantly improves.

Next week, I'll be introducing a more positive incentive; the kids get to work together to receive "brownies" (paper ones). I cut out paper brownies and put a magnetic backing on them. After a special (gym, culture, art, music) or recess, I decide if their behavior warrants the class earning a "brownie." When the tray is full, they get to have a brownie party. Who can resist that?!

Survived!

Well, I made it through my first day of school - with a headache, no less. I'm not gonna lie, it was a tough day. Most of kids are great, but I have a few who are major "testers" and try to do their own thing. Tomorrow we will be working on rules and practicing routines, like lining up. After school, I'm headed to the commisary (our grocery store on base) and stocking up on aspirin.

Oh, and I'll be posting before and after pics of the room this weekend. My camera battery died today, so I'm charging her up!

Where, Oh, Where?

You may have been wondering why I haven't been blogging lately. To be honest, I miss it and I hate not being able to blog. But, currently my life is consumed by making preparations for kindergarten. I've been putting in long days at the school (10 - 12 hours) and then continue my work at home. So I barely have time to do "regular" activites, like eat, sleep, or blog. Okay actually I've managed to fit in the eating and sleeping, but unfortunately, blogging had to be put on the back burner. Hopefully, I'll be able to do a little more this week and post pics of my finished classroom. The first day of school for the kindergarteners is Wednesday! I've already met most of the little buggers, since we've been conducting home visits* this past week. This weekend I do get one non-school activity: Noa and I are attending Okinapa, a wine event held on one of the bases. The rest of the holiday weekend will be spent at school. There are only 5 days left - I better get back to work.




*The school system requires that all incoming kindergarten students have a home visit conducted by their teacher. These home visits are an opportunity to discuss kindergarten with the parents and conduct an early assessment of the child's academic skills.

The New Look

Noa is now sporting a true marine look - he got his hair cut really short due to a miscommunication with the lady at the salon. Guess he needs to practice his Japanese!