Glass Bottom Boats

Like the previous ones, this weekend was filled with sightseeing. On Saturday, John, Payton, and I drove north to ride a glass bottom boat. The water was choppy and a little cloudy, but we still saw plenty of fish. It was a short ride and we didn't go out too far, but it was fun to be on the ocean.

We went on the white whale boat.

Maybe I'll come back and stay in this hotel someday!

Kumon

Now, I'm going to do my best to write about my last week there. A lot of it was filled with last minute shopping...trying to find the best deals and exactly what I wanted to take home with me. Thanks to Kaylyn for taking me all over the place!

On Friday, I stayed at the apt. to do some practicing and prepare for Sunday's group class. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but Sensei had given me a bunch of music to learn and I wanted to make sure I wasn't completely clueless!

On Tuesdays and Fridays, the girls go to Kumon to study Japanese (many Japanese children go to Kumon to get ahead or have extra help with the language and also math). There is a series of workbooks, so everyone goes at their own pace. Technically they are supposed to do 10 pages a day. Kumon centers are all over the place. After Kumon, we all went home and watched a movie.

I'm home!

After a long but fairly uneventful trip, I made it back to Houston. On the way from Okinawa to Tokyo, I was fortunate to be on the good side of the plane and I had some great views of the island. I'm going to miss that place!

When I arrived in Tokyo, I had to take an hour-long bus ride from one airport to the other. It was a little nerve-wracking because I didn't have much time, but now I can say I've been to Tokyo! The picture above is about as exciting as it got...I didn't see too much!

Sianara, Okinawa!

I can't believe my trip here is already over...I'm leaving for Houston tomorrow morning. I have loved it here so much and I'm really not ready to leave! Do I have to go back?! This past week has been great as well, so I'll have to write more and post some pictures when I'm home. Asia in general has never been on the top of my list of places to go, but I have enjoyed it more than I ever thought I would. There are some things about the culture here that I just love and am really impressed with. Hopefully, someday, I'll make it back!

Almost caught up now! Yesterday morning I went to school with Kaylyn again. I don't do much, but I enjoy walking around and seeing the different classes. There is a pool on top of the school and the students have swimming a couple times a week. I walked up and was able to watch a few classes. I was also kept company by a few 1st grade girls who weren't able to swim for some reason. We couldn't communicate at all, but sang some of the English songs that they know, thumb wrestled, and play rock, paper, scissors, a popular game for them. They were extremely friendly (hanging all over me) and cute. They were also very fascinated with my camera and took a few pictures for me.

My pool friends. The girl in the middle was the one that was the most energetic; I'm not sure why she looks so serious here!

The showers...so cool! A bunch of kids walk into the middle and they turn on automatically.

As much as I've raved about the school, the school system here is unfortunately not that great. Just like in the states, they suffer from lack of funding. I'm not sure how they were able to build this school, but others don't compare. They're extremely old and are massive concrete buildings that look like prisons because they can't afford to paint them. Even though the girls' school is new, they are already short on resources. There are limited computers and they are already unable to keep printers filled with ink and laminating paper in stock. The school year starts in April, so this school's only been in use for a couple months.

After school, Kaylyn and I went to lunch at a place they call "the gorilla" because there's a huge king kong at the entrance. You pile raw meat and vegetables and then cook it at a grill in the middle of your table. I think it's called "sukiyaki". There were a few things like small silver fish, octopus, liver, pig tounge, etc. that I didn't try, but what I did have was delicious.

Raw meat.

Cooking it at our table.

Part of my lunch: rice and curry, sopa (noodles and sauce), fruit, coconut jelly, mochi, jelly (like jello, in the plastic cups), calimari (yes I ate a piece of it), and green melon slushi.

We then walked around another mall that had a Toys R Us inside. It's similar to ours but with different toys of course. Also very expensive.

These miniatures are so tiny and very popular.

These are rhinocerous beetles that are very popular with the boys here as pets.

Thursday nights are another lesson time for me. We go to an apartment in Naha (the capital) that sensei rents for lessons. I'm really enjoying my lessons with him. Last night wasn't the greatest though because I haven't really been practicing (did I say that?) and we're getting into pieces that I haven't played in a while and are a little more difficult. Group class is on Sunday and there are several things he wants me to play, so I need to get on it. That's the main reason why I didn't go to school today with Kaylyn. My last lesson with sensei is on Monday. : (

Snorkeling, Shopping, and Shuji

On Wednesday, I slept in a little bit and then got up to get ready to try snorkeling at the sea wall again. Thankfully, the sun was shining and even though the wind was blowing, the waves weren't too rough. The snorkeling was great! The coral is actually alive here and we saw tons of brightly colored fish. The only thing that creeped me out a bit was a bright yellow and black sea snake that I saw several feet right below me. It was moving fast, but away from me...good thing! My snorkeling experience now feels complete!

Since Kaylyn's not a big fan of the water, John took me out while she studied and read at a nearby coffee shop. We met her there for lunch and had delicious shrimp and avocado sandwiches. When John went back to work, Kaylyn took me to the base to shower and then we went off to do more shopping. Actually, it ended up being just a lot of looking, but I did buy a few things, including a swimsuit! The fashion style is quite different here; the women wear very long dress-like flowy tops with pants underneath. I like it, but have tried on several tops and they're just a little too different. Some of them have so much material, they make me feel like I'm pregnant! Anyway, I'm happy with the swimsuit I found.

After we picked the girls up from school, I walked with them to Shuji, their Japanese calligraphy class. It's one of the many after school activities that Japanese children are involved in. It was fun to watch. The girls practiced on two characters the entire time and they each gave me their best one. It means "big sky".

Busy Day!

On Tuesday morning, we went to the girls' school for an assembly to remember those who died in the Battle of Okinawa during WWII. I didn't realize they were so badly affected here. Their memorial day is Monday and it's a really big deal. All students in the school had been working on learning 2 songs to sing together, one of which was written by a local rock star who also led the assembly. The other song was about peace. It was really touching to hear everyone sing together. Even though I couldn't understand the words, it gave me goosebumps and there was a special spirit there. Music is so unifying and it reminded me of the students at my school half a world away. They are not so different after all. I do have a video of it, but not on my camera; otherwise I would post a clip of it.

After the assembly, Kaylyn, John and I went for breakfast at a restaurant/bakery. It's not too common for restaurants to serve breakfast, but the ones that do have great food. Some of the pastries/breads looked a little unusual, but most of them look absolutely delicious! They also have really good mango juice! Since John was able to pick up the girls from school, Kaylyn and I had the rest of the day to explore and do a little shopping...we packed a lot into one day, but it was fun!

First, we went to the headquarters for the Japanese here during WWII: a series of underground tunnels. They were deep in the ground a little haunting since thousands of Japanese soldiers committed suicide there when the U.S. took control of the island.

View near the entrance.

The entrance to the stairway going down to the tunnels is lined with thousands of paper cranes strung together. Schools have their students make them and then they bring them here in remembrance of the devastation that happened during WWII.

The tunnel system. It was so hot and muggy down here with drops of water on everything. I don't know how they built these tunnels in this heat!

One of officers' rooms. Sorry for the blurriness!

There's a playground just down from the entrance to the Japanese headquarters. Playgrounds here are awesome! I understand why we don't have them in the US (I can't imagine all the lawsuits that could take place), but our playgrounds are nothing compared to these.

The blue thing is all one slide! It's hard to tell, but the bottom is made up of tiny rollers. I went down this one, and it's so long that by the time I gone to the bottom, my bum was practically numb, but I had to do it at least once. Apparently, Japanese kids go down on their feet in a squatting position, like this boy. Smart...hard to do but it does prevent bum numbness!

Our next main stop was Peace Prayer Memorial Park (another WWII site) but on the way we stopped to see Ryukan glass being blown. It's colorful and very expensive, but apparently Okinawa is known for it.

They also made Shi-Shi dogs here.

It was so hot even with fans blowing! I don't know how they do it!

This mosaic is made from colored glass tiles.

Pretty colored glass!

Our next stop was Peace Prayer Park, a memorial for all the Okinawans that died in WWII. Since the island is in such a strategic location, the US fought Japan to take control of it and eventually they did. Thousands of innocent civilians were killed in crossfire and bombings. Even before that, the Japanese were cruel to the Okinawans and forced them to eliminate their language and culture. After the US took control, they helped the people here and worked to rebuild. The Japanese were later given the island back under the condition that US military bases could remain here. The currency changed back from the dollar to the yen and the roads were again driven on the "wrong side". I think this all happen in the 70's. I really had no idea that all of this took place. It's all very sad, but enlightening...war is such a terrible thing!

This building has a museum inside of it...it was really interesting and eye opening. I felt pretty much the same way when I went through the Holocaust Museum in DC.

Walls and walls of the names of Okinawans who were killed. There were tons of them...this picture doesn't do justice.
Have I mentioned that I LOVE the ocean?! : )

The museum and park; it's huge. You can see the walls with the names on them in the left middle of the picture.

One of the many monuments.

This is turning into a long one! On the way home, we stopped at a mall, tried on some fancy clothes and shoes, and ate a Japanese feast!

Yummy! I love the food here and will miss it! The closest dish is fried pork and an egg on top over rice. There was so much food...we had a Japanese feast!

Phone calls, Driving, Teaching

So much has happened in the last four days that I don't know how I'm going to catch up. They have flown by! I'm oficially down to my last week here...I'm leaving on Wednesday. I don't want to go! I could easily stay here all summer!

Here's the first part of my week in review:

On Monday, I stayed at the apartment by myself so that I could take it easy and make some phone calls. The family has a vonage phone, so it's just a flat monthly rate to talk anywhere in the U.S. I talked to most everyone in my family and to some friends. I think I talked for almost 3 hours...it was nice to catch up! Kaylyn, John, and I went to lunch at a restaurant called "Mos Burger" and though they like hamburgers here, they are not big on buns. They usually eat them without, or between two patties of sticky rice, which is what I tried. Pretty good! Oh, I actually drove to the restaurant from the apt! I was a little weirded out by it, it kind of messes with your head, but we made it there safely. It wasn't too, too bad! From 2:00-6:30, I taught sensei's students for him, including Kaylyn and the girls. For some reason he wasn't able to make it, but I did have plenty of notice. He gave me a list of his schedule and the pieces everyone is working on. Although he usually has 11 students crammed into that amount of time, 4 of them didn't show, so I had some breaks here and there. I enjoyed it; I worked on notes, rhythm, intonation and shifting sections; whatever students needed. All of them did speak English, since he teaches on the base on Mondays, so there were no communication issues. Actually, I think it was nice for some of them to have a lesson where they could understand completely! Sensei does speak broken English, but he's still hard to understand. Sometimes, it's hard for me to tell whether he said something in English or Japanese!

Monday was a big "first" day for me: first time eating a rice burger, driving in another country, driving on the wrong side of the road, and teaching in another country!

Church and Cape Zanpa

I was able to attend Church this morning, which was nice. I'd looked up meeting times on the website, but it didn't have specific location information. The other day, John happened to fly with an LDS pilot who told him where the church building was. Coincidentally, it was pretty close to where I'm staying, about 7-8 minutes away. It was a military branch, so in English, but I'm really glad I got to go...I think I'll make it back next Sunday. It was very small and everyone was nice. The Church is exactly the same...even in Japan!

I then drove up to Cape Zanpa with the family. It has a light house, parks, and beaches. It's been so fun to see everything!

Notice the giant red shi-shi dog...they are everywhere!
At the top of the lighthouse...more great views!


There was also a small animal park with goats, bunnies, roosters, ducks, rabbits, and turtles. Because of the clouds, the weather was breezy and not quite so hot for this time of year. Perfect walking-around-in weather!
We then spent some time on the beach. And fyi, my Japanese experience is now complete...I used the squatty potty! I'd been able to avoid it this entire time, until today. Not a normal, American toilet in sight. Anyway, there is a proper technique to it, which I was told in advance, so it really wasn't too bad, just a little weird. The nice part is you don't have to touch anything!

Okinawa Aquarium

After the pineapple park, we went to Okinawa's aquarium, one of the best in the world. It was fun to see, too. A little pricey, but I definitely recommend it! These were cool...long skinny eels that stick out of the sand.

This is where we ate lunch. I heard that this tank is the largest one in the world...it's huge! The picture above is of a whale shark; it's definitely the biggest fish I've ever seen and there were quite a few of them in there.This is the same tank. There's a section that you walk underneath. The manta rays were so big and very playful...lots of fun to watch. The view of everything behind the aquarium: dolphin show, sea turtle tank, and manatees.
A flying dolphin. I'm really proud of this picture; don't know how I managed to catch it, but think it's really cool!I love sea turtles!
There was also a really fun play area that the girls loved. This is only one small section of it; it went on forever. Too bad it was only for kids ages 6-12!
Vending machines like these are everywhere on the streets, but this is the most I've seen together. They only have drinks in them and right now, they're all ice cold. In the winter, they also have hot drinks. They have all varieties: teas, sodas, juices, smoothies, water, energy drinks, and pudding and jelly drinks. People stop their cars in the middle of the road and block a full lane of traffic to get a drink.