Happy Halloween

Hope you have a Spook-tacular day!!!

Pray for me, as I'll pray for thee

Not that we may merrily meet in heaven, but that we will make it through the day in one piece. Today was a day that really, really tested me. At the post office I thought I was going to let one little incident (not finding the address on the flashcard I wrote it on in my purse) make me break down in tears. Well, I heard something fall onto the ground and looked down to see a crumpled flashcard. It totally wasn't in my purse-God had to put it there. It was my sign that it was going to be okay, and couldn't come a minute too soon. It has open up my mind to a flow of thoughts that I wish I was smart enough to think of, but I'm unfortunately not. Yeah, it's a God thing.

It's raining, it's pouring

And unfortunately, it's not the old man snoring that happened today. Ceiling tiles in my classroom collapsed! After initially hearing that nothing could be done in my room for a MONTH due to funding (oh, Government waste!!!) I, for the first time in my career, pulled the teacher card and low and behold, a team of Japanese engineers (or construction workers-I can't tell the difference) marched into my room three hours later. My room looks like a mess (like it didn't before). I have some kiddos this year who like to "re-arrange" my room while they are quite upset, and feng shui apparently isn't their thing. I just prayed a kid didn't come in having a bad day while the Japanese men were on the ladder. Thankfully that did not happen. Anyways I had to rearrange the room looking for one of the two electric outlets available in the room for the computer to get some reports completed by the end of the Another action-packed day in the life of a special education teacher.

The leak got into some my files, but they have already dried. My computer was also dangerously close to swimming, but we prevented it. It was quite a day in Room 223. I'm afraid about possible molding/mildew in the 3 foot circle of water on the carpet, but people smarter than me will figure out what needs to be done. Oh, what a day!

We vacation in Guam in...

Well, not during Thanksgiving break! Oh, how we were really, really, REALLY hoping to visit Guam over Thanksgiving. Not because we are on some personal mission to visit US territories, but to see my other brother, that red-headed one from a blonde mother. It's not going to work out and I am so disappointed. We hoped to fly "Space-A" aka free or nearly free military hop flights, from Kadena (name of the air base here) to Guam. There is only one weekly flight, scheduled for Sundays during November, apparently. It also ain't cheap. Flying to Guam commercially will take 12 hours and goes through at least two countries. I am ashamed to admit, but honest enough to do so, but I really didn't think Guam was all that far away-I mean, it's just the Pacific Ocean. Well, those North American-centered maps of my youth have skewed my geographical awareness.

BTW ("by the way" for my non-lingo friends), speaking of cheap, word on the Okinawan streets is that gas in the States is going to go below $2.00 a gallon. Is this true? Gas has been $4.06 a gallon since we've arrived here and there are no signs it's going to decrease.

I feel like exercising

What is happening to me-I want to exercise!

As you know, we've been heading to the gym. Jared is taking up residence at the gym-I am so proud of him today. Today was kind of a grr day-the grr moments came in waves. All I wanted to do at 5:30 was go to the gym and jump on the treadmill. Me, on a treadmill. What is wrong with me? Am I becoming one of THOSE people?

On an unrelated note, we went to see Tropic Thunder tonight. It wasn't what I expected but I really enjoyed Tom Cruise in the movie. We've gone to the movies more in Oki than the past 4 years combined.

We are hoping to get plane tickets tomorrow and visit a beach early in the day before it gets really hot. I'll post pics, of course. Y'all have a fantastic Friday!

It's been awhile

It has been awhile since I last blogged and I hate that. This sounds cliche, I know, but I miss my friends and family and want them to experience everything as I do. I want to share the nuances of living on Okinawa with the people I share my daily life events with. The people who know ME, know my family, know my friends.

I have some lurkers on my blog. Lurkers on the worldwide web are like lurkers in daily life- they are on the outside looking in. They do not have the best interest of my family at heart. I've felt slightly violated. Responding to this feeling of violation, I've protested, in my passive, stubborn way, by not posting blogs. But who is that really hurting? Not those people, but me. It's keeping me from the joy I honestly feel when I share about my day or my adventures with my people. You are my people.

I am going to continue to blog without additional restrictions. I can't retreat, that isn't fair to my friends, family, or even me. Why affect the actions of dozens when you are trying to control the behavior of a few? I am a stubborn girl born to two stubborn parents, in a long line of stubborn people. I don't like to back down. I do hope they get the point, though, and quit reading. Please.

Happy Birthday Adam!

I won't embarass you, but we wish you a very happy birthday and can't wait for you to get your birthday present!!

If I was at home I'd make you birthday summer squash or zucchini, but since I can't, this is the next best thing:

"The Monkey Store"

I've heard about Makeman-The Monkey Store. A big orange "Do It Yourself" store featuring a giant monkey that promised of a gardening center. I desperately wanted to visit a gardening center. When I was younger, I HATED stores like this. I often visited them with my dad and we'd be there for HOURS as my dad shopped and talked to people. If you've ever met my dad, this shouldn't surprise you in the slightest. Well, I am now reminiscent for stores like this. I have discovered that I love messing around with plants and dirt. I've been craving the satisfaction gardening gives me since I've arrived in Okinawa.

We visited Makeman today and I had a hey-day. Jared even bumped into our landlord and his wife while we were shopping. Small world! It's exciting to be able to have flowers year round, and I feel like I have so much space to play with. I am starting small today but I'm going to be an awesome urban gardener!

Cooking in Japan...

I tried to cook Japanese tonight.

I wanted to make yakiudon, the dish I raved about from Yoshi Hachi's.

We were good people and walked to the vegetable stand down the street. Even brought our own bags with us. We bought pineapple, onions, and the like. I even think I find yakiudon noodles in a big bag filled with a watery substance. They look a little different than what I've seen at the San A grocery store,but no biggie. I have a craving, I need noodles & veggies. We check out of said vegetable stand w/o a single word but lots of gestures of dialogue and save like 60% from what we would have to pay at the commissary.

I thought I bought udon noodles-I was wrong.

I made a big skilet of stirfried veggies-cabbage, onions, carrots, green onions, garlic, bell peppers, bean sprouts. I then drain the noodles and boy, they smell RANK. Smells like fish. Very, very fishy. I continue to drain and pour water over them, thinking maybe there is fish stock in the liquid in the baggie. They still smell. I don't have the best nose due to my allergies (no allergies bothering me in Oki, I just don't have the best olfactory senses). I impulsively add them to my vegetable mixture-I WANT yakiudon.

It tasted TERRIBLE. Like, I spent 15 minutes picking all the noodles out of the veggies with chopsticks and the veggies still tasted icky.

I'm leaving yakiudon up to the professionals...

pictures

Here's a picture of a beverage vending machine in front of Yoshi Hachi's.
Also included is a picture of a red lantern hanging outside of the restaurant we went to last night. These designate a restaurant, supposedly cheaper eats. Enjoy!

Random question of the day

"Mrs. Sawin, have you ever sheared a sheep?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you are from Indiana."

Then not an hour later, another student, from the same class, was asking about shearing sheep. What are they teaching these kids?

Yoshihachi's

Pictured: Yoshi roll & cheese croquette

I knew I didn't want to cook tonight (Friday). Normally, I LOVE cooking and entertaining, but seeing as we have none of our cooking supplies, or anyone to entertain, eating out was the next best (only) option. I knew I wanted udon noodles, thick, chewy, long noodles that are absolutely fabulous in every way. Jared may want some sushi and we both would like some good vegetables. I asked the student teacher in my room and she immediately recommended Yoshi Hachi's. I was in the mood to try a Japanese restaurant tonight, so off we went. I don't even know how to spell it, but I know Yoshi and Hachi are in the title. It was fantastic! They had traditional table dining & tatami mat dining-either you sat on the floor and either your feet went into a hole under the table, or you sat cross legged or something similar. We went to EARLY dinner, like 5:20 ish and scored a tatami mat seat, feet and legs in hole. Awesome.

We had some rolled sushi, which apparently isn't really "Japanese" but more westernized. Scoff if you like, but I wasn't feeling like blowfish sushi nigiri (raw fish on rice patty) or yellowtail fish head. Yes, that's on the menu also. We tried a spicy tuna roll, shrimp tempura (fried shrimp) roll, asparagus & "bacon" (really ham), and the object of my constant craving-yakiudon. Yakiudon is stirfried udon noodles and cabbage, carrots, green onions and ham. It had the best garlic sauce in the world. Definitely not kissably fresh, but oh so delicious. Well, we ate and then thought, "Hmm, it's only 6:30 & I'm going to get hungry later..." and ordered cheese croquettes & a Yoshi roll. The Yoshi-san apparently likes tuna, crab & avocado. Tres delicious.

Torii Beach, part two

Jared and I went to Torii Beach for a second time on Sunday. We arrived later afternoon, after the peak of the sun, and even with our SPF 30 we still got some sun. The Okinawan sun is a bit stronger than the Scottsburg sun! It was a peaceful day. I've been joking with ppl. at work that I'm trying to become zen. I need to find a way to capture the sound of the beach-there is a ton of coral, so when the wave hits the shore and then pulls back, pieces of coral clank against other pieces and sounds very...peaceful. It reminds me of something my Grandma Goldie had, like a mobile of sand dollars or something similar striking the others in the tiered mobile. It is so zen!

A gentleman at the beach was kite surfing. Apparently it requires a really big kite, rock-hard abs, and a surfboard. The kite propels you out of the water and you work with the kite to steer yourself around. I know I'm not coordinated enough but it looked like a lot of fun.

I didn't go in too far because they claim it's jelly fish season and I'm a big scaredy cat. From what I have heard, jellyfish season is September through October. It's the midwestern in me with unfamiliarity with oceans and beaches that keeps me from jumping right in. I just went in mid thigh high, enough where I could do my best to see what was swimming or crawling around beneath the surface. The Security Forces did a sufficient job in scaring me of all sealife during our Newcomers Safety briefing.

We drove around the Torii Beach post and really liked the community sense. There are a lot of sugarcane fields and turtleback tombs. These are where the Japanese go to pay respects to people who have passed on. That's worthy of an entirely separate blog post. Torii isn't all Army stuff, there is Okinawan culture/life on the post as well. It reminds me of Neubruecke, where I was in Germany, an off shoot of a bigger military community but still offering a lot on its own.

Japanese beverage vending machines

These vending machines are EVERYWHERE! I'll walk down to the local machine on our corner and take a picture, but we tried two beverages out of the vending machine yesterday. There are no two exactly the same vending machines, at least non that we have found, so it is enjoyable to guess the flavor. I tried something new while Jared had his old standby, jasmine tea. I tried Lucky Cider. It had a dolphin and fun colors, it had to be good. Well, it had a flavor I just couldn't pinpoint and was quite bubbly. Kind of like something you'd either really LOVE when you had a queasy stomach, or something that could send you running if you had a queasy stomach. I started out liking it and ended up...not so much.

They cell this Lemon C drink, or something like that, that they claim has the equivalent of 300 lemons. I don't know about that, but I'm sending a case to my dear friend Jessica with hopes that this will be that winter for her when she doesn't get sick.

da-duh, duh duh...(repeat)

I'm trying that song thing again-hopefully you were thinking wedding bells

when you read the title. We had a union in Dynasty Court 5-F (Well, the Softbank at Kadena to be specific)-JARED HAS A CELL PHONE!

He pooh-poohed the idea of a cell phone but I was tired of waiting for 1+ hours on him with the vehicle when I was stranded places. This truly wasn't his fault as I was at 3 separate work related functions that simply ended far earlier than they said they would end. Well, for not being interested in a cell phone he certainly has learned how to maneuver that slick black thing quite well.

Now would be the time when I provide you with his cell number; I do not know his cell number. We'll have to e-mail it out.

Driving around in our automobile....

Sometimes when I type I get a jingle in my head and wish I knew how to express that in what I write. I remember an older song with the lines "...driving around in my automobile...." and forget te rest. Bring that song snippet into memory when you read the title and then maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to effectively communicate where I'm going with this entire paragraph I just devoted to a blog title.

Driving around Oki is CRAZY. For the obvious, we now drive on the LEFT side of the road, with the driver on the RIGHT side of the vehicle. Always remember-heinie on the linie. Adam's Aunt Lonna helped me with that one. Once I have my own vehicle, I think I may laminate a reminder with this and post it in the driver's side window. Streets are WAY more narrow here. We turn onto what we thought was an alleyway to the side street to our apartment. Well, the alleyway turns out to be a regular street, like Cherry Street in Scottsburg, or New York Ave. in Muncie. Then you turn on to what we then thought was a real alley to our apt. No, it's a street. Enough room for one vehicle at a time. NERVE wracking!

Here is where we enter the real culture differences. If you've read previous posts, you know I've written a lot about the politeness of the Japanese. This extends to driving, they'll let anyone into the primary traffic pattern at any time. And here is where the paradox occurs-anyone can bee-dive, swerve in, dart, merge into the primary traffic pattern at any time! This isn't polite in the least bit! Of course there is the offertory head bow, or wave of the hand, thanking you for your politeness. Oh, it drives me crazy! This is like saying you are in Scottsburg driving down Hwy 56 approaching CVS from the west and a vehicle from the turning lane pulls right in front of you, and they get to merge, no horns honking, no rude gestures. Just a head nod from both parties and maybe a wave from the offender. It goes against my drivers education training!

I'm including some pictures from our drive to and from Kadena. We are only 5 kilometers from base, but it can range from a 7 minute trip to a 25 minute trip, with traffic being the factor.

Okinawa weather

The weather here is even sillier than southern Indiana! There can be incredibly ominous clouds, and five minutes later blue skies and bright sun. Here are some pictures of a storm coming in over the Pacific around 5:30 pm on a Tuesday.

p.s. When it rains here, it RAINS. At home we have short downpours, Here, significantly long downpours. After being soaked to the core before 8 am, I now carry my big red umbrella EVERYWHERE.

Furniture (Tuesday)

We are the proud owners of some more furniture! I know this may not seem like much to some, but to us this is HUGE. This is in the first wave of furniture we've ever purchased, not been handed down or salvaged from Goodwill or the like. We really liked the Thai wine cabinet we bought and are hoping to buy other pieces in the series(?). We agreed to buy a coffee table/trunk, a "Michigan" and an entertainment type stand. They are beautiful. Something abotu when you pay your own money, you DO use coasters. Mom, I'm sorry for not using coasters & scratching various items in the house, getting puff paint all over the kitchen table and the eighty billion other things I wish I could go back and re-do.

We are getting this stuff from the Kadena Officers Spouses Club Gift Annex. Say that ten times fast. I think it's the one thing here there isn't a quick acronym for. KOSC Gift Annex is the shortest I've seen it written. They are great, there's a furniture portion and gift shop portion. The Air Force had a big birthday in September, I think the 18th, and they offered 18% off the entire month for the celebration. It was a great time to buy for the home. The prices are already incredibly reasonable. A lot of the stuff is Pottery Barn looking, but w/o the hefty pricetag. I am sure our near and dear will see lots of KOSC Gift Corner goods for birthdays, holidays, special celebrations during our stay on Okinawa.

...And then there were three

View off our balcony looking east to the Pacific.
I know it's hard to see. Sorry!




Tuesday or Wednesday (can't remember, but one of those middle days) I looked out the window and our old friend Navy boat was joined by 2 of his buddies.

They were gorgeous at night with the orange lights in the middle of darkness, kind of swaying with the waves.

Random bits from Saturday and Tuesday

What a week! Whew, it's flown by yet it feels like nothing was accomplished. Sometimes I feel like a little kids dressed in work clothes and that people are under the illusion that I have a clue as to what I am doing. I haven't really felt like I knew what I've been doing but after this past week I feel a bit better.

Had a lot of work related meetings this week. We had this "Educator's Day" where all the teachers from the district came together and could attend 50 minute sessions on whatever their hearts content. Presentations varied from academic instruction to using a White Board to planning holidays to Vietnam and Burma and breast cancer awareness. I wanted to go to a breadmaking class, but it "sold out" for lack of a better term. It was quite interesting. On this day several ladies from school went to lunch at the Seaside Inn. It's a part of Kadena, just not on the same physical campus, it's across the street, on the sea (imagine that!). It was GORGEOUS!! It was a rainy day and a typhoon was somewhere out there, not near us, but we could feel the effects of the bad weather with big waves, etc. Anyways, I'm sitting with a bunch of work people and there is turquoise water to my back, huge fish swimming around and waves crashing on a sea wall adjacent to the restaurant. I just couldn't believe that this is where we have our fun work lunches. Now, please don't misinterpret this as me not appreciating Jeeves back in the 'burg, b/c goodness knows I love Jeeves, but here I was (with ginger ale on tap!), chit-chatting with my back to the East China Sea. This life sure has been an adventure thus far.

We went bowling on Monday to watch the Bears game. Jared and I are prepping so when we go bowling with the Federalle's in December we can bring our "A" game. Terry Allen, if you are reading this, Jared has a few new tricks up his sleeves!

I think I'll post separate blogs about each day b/c this is turning into one L-O-N-G post.

Tschuess!

Me