Christmas Everywhere

Sorry I've been away from blogger for awhile, but I was having trouble signing in. Anyway, I have lots to share.

First, here are classroom photos of our Christmas/Holiday decorations. Although the month was so busy at school, I really enjoyed all the holiday projects and activities.

Our stockings were hung by the "chimney" with care.

Our bulletin board - there are little beds at the bottom with all the kids posing on a pillow, pretending to be sleeping.

Elf portraits

Our Christmas tree and stained glass ornaments in the windows.

The students made these Christmas tree hats and in the background is a holiday pattern quilt.

Triangle trees

On the last day of school, the students made gingerbread houses. Notice how some of the houses became huts.

I have a lot more holiday blogs to come, so stay tuned.

And Merry Christmas to everyone - we're thinking of you!

Convenience

There is no reason that the universe should be designed for our convenience.
John D. Barrow


Today the universe surely wasn't designed for my convenience. I'm trying to finish up a hundred little things before school closes down for the winter break. I needed two very holiday-themed items: candy canes and peppermint extract. The grocery stores here, on our bases, are called commissaries and they carry pretty much the same things as you would find in the states. However, I do find that there is sometimes a limited selection (for instance, they don't carry many brands of yogurt) and they don't carry many specialty items (not much of a whole foods section). Around the holidays, the commissaries ship in tons of the items needed for holiday merriment, such as turkeys,all the fixings, baking items, etc. The huge stock that arrives usually gets placed in front of the store where the throngs of shoppers can easily grab and go.

So, one would think that something like candy canes would be a big seller around Christmastime, right? Well, apparently they underestimated the need for these confections because they are plum out. There are no candy canes to be found on this island, at least none that I can find. Frustrated, I tried to shrug off this little inconvenience, but I also found out today that they don't carry peppermint extract, which is a necessary ingredient for my peppermint play dough that I'm making my students. Now that I'm out, I'll need to find a substitute and I don't think they'll be pleased with the other options: almond, rum, or anise extract. Guess I'll be making glittery, unscented play dough this time around.

Play

This past weekend, the dogs got to have their first playdate in Okinawa. Our friends, Rob and Liz own 2 IGs, Fiona and Gamine. They also have a fenced in yard. The iggies had a great time getting to know each other.

Here's the group: Gunnar (back), Gamine, Sadie (in front with red collar) and Fiona (right side).

Sadie and Gamine look a lot alike. I call this the "twins" picture. In reality, Gamine is darker and a little bigger than Sadie, although their faces are strickingly similar.


On the lookout (for what - I don't know....) - Fiona, Gunnar, and Gamine.

Sadie playing one of her favorite games.


A cute shot of Fiona -


Finally, Gunnar always finds a stick although it looks like Fiona and Gamine are plotting a way to steal it from him.

Sad Trees

Christmas is not a big holiday in Japan. From my understanding, it's treated more like a child's holiday and the gifts usually consist of cash. I've also read about how Christmas in Japan is equated to the American Valentine's Day. Still, driving around town, it's apparent that the holiday season is upon us - lights decorate buildings, images of Santa appear, and the nurseries sell poinsettias. I'm told that most of the decorations are actually for the Americans on the island. I credit the Okinawans for putting up decorations and dealing with the crazy Americans during our hectic holiday season.

However, I do have a bit of an issue with one aspect of Okinawan holiday decorating: the Christmas trees. The Christmas trees that I see around town in restaurants and businesses are so sad. They look like they've been pulled out of storage, with the branches all mashed up and the decorations haphazardly strew about. They are so sad, that it's actually funny. I'll try to get some more photos of these trees to really capture the "look", but for now, here's one from Mos Burger - a restaurant that serves burgers and coffee (interesting combo, huh?).

ARRIVED!

The dogs finally made it! After crisscrossing the airport several times and finalizing oodles of paperwork, the dogs are now "home." They were a little shaken at first, but have settled in pretty quickly.

As soon as I came home today (yeah, um, I tried not to speed), I opened the door and dropped my stuff and was completly engulfed in puppy kisses. It was pure joy. Both dogs look great. Gunnar has really grown! He is taller and longer. He's kinda like a 15-year old boy who just hit a growth spurt. We're planning on trying to get him to bulk up a little more, but they are completely themselves. Sadie has already found the favorite lounging spot on top of the big armchair and Gunnar has established the location of the toybox. Now we have to go get him more stuffies.

Here are some photos from the day.

Sadie (notice she's wearing her new "Ho Ho Ho" Christmas collar)


Gunnar (sorry about the pet eye - I haven't figured out how to get that out of the photos yet)


On our walk - Sadie and Gunnar on the sea wall


With me (do I look happy to you?)


Up the steps with Noa - they weren't too keen on checking out the water


What they do best - sleep (on their favorite lounging spot again!)

Doggy Update

The dogs were supposed to arrive and spend the day with me today, but they got held up in San Francisco and had to spend an extra night there. So, they will be picked up tomorrow morning - Noa will get them - at Naha International Airport. Since I took the day off of work (thinking I'd be with the dogs all day today) I'm getting the apartment ready for them and trying to stay occupied until then.

Also, if you ever have pet transportation needs or know anyone who might, we've been working with the most wonderful people in pet travel. Here are their websites - I highly recommend them.

http://www.puppytravel.com/
http://animaltransportation.com/index.htm

Bark

I got the recent issue of Bark magazine in the mail over the weekend. I may be biased, but this looks like the best cover yet!

Holiday Weekend Fun

It's been a wonderful holiday weekend so far and it's not even over yet!

We spent Thanksgiving day with some old friends from Jacksonville, Sean and Beth. They had invited some other friends over so we got to meet some new people who are spending Thanksgiving in Okinawa as well. It was a fun mix of people and we are already planning another get-together. We're thinking a progressive dinner would be cool. It's always fun to see what kind of living arrangement people have over here. Oh, and in case you were wondering, yes, we do have a regular Thanksgiving meal here with the turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, etc. Our commissaries offer the traditional foods. We don't have a Thanksgiving Day parade to watch and no football - at least during our regular daytime.


We decided to participate in black Friday over here. It's not as wild and crazy as it gets in the states, but the PX/BX do offer coupons on that day. We used ours for a much needed vacuum cleaner - woohoo. Actually, most of our shopping entailed going to all the scuba shops on the bases to compare prices and gear. One of the shops has a big sale at this time of year and we waited on Noa's gear, which is his birthday gift, in order to take advantage of the sale. He got a Sherwood Magnum BCD, a dive bag, and he'll most likely be purchasing an Apex regulator and second stage this week. Now, we're cookin'!

We did purchase gifts at a bazaar that was being held at Foster. It was basically a bunch of vendors selling goods from all over this area: Japan, China, India, Thailand, the Philippines, etc. We also found some great underwater shots of a sea turtle and clown fish for our guest room (slowly, but surely our apartment will look finished!), but the best thing I saw were the signs for the neighboring vendor. It was a rug vendor with Persian rugs, which normally I don't really pay attention to because it's not really my style. However, the sign for the vendor totally caught my eye. Check it out:

You'd think they could have thought of a better name. Anyway....

Today was our diving day. It was a perfect day for diving - sunny, warm, and the water was not too cool. We dove the Kadena steps (north) and had a blast seeing all kinds of fun creatures, including sea snakes, a moray eel, a lion fish, a cuttlefish (looks kinda like a little squid), and lots of other assorted fish. The coral was beautiful. However, by the end of the second dive I was ready to head out with a splitting headache. I learned that my mask was probably on a little too tight (the "mask face" is just now starting to disappear). Here's a look at the sight and if you look closely in the second photo you'll see some cute crabs sunning on the jacks.

Finally, the BIG countdown is on - 5 days until the dogs come home!!

Feast Day

Today at school, we had our Thanksgiving Feast with my class and their parents. The feast was held in one of the all-purpose rooms in one of the towers (apartment buildings). It started to rain as we headed over. By the time we had to leave, there were major storm conditions, in fact, I had heard that we were on a tornado watch. It sure looked like a tornado outside. This photo collage doesn't quite capture it, but you can imagine it wasn't fun to lug tables, chairs, and escort children in this.

Japanese Cars, Part II

The names of the cars really crack me up. If you can't read these, they read as (left to right, top to bottom) That's, EveryWagon/Joypop, Suzuki Carry (for a truck), Cube, Stream, Comfort (a taxi), Sunny California, Life, Today, Naked, Latte, and Bongo Friendee.

I feel so boring with my Toyota Starlet.

Walking on the Wild Side

I got to wear my new rain boots today! I bought them after enduring a minor typhoon here when we arrived. Now, I just have to find a raincoat to go with them. Cute, huh?

Safe

Just wanted to let you all know that Noa and I are safe and sound. There were a few concerned e-mails to us regarding the recent earthquake, but it only caused small waves, not devasting tsunami conditions. Also, it was focused up on the northern part of mainland Japan and we are quite far from there.

Many, many thanks to those who sent good thoughts and prayers our way. We love you all!

IGs in the Land of Shisas

Since moving to Oki, I have not once seen an Italian Greyhound on the island. I know that there are some in mainland, but so far, none here. I find this interesting since this culture seems very dog-friendly, especially to small dogs and we all know IGs are definitely that.

At the Murder Mystery Dinner several weeks ago, we met a young couple who joined us for drinks after the event. During the conversation, the topic of pets, specifically dogs came up (I know you are all shocked on that one....). They mentioned that they had two dogs and when I asked what kind, they said, "italian greyhounds"! My mouth dropped to the floor - I couldn't believe it! What are the chances?!

Come to find out, they are as crazy about IGs as I am! It's nice to know I'm not alone on this island.

This past weekend, we got to meet their IGs for the first time. Fiona, who is the largest IG I have ever seen (20 lbs) is blue and white and a bit shy at first. She has the prettiest eyes I've ever seen. Gamine, pronounced "ga-meen" is less shy and more concerned with getting attention. She is beautiful and looks a LOT like Sadie. Not that I wasn't excited for my dogs to come here, but knowing that they'll have friends makes it even more exciting! I can't wait for Sadie and Gunnar to get here (2 more weeks!) and meet Fiona and Gamine.



So, without further ado, here's Fiona (top) and Gamine (bottom).

















Oh, and I wrote 2 entries today, so keep scrolling down and read about geocaching (sorry for the messed up formatting...blogger and I are in a major fight right now).

The Biggest Hunt in the World

Over the weekend some new friends of ours, Rob and Liz, took us geocaching. Geocaching is an activity that can be done all around the world. To geocache, you have to have a GPS device that you can punch coordinates into (you look up coordinates through the geocaching website). The coordinates will take you to a hidden box that has little items in it and a log book to state "I was here". The neat part about geocaching is it takes you to places that you might never go to or find on your own.

Our first box was located under a bridge located up high on a hill. We followed the bridge that led to a little park. The park was located in the most random place - up on this high hill, between two major roads, and surrounded by buildings. Normally, we'd miss a park like this, but through geocaching, we got to experience it. Here's some photos of getting the first box:

The box:

The "treasures" inside the box:

The group with the goods: (left to right: Rob, Noa Liz, & Joe):

The park & the view:

We decided to look for another box, since this one seemed pretty easy to find. The second hunt took us to Maeda Point, but instead of going to the regular diving/snorkeling area, the coordinates led us to a beach that was further down. Here of some shots...isn't it beautiful??

The problem we ran into was that the box seemed to be planted up high on the coral rock. So, the boys decided it was worth the risk and climbed the rocks to try to find the box. It proved a challenge...but for only a moment.

The boys did find the box. Here is a photo of their find and a photo that Noa took looking down from the rock.

Can't wait for the next adventure!

Random Photos from Today

After I worked this morning, Noa and I ran some errands and I wanted to share some random photos from our afternoon out.

First of all, it was SUPER WINDY today! Here's a photo of me trying to get into the car without blowing away! Nice hair, huh?

We headed to a local pet supply store that I've been wanting to visit for some time and found some funny things. First were these dog necklaces. The necklaces themselves weren't funny, but the fact that they had IGs on the photo were. One almost never sees an Italian Greyhound pictured on any type of promotion or packaging for dog things in the US. In Japan it seems to be even rarer to even see an IG (at least here in Oki). So, I found this amusing.


Noa and I have always found Doggles to be a funny accessory for a dog. But sir, although I give you props for protecting your pooch from flying debris, do you really think it's safe for a little dog to ride on a motorcycle with you??


Finally, Noa and I picked out our Christmas tree today! You have to buy it early since they sell out quickly here in Okinawa. Since it's nearly impossible to get a real tree*, we had to settle for an artificial one. Here's Noa "cutting" down our tree for this year.




*Last year, all the live Christmas trees that were shipped in had to be burned due to some type of serious tree disease.

The West in the East

We went out to the Western Steak House last night for dinner. This place cracks me up. I think that it represents what the Japanese really think parts of America are like. It truly is "western," complete with Americana decor, Texas flags, saddles, rifles, and wagon wheels all over the place. The waiters (and even the cook) wore flannel shirts, jeans, and cowboy hats. The food is mostly steak and chicken served on a griddle plate (with peas and carrots as the vegetable!). Don't be fooled though, it still had some classic Japanese flavor, such as the eggs on the steak and the shredded cabbage salad. The other funny thing about it is that the servers don't speak a word of English. Usually in a restaurant with English in the name or on the menu, there's someone that speaks it, but here they do not. Even so, they do make you feel right at home and they serve some great iced coffee in little metal mugs. Yeehaw!