Alive

In case you've been wondering (and many of you have by your recent e-mails to me), I'm still here. I'm alive. I'm happy and I'm still kicking. As you can imagine, I've been extremely busy here and as most of you know it takes a lot to keep me from my blog, but I can honestly say that I haven't had a moment to tend to it. I have a lot of catching up to do, so I will try to let you know about some of the exciting adventures I've had over the last two weeks in several entries in the blog.

I have been having many issues with blogger recently in trying to upload pictures to my site. That's one of the reasons I haven't posted. This weekend I plan on posting about all the events - even if they get blogged without photos. But, let's all keep our fingers crossed just in case.

It's good to be back. Read on for the other newest entry I've been trying to publish.

Maeda Point & Onna Point

Weekend of October 20th:

We had decided that it was time to dive the much loved Maeda Point.Since arriving to Oki, Noa and I had been told over and over again that the place to go was Maeda Point. The catch is that it's a little bit of a drive and you have to get there early because it fills up by 8 am. So, we met Meg and Joe early and loaded the car with enough equipment and supplies for a morning's worth of great dives off Maeda Point.

After getting lost and making some turns in the middle of cane fields, we found the area known as Maeda Point and everyone was right - it was beautiful! A total divers dream, this place had a great parking area, bathrooms, and a stairway leading into the water. We had to explore and take in the sights before lugging all our equipment out. Here's some photos.

In our excitement of finally finding the place, however, we kinda neglected to question why the parking lot was empty and why we had to cross construction barriers to get to such a beautiful local. Soon, the reason became evident:

If you can't read the sign* well, it says that Cape Maeda is OFF LIMITS. They closed it for environmental maintenance. So, we were stuck. We had all our gear and were ready to go on a dive or two, but now we had no clue about where to go. We did consider diving there anyway, since it seemed pretty desolate, but we didn't want to risk Noa and Joe to get in trouble for trespassing and then having the military get wind of it and have it affect their jobs. We decided to call the experts. While we were calling some dive shops for their advice, up drives Meg's dive instructor. After he assessed the situation, he said that it would be better for us to dive at a different location. We followed him to a different dive location called Onna Point - which was up north a little further.

Onna was beautiful too, although it was a little tough getting to the location, since you pretty much have to off-road it once you turn off the main road (the photo doesn't quite do it justice, so imagine that same scene with lots of holes in the ground). Here are some photos of the view - the drive off-road and the view from where we parked:

We ended up doing 2 dives that day. Both were good dives, although I continued to have issues clearing my ears. The first dive I got to 80 feet and the second dive was around 40, but was fun because we spent a lot of time exploring one area thoroughly. I felt like I almost got to see more, since I wasn't trying to push ahead and see what comes up next. I even got to go through a little passageway. Noa had a run in with a mama clown fish that was not about to give up her anemone without a fight. If only I had had an underwater camera. The only downside to the dives was the entrance and exit point into the water. The way Onna is set up, the point of entry is by climbing on coral rocks into the water. This is not always easy with a 40lb. tank strapped to your back and fins in your hand. Also, there were other diving groups around, so the pressure is on not to make a complete fool of yourself going into the water. Thankfully, I didn't fall or slice anything open on the sharp coral. I did like Onna and could easily go back for another dive, but I have heard rumors that people are still swimming and diving at Maeda, even though it's technically "closed". Hmmmm....maybe I'll get to dive that sooner than I originally though.

Here's a pic to leave you with. It's the area that we had to maneuver while going in and out of the water (the area that dips in).

*Look at the bottom right hand side of the sign. It gives a phone number to contact the "Onna Government PUBRIC Department"! Now that is one of the joys of living in Japan.

Japanese Cars, Part I

Upon our arrival to Okinawa, one can't go long without noticing the many differences in cars here as compared to those in the United States. One difference I found quite humorous was the naming of cars. Many of the Japanese cars use people names* as the name of the model. I keep hoping to see a "Julie" cruise by someday.


*The names of the cars pictured above from left to right, top to bottom: Max, Nadia, Jasper, Cedric, Will, Silvia, Carol, Noah, and Mark.

Eminem's Twin

Except that he's not limited to rap - he 'll sing it all! Noa had a blast this past weekend at karaoke. I've captured a few of his best moments on film (he, he, he...). In the middle photo he's singing with his friend Joe, who was there with his wife, Meghan and another couple, Sean and Beth. It was agood group to sing with. We all had many turns with the mic and went home with sore throats. Even I got a little too into it. Here I am belting out "It's Raining Men":

We spent the rest of the weekend doing all kinds of random, fun things. Saturday morning we awoke to a huge breakfast in honor of Noa's birthday from Meg and Joe. Then we all visited several stores looking for some furniture. We had lunch at A & W, which they have enverywhere here. It's kinda like McDonalds or Starbucks - they are on every street. The interesting thing was that I didn't think the food was that good. It wasn't very filling and seemed to lack something. But the soft serve ice cream - or what they call "soft cream" - was yummy! Although we didn't find any major furniture pieces, we did get a room divider screen and a rug for our dining room (sorry no photos yet!).

On Sunday, we attended church, did random house stuff, I worked (but fit in a little Sunday nap too!), and in the evening we had games at our place. On Monday (Columbus Day), Noa worked in the morning and then went diving. I, sadly, could not go since I had put off a majority of my work to play over the weekend and had to put in the hours at school. I was so sad not to join them, but I had to get more work done at school. So, I tried (in vain) to convince Noa that he was actually just scouting out the diving spot for me to see if it was any good.

I think Noa had a good birthday weekend overall. He got to talk to family, hang out with friends, and got a call from his best friend serving overseas. I think he'd agree that turning 29 isn't all that bad.

A Time to Laugh, A Time to Play

That's right - it's Noa's birthday!! Since it's on a Thursday this year, we're playing it low key tonight and having fun this weekend. We went out to a soba (Japanese noodles) restaurant for dinner - one that's actually right around the corner for us. It was completely authentic - no English in the place at all. The funny part about the place was the way you placed your order. Basically you walk in, put some money in a vending machine, push the button for your order and out comes a ticket and change. You give this ticket to the cook and in a little bit your food is served! The place is a small mom-and-pop type place, which was cute and it neighbors a nursery/garden shop so we sat at a window and looked out at the greenery as we slurped our noodles.

Although both of us have to work during parts of the long weekend ahead, we're still planning some fun birthday activities. Noa has fallen in love with karaoke. The picture above was taken the first time we went. So, we've invited a few friends to join us at the karaoke place tomorrow night. We also hope to get another dive in this weekend (although the weather has been rough lately with a typhoon somewhere out there - it's been really windy!!) and I want to take Noa to the Botanical Gardens. So, even though it's a low key night tonight, we're gonna spread the birthday cheer throughout the entire weekend.

Happy birthday to Noa - the guyI love enough to move halfway around the world to be with. Love you, babe! 

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.