What a great day, Part II

We woke up early and drove up north for Motobu Port. There will be a quiz on all these names, so take note. We boarded a ferry to Ie Island (Ie-Jima in Japanese). It's only 9 km from the main island of Okinawa. This is where Ernie Pyle was killed while reporting from the trenches, or so to say, during WWII. There is a lot of military history on Ie Island and lots of agriculture. Probably the most concentrated ag we've seen since we've been here. The YYY Ie resort touted itself to be all inclusive. My all inclusive experience is from Mexico, specifically Cancun and the Mayan Riviera so I didn't quite know what to expect. The YYY was Japanese and quaint and polite. Not as splashy as the Americanized resorts.

We wanted to take advantage of the gorgeous weather, which turned out to be a fantastic idea as it clouded up in the afternoon and rained all night and the next day. We explored the beach at the hotel and it was absolutely beautiful. I don't know how one can't believe in a higher being after being in a situation like we were in. I've never seen as vibrant shades of blue in my life. We saw dozens of hermit crabs scurrying hither and tither and even came across a sea urchin. I posted a smidgen of these on my facebook photo album if you are interested. There was a local fishing with a l-o-n-g bamboo pole at the end of the beach...it truly was amazing. I couldn't believe my luck in being on a tropical beach on my birthday.

Apparently it is hotel policy to have a lifeguard on duty whenever ANYONE is in the pool. So, this little Japanese guy looks kind of nervous when Jared and I approach the pool. Jared doesn't want to get in, but me being a water rat I jump right in. The guy then approaches the lifeguard station and perches on his seat, waiting for me to need him or something. I am not a trained lifeguard so I don't know all of your all's tricks, but I had serious doubts that he could save me. Thankfully I was safe in the 1.2 meters of water.

We had our choice of meal for dinner-Western (American style), Barbecue (not with sauce, but actually cooking the meat over heat at your table) or Japanese. I let Jared decide because we all now that I hate making final decisions. He chose Japanese. I immediately knew I should've made the decision. Honestly, the Japanese meal wasn't all that bad, it just wasn't in my comfort range. We had gelatinous fish, what appeared to be flash fried minnows, pieces of octopus tentacles & pigs ear. Actually the pigs ear wasn't all that bad. I don't want to say the food was bad, because it was tasty, but as I previously stated it was just outside of my comfort range. I am glad we tried the Japanese course however.

On our return ferry trip on Sunday the weather was being a little pill. The crusty old ferry captain was great and we got back to Motobu before schedule. Jared surprised me by driving home the scenic route (I love scenic routes!) and the coast of the East China Sea for quite awhile before arriving around Kadena. What an amazing day! I think 27 is going to agree with me!

What a great day! Part 1.

Breakfast meal of champions! Jared made me breakfast and made it aesthetically pleasing as well!
We are sweating like mad because that's what you do in Okinawa. We're in the landing waiting for our elevator and it's honestly probably 92 degrees in there. At 8:20 at night.
At Jack's Place on Kadena. Poor girl had difficulties using the camera.


One thing the DoD should tell unsuspecting souls when they move to the Pacific-you get to celebrate your birthday for not one, but TWO days! Well, I am a birthday nut so I took full advantage of this. I had a lovely little cake at work courtesy of the EI/LI staff and received a Kokeshi doll-a Japanese doll. I received the September doll. I think they are cute. I had a TON of paperwork so that wasn't so much fun, but that night Jared and I went to Jack's Place, an Asian restaurant here on Kadena. We wanted to go to a place we've endearingly termed "Paparazzi Pork" but there were no parking slots left. This restaurant has HUNDREDS of blinking lights on the physical building as well as the sign on the road. I think we weren't in a huge hurry to explore a place we've never visited before. Besides, we were doing so on Saturday when we visited IE Island & the YYY Resort....

new boots!

It rains, a lot, here in Oki and I'm tired of having wet fee. I found the most adorable boots and they come in big girl sizes (womens 11). Thanks to the fine people @ Zappos.com, I'll be new boot wearin' in 7-10 days!

:) :) :) :) :)

Thanks for the memories, Paul Newman

I loved Paul Newman. Yes, he was old enough to be my grandpa, but I loved him. He loved his family. He loved his craft. He loved his privacy. He had that midwestern streak of helping others. I took a dramatic literature class in high school and it helped me learn to really appreciate the art of drama. Paul Newman was a master artist.

The Office!

What happened?! I can't get The Office over here, well at least this season, and I want to know-does Jim finally get to propose to Pam? Does Holly still think Kevin is kind of special? Ooh, I'm dying to know!

tennis, anyone?

I've wanted to learn how to play tennis for over a decade now. My husband surprised me with a tennis racket as a birthday gift. It was funny, we ran over to the post office to pick up some mail and he asked me to help him fix the backseat while he went in to get our mail. I didn't suspect anything as we had to re-arrange our seats in order to fit our stools and winerack into the truck. Well, I can't get the seat to go down all the way so I lift it up and see a tennis racket and card, addressed to me! It's only the sweetest card he's ever gotten me and I am so pleased. I call out to him across the parking lot and he has a huge grin on his face. I continue to think there is a problem with the other set of seats and I can't figure out what's wrong with them, so I lift up the seats and discover another tennis racket-we can both play! I love surprises and he got me. We played for two hours and I was absolutely AWFUL until I learned that if I squared my hips with the net, I could control where my ball went. Genius!

We were able to call Mom & Dad and Adam this evening and that made us v. happy. We really looking forward to seeing everyone when we come home @ Christmas.

The next time I post, I'll be 27. I can't believe it. I used to think 27 year olds had their act together. Don't 27 year olds have mortgages, babies and special commitments? My husband and I live in an rented apartment (thank you taxpayers!), no babies in the forecast and our biggest commitment is whether to join the DoDDS Wednesday night bowling league or not. We're afraid the every Wednesday until December thing is a bit too much for us. Like we have a rockin' social life here on the island. Now I know 27 is still YOUNG. Still EXPLORING life, figuring out what I want to do in life, being able to make mistakes and it's okay to learn from them.

What's the rush?

Crisis Management

I am now trained in crisis prevention intervention. They should throw some more "-tion's" in there. Basically it's managing students when their behavior escalates and becomes verbal and then physical. I received similar training during my short stint at Greater Clark, but this was a little different and a bit easier to remember. I hope not to have to ever use it, but the odds are that I will have to. Did you know when you are being bitten (bit?) to push into the biter and it'll relax their mouth and teeth so you can pull out with one swift movement? I didn't know that either.

Since I've last blogged, we've learned that our Japanese address works quite nicely, and efficiently. Those darn Japansese are still so polite! We received a package notice that we were not home when they attempted delivery and they provided instructions for package retrieval, in English, not Engrish!! Then they ask a good time for YOU, the receipeint to receive the package. Fed Ex and UPS never dream of that! Jared had an interesting conservation with the delivery man with the gentleman somehow believing Jared has fantastic Japanese conservational skills. Hmm.

I've had a head ache all day. One that reaches from the bottom of my neck to the top of my head. I don't know what to do. I am bummed b/c Jared surprised me with a tennis racket and picked me up from my training today with his workout clothes and mine in a bag. We're getting into exercising, finally, and I honestly feel too icky to go. I can't believe I'm disappointed that I can't go exercise. Anyways, he got me the sweetest birthday card yet and thoroughly surprised me. You in the know know how much I love surprises.

I don't know what's on our plates for tonight, but I hope that we can pick something up for dinner as I am not in a cooking mood nor is my personal chef. My personal chef outdid himself last night, preparing stirfried veggies and pork, no starches included. It was awesome!

I'm going to take another ibuprofen and perhaps write another blog this evening. Tschuess!

Pity, Party of One

Ugly pity party reared her yucky head again. I think it was a culmination of exasperation, homesickness, and uncertainity. I used to pout, a lot, when I was little and whenever I pouted, my dad would always say, "You better watch out for that lip because a bird is going to land on it." I truly believed him and to this day remember the vision of a blackbird with yucky talons grabbing onto my lip. I was gullible. Still am, probably always will be. That's just part of who I am. Well, there are bats here. Yes, BATS. The big scary bats who fly around at night. I sure as heck don't want a scary bat landing on my lip so I'm going to quit my pouting.

I feel like I'm hitting my stride at work and that is nice. I could use 50 hours in a day to accomplish everything I feel I need to, but what's the point? I know I'll get it done. A girl at work said she heard, or read, that teachers should be the best teacher they can between 8:00 and 3:30 and then go live their lives. At times I would think this was the most ridiculous statement, teachers should be "on" for hours before and after work, come in on weekends. And then on the other hand at times, I completely agree with the 0800-1530 statement (like that military jargon?). I'm going to experiment with 0800-1600 the rest of this week and see how that works for me.

Jared and I are hitting the gym. One reason is because if we get to come home at Christmas, and we happen to get an awesome fare on a Japanese airline, we want to be comfortable when we are in transit for 23 hours to and fro. Japanese airplane seats ARE considerably more narrow and short than their North American counterparts. Air India was even more comfortable than ANA (All Nippon Airways?). Also, we just want to be healthy. Jared says our exercising frequency has gone up 100%, but I think it should be like 200% or something like that. Speaking of math, guess who is the new sponsor of the Amelia Earhart Intermediate Schol Math Club? Yes, Miss-I-registered-for-MATHS2070-three-times. Nope, these aren't Mathletes, but kids who need extra help with math. Once I found out this wasn't for advanced kids but rather kids with lower levels I was all over it. I'm also something called the YoronIsland rep. From what I gather the fifth grade students have an opportunity to be chosen to travel to said island for a week of team building activities or something. I guess I help choose the fifth graders who will be going? I don't know, but it's a new opportunity for me. I like doing things with gen.ed. kids so I'm excited about this.

This is long, sorry! I had lots to share.

Cool boat

I'm really not familiar with coastal living in the least bit. Midwestern life doesn't lend that particular opportunity. I'm fine with that and more of a lake person than beach person. Anyways, I am doing some mundane chore this afternoon and happen to look outside and see this in my line of sight:




Which upon further inspection is:



There is some sort of naval ship out of my house. How cool! I know as much about Naval classifications as I do about yeast, so I went to wikipedia.com to learn what I could, which was minimal at best. From what I have gathered, White Beach, a Navy base on Oki, is across the harbor from us and this bad boy (or aren't boats female?) was heading White Beach's way.

On a side note:
In my short 26 years, I have now lived in the follwing dwellings: house, cottage, dorm, army barrack, trailer, apartment, temporary military lodging.

and observed the following modes of transportation from said dwellings: tractors, farm implement machines, livestock, trains, autobahns, tanks, airplanes, Navy boats.

Pretty cool for a young person.

Furniture

We are the proud owners of 4 bar stools and 1 wine cabinet. They make the apartment feel MUCH more cozy and less refugee like.

Wahoo!

If you knew me from 1998 - 2002 ish, you knew I loved the phrase "Wahoo!" It was a term of endearment I used when I was excited, rooting on my team or the like. Well, I feel like today was a Wahoo day. I had a meeting that I have been dreading since I even thought it would commence. It is now over and I truly feelt a rush of adrenaline afterwards. I am looking forward to the professionals I get to work with this year. Today was a day that made me feel inspired and excited.

This week

We are bad, bad people. We are siphoning internet off of unsuspecting neighbors. I hope I don't go to Japanese jail for this.

I *think* Sinlaku is up past main land (island?) Japan now. We had three days of intense wind and rain (although nothing like people back in Indiana experienced on Sunday) and it's now green outside. I have driven to base on my own the past four mornings and am quite proud of myself and my some-what independence. I don't know if driving on the left side will ever feel natural. Today I opened up the passenger door to get in the car before I realized the steering column is on the right side. Whoops.

Tomorrow is my first real pay day and we have big, exciting plans for that government paycheck. Those plans include buying stools for our kitchen bar so we can eat without standing. We are v. excited about that! We also saw some outdoor chairs we really love at the BX. It seems like a waste to not take full advantage of our balcony. I also hope we can get real internet. Jared wants television and has his eyes on a set at the BX. I have purchased one tv in my short 26 years, 8 months and 3 weeks, and it was a $90.00 special at Wal-Mart in 2002 and I thought it was high dollar. Well, that frame of reference was way off base!!!

I am glad all of you in Indiana are safe after the storm. It was incredibly scary to hear about it on the radio coming home from work! I hope power and phone services are reconnected soon and you all didn't lose too much.

2 more...

I forgot 1950 and 1996. Good years.

Through the years

1964 Katie wishes you'd quiet down in the library while she mourns JFK and ponders the wiliness of Johnson.
1966 Katie loves her slick bob.
And apparently still loves it in 1972. This does remind me of mom's Spartan yearbook.
Now, 1978 is a bit too close for comfort as I look like this in the mornings. I don't remember seeing any guests with this hair style in my parents wedding album.
1990 Katie is livin' on a prayer, thanks to her Aqua Net.

Discovered a new website today and have thoroughly loved it: http://www.yearbookyourself.com/. Courtesy of a Miss Jaimie Hughes. You should check it out.

Cocok's

Got a new pedicure. It's my fall look. These people are ridiculously talented, and patient. I don't like feet so I could never do pedicures. Eww.

Beach Pictures

Here are the pics I meant to attach to the Torii Beach post. I'll be interested to go back after Sinlaku is gone to see the sea glass that has swept up on the beach.

Sunday Brunch

We made it to the Kadena Officer's Brunch this morning. You all WILL be our honored guests! While we can't get a reserved table like the big wigs (I think you need Colonel or Commander in your name for that), you will be greeted with Hoosier Hospitality by us, your hosts. That beats Pomp and Circumstance any day.

transportation

Humorous Japansese vehicles. Things are just so different here. The mini vans are truly MINI vans. Like, as long as my old Nissan Altima was! It's v. humorous.

Only the Japanese...

They are so darn polite! Not just polite to your face, but in actions, even discrete activities. The garbage trucks here have hibiscuses (hibisci?) painted all over the dump part and play "Fur Elise" while going up and down the streets. The toilets here, well, they are a work of art, but many are capable of piping out other noises/sounds if you prefer. At the Tokyo airport, you could even choose flushing sounds in case of any sensitivities. You don't hand money directly to the cashier but rather place the money in a small basket with a gelled bottom to prevent spillage or slippage. Everyone stops when they have priority while driving to allow someone to pull out into the priority road. I mean, people seem to think of Indiana as nice-place central, and yes, we are, but here it is just on a completely different level.

Yes, we all know that space is at the highest premium here. Jared and I noticed at Nitori, the IKEA of Japan we've deduced, that the furniture is just so darn cute looking. Like it would be perfect in an elementary classroom, not in a living room. Sectional sofas here are just, tiny. I need to take a picture. It honestly looks like a Disney type furniture selection.

We've avoided Sinlaku so far, but looks like he/she may be around on Monday. That is fine by me, I want to experience a typhoon! If he/she comes, it'll only be Category 1, no biggie according to the locals, but enough to get a typhoon day, my new snow day. Check out Jared's blog to read more.

A case of the dizzies and Typhoon Sinlaku...

I have a severe case of the dizzies and I don't know why. Vertigo is now an unwanted houseguest in the Sawin abode. A typhoon is on its way towards Okinawa, so I wonder if perhaps I am uber sensitive to pressure changes. A lot of my goofy little ones are susceptible to pressure changes and weather changes. I've been dizzy for almost 2 weeks. It's really getting old, quickly.

This morning I received an e-mail from the assistant principal warning us of the upcoming typhoon. The Americans on base are rushing around, going hither and tither to "batten down the hatches" or whatever that phrase is. Jared happened to be on base when the news broke (remember-no phone, radio, television or internet connection = out of tune kinda-newlyweds) and headed over to the commissary and BX to stock up on what he could. He's kind of a MacGuyver type, but was sensitive to my non survival skills and bought a butane heater or something, flashlights, water, rope, all that stuff. We have a mop for potential water that seeps through the balcony doors/windows. We knew that Pacific Ocean view had to have at least one downfall! Come to think of it, with 90+ mph wind, water can really enter our home anyway it wants.

We still can't find a battery powered radio, something everything claims you MUST have, but there are absolutely, positively NONE to be found on this expanse of Americana. We'll look in a Japanese store tomorrow. Sinlaku is scheduled to hit Friday evening and the brunt of the storm will be Saturday. We had our first real rain storm today and it was so windy and nearly horizontal rain. I thought this was normal but later realized this is just another Okinawa rain.

Maybe during the storm I'll revert to one of the lost arts of my generation-good old fashion written correspondence. Sorry if your mailboxes are full in two weeks of drippy, soggy Hallmark cards!

Torii Beach

Took 3.5 weeks but we finally made it to the beach. It was awesome and I saw more seashells than my whole 26 years combined. You will visit here when you visit us.

Also,


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA JEAN!!!

I will write your special blog tomorrow, but we hope you have a great day. We love you!!

Pics!

This is what I see when I wipe the sleep out of my eyes in the am:

I am a lucky girl!

Updates!!

Well, let's see what's happened since we last spoke. Well, I talked and you listened...

Went to the North. It was awesome. Check Jared's blog to see more (http://www.chicokinawa.blogspot.com/). I'll write more when I have more juice in the computer and I have my photo card. We are getting used to the apartment and having to turn on a water heater before we do dishes, bathe, do laundry. It's interesting. There isn't central a/c here so there are individual units in all the rooms. We just turn on in the rooms where we are. It's very humid so my next big adventure will be looking for a used dehumidifier.

Work is busy, busy, busy. Sounds silly but I feel like I am where I am supposed to be.

Hmm...we are still on the look out for friends. Well, maybe not even friends but people to talk to who don't want to discuss their kids or school. We just haven't been in situations to do so yet, but we've only been here just over 3 weeks. I like to leave work at work and not discuss after I walk out unless there is something particularly humorous that I think someone else would get a kick out of.

We are going to a beach tomorrow and I am just so excited. I feel so blessed because I get to see two different oceans (seas?) by 8:00 am everyday; I wake up and see the Pacific Ocean out of our kitchen/living room area and then see the East China Sea after we get onto base to go to school. How blessed am I?

I'll post pictures later! Have a good Friday!!
Love,
Kate