Bullfight

Anyone who knows me well, knows my love for animals. So it may come to a surprise to hear that I attended an Okinawan bullfight today. These bullfights are not like those in Europe (so I'm told - I've never seen one in person). The Okinawan bullfight actually starts very ceremoniously. The boys pictured below are purifying the pathway for the bulls with salt.
Then the bulls are brought out. The defending champion is marked with a red ribbon tied to the tail and the challenger wears a white ribbon. They are brought into the ring and face each other, their trainers standing close by.




Then, the giant bulls lock horns and push. The trainers stamp their feet and shout to cheer their perspective bull to victory. The bull who pulls away from the fight is considered the loser of the match. It's pretty amazing to watch these giant beasts push against each other. I did get nervous that they'd poke out each other's eyes, but it didn't happen in any of the rounds we watched.

The place was packed! You can see how full it was in this photo.

More ....

When the winner is determined, the bull is dressed up and a child is seated upon him to hail victory. Then, there's cheering, music is played, and we'd wait for the next pair to come out and fight.
And now, some photos for fun. Tom becomes brave an not only approaches, but touches a moaning, foaming-at-the-mouth bull. Tom is crazy.
Here's part of our group posing for a group shot with a random Japanese guy (back, center). We congrated in this one area and hung out here for awhile. This Japanese man never moved over even though our group was right there. He stayed put the entire time. He kept his back to us and just watched the bullfighting. So, we decided that he had to be included in the group shot.

Lastly, I had to include a photo of the sewer covers from this town, known for this sport.

Happy Homecoming

Meghan has been away for the past few weeks. She has become quite the world traveler; this past trip was to Vietnam with a friend. She celebrated her birthday while away, but we decided to have an impromptu birthday dinner tonight in honor of her return home and her birthday. It was a great night out - reminiscent of Christmas dinner - except we went to Macaroni Grill. Pictured here are the girls (l-r, Liz, Meghan, me, and Jen) however, we're missing Beth who had to take the little ones home to bed. I'm glad Meghan's back and I love hearing her stories about Vietnam. I never realized that it had such a strong French influence there. Between her stories of the great food, the nice people, and her custom-made jeans, I'm ready to jump on the next plane out. Welcome home, Megs and happy birthday!

Excitement

Recently several packages arrived for us, which is always an exciting opportunity whether living stateside or abroad. Two of the packages were sent by Mike and Jess, who shipped all my extra shopping items that didn't make it in the suitcases back to Oki. I was so excited, but I think the dogs had mixed emotions about the arrivals. They weren't too happy that I brought back yet another set of t-shirts to keep them comfy in our air-conditioned apartment. However, I also got them a new toy, which in itself is thrilling. But I wonder if they noticed that we had Sarge put his eau-de-rottie scent all over the toy? Yes, I'm sure that Gunnar is dreaming now of good times with his old buddy.


The fight for toy ownership begins -

Sadly, not all the items made it to us in one piece. The glass vase probably never really had a chance -

We have strict garbage rules here, since recycling is a must on the island. According to the garbage instructions, for broken glass you have to wrap it in paper and write "danger" on it. Hmmm, seems like a set-up to me. Like this doesn't look suspicious or anything -

Anyway, thanks Mike and Jess for sending these out! I'm so excited!

It's not easy being green

You may recall a post back many months ago when Noa and I acquired some plants for our apartment. Here is a photo of our plant collection back in the fall (in our bedroom windowsill):

The small plant in the front developed some funky plant disease and was promptly removed shortly after this photo was taken. The orchids held on a little longer, but ultimately met their end too. The two tall plants in the back seemed to hold their own for awhile, but soon we began to think that they needed more sun. So, we moved them outside.

Here's what we greeted us at our doorstep upon our return from Colorado:

And to think, Noa's mom is a successful gardener - guess those genes didn't carry over.

Weekend Plans

I decided to forego my usual spend-my-entire-Saturday-at-school routine in order to clean up my apartment and spent time with Noa. We decided to head over to Kadena to go see the F22 they had on site. On the way, we saw the beautiful carp kites up over the water. I'm not sure if they are for the upcoming Dragon Boat races or in honor of Children's Day (in early May). Still, they were a beautiful site.

The F-22 was impressive. Although I commented that it looked fake at first, it really was an impressive jet. We went on a short "tour" which was basically walking around the jet while a guide (in our case, a pilot) told us about these great machines (we were not allowed to touch the jet or take close-up photos). Here are some of the interesting points I learned about the F-22:

-they are wayyyy ahead of the F-16

-they carry lots of ammo

-they are super fast

-they don't carry external fuel tanks when going on a mission

Okay, so it might seem like I didn't really learn a whole lot from the experience, but since I have extremely limited knowledge of aviation technology, I did.

I was more interested in this sign: notice the part about "deadly force" (scary, huh...especially since there was a guard with a HUGE gun standing by it).

I was also intrigued by the K-9 on patrol. He looks cute and cuddly to me.

Since I spent Saturday with Noa, I had to go to school to prepare for the week today (Sunday). Teresa came over and helped my make a barn for our farm theme this week. I'm pleased with the end result:

Hampostles Unite!

I don't even know where to start in blogging about our trip to Colorado. In summary, it was a fabulous trip. To be back with the Apostles again makes me feel whole. It was as if we had never missed a beat since last seeing each other. Jess did a great job blogging about the daily activities; here are my favorite highlights:

Massage: Upon arriving to Colorado after a 22-hour trip from Japan, Mike and Jess had scheduled each of us an hour massage. It was the perfect way to start the trip and deal with jet-lag. I'm trying to fill out the paperwork here - I'm sure my answers are incomprehensible at this point.

Snow: We were fortunate enough to get snow on our first full day there. Mike and Noa even went skiing (with freshly powdered slopes). I loved it. It brought me back to my days in New England.

Hiking: We got to experience the beautiful Colorado terrain on Sunday with a hike in the snow! I didn't love how I felt like a smoker as I hiked up the trail. My lungs weren't quite used to the altitude at that point. However, the beauty of the surroundings and the great company, the Apostles and their friends the Seebas, made it a great time.

Noa and I scrambling up the rocks.

These trees reminded me of powder-white old lady hair.

Shellie and I at the top of Arthur's Rock.

Sarge: Wow - he had grown so much! I loved hanging out with Sarge, playing with him, taking him out for poop runs. I only wished Gunnar was there to keep his friend company. I can't decide what his funniest antic was this week: it's either chasing the reflection of his tag from the sun or learning to open the storage ottoman to get to his toys. Sarge is my favorite rottie ever!


Holidays: When we lived in Jacksonville, we spent almost every holiday with Mike and Jess, so it was great to be back together again for Easter. We went to a friends' house, Rob and Lindsey, who hosted a big dinner, Easter egg-dying, and games!

Shellie, me, and Lindsey dying Easter eggs.

The girls (yeah, I know Jess posted this photo, but it's a good one!).

Playing Taboo (notice Mike in the dog crate!).

Dancing: There was no shortage of this at the Apostles. We had one impromptu dance party and then one planned party with dancing (Mike is pretty much the best party host on the planet), complete with a strobe, colored lights, fog machine, the works. It was fun to help them prepare for the festivities like we used to in Jax. Noa, as usual, was a dance machine.

This is very Japanese of us - peace, baby.

HAMPOSTLES!

Jess: Probably the best thing next to being in Colorado with Mike and Jess, is the time Jess and I spent together. Mostly, we did shopping - lots of it. I did a lot of shopping for school and for clothing (online shopping just doesn't cut it when it comes to buying clothes). Jess was outfitting her new house. But we also did other things together, like running errands, DIY projects (painting some shelves), and got our nails done. Together, anything is fun and this time was no different. I cherished every moment with my best friend, whether it was picking up Sarge from day care, cleaning the house, or doing laundry, it was time together. I had a hard time leaving, knowing that I won't have those kind of moments again for several months.

She took me to her hair dresser so that I could finally do something with the mop atop my head.

Our self-portrait.

Pedicures.

On our last night (this is me prior to bawling my eyes out about leaving).

There is so much more I could blog about: playing games, hot-tubbing it, picking out furniture - but really, you get the idea - it was a blast. Mike and Jess, you know we love you and can't wait for the Hampostles to reunite again. Give Sarge a kiss for me.

Pre-Colorado

I had to share the cute Easter "buckets" that Teresa and I made for the kids this year. They loved them! On our last day of school before break, the students had a walking field trip to the Mess Hall and on the way back we surprised them with an Easter egg hunt at the playground. It was a great day both for the kiddos and us (the teachers).

Back

I'm back and I apologize for the lack of blogging - it's been a rough week back. Adjusting to the time difference and catching up on work has been the main priorities this week. But, after sleeping for about 12 hours (yes, 12, I'm not exaggerating, sadly) last night, I'm now ready to go. So....onward with the blog!

Loving It

Just to let you know, we're still here in Colorado having the best time with the Apostles! We've been hiking, home decorating, shopping (lots!), and simply hanging out. It's like a great reunion and time is going by so fast. I'll be blogging with photos upon my return to Okinawa, but be sure to check out Jess' blog too. Her link is http://teamapostle.blogspot.com.

So Excited!

We leave Okinawa in a few hours to go to Colorado!! We're spending spring break with Mike and Jess in their new house. I am so excited to see them, play with Sarge, and, of course, go shopping!

Dancing in the Streets

Noa and I had dinner in American Village on Friday night. It's common to see street entertainers of all sorts out performing on a busy weekend night, such as this one. We stopped to watch this show - it was a hip hop school, much to Noa's delight.