Wil Visits Okinawa!

I love it when friends come to visit me! It's such a great reminder of why I love being here and of all the fun places right outside my door.

Recently, I was lucky enough to have a friend from waaaaaay back in the day come to my lovely island. Wil and I met way back in Elementary School when we both attended the same church in Harlem, Montana.  Since then, we've kept in touch fairly often. First by writing letters (THAT long ago?!?), then email, MySpace, and now Facebook.

During his trip I got to revisit a lot of the places I love on the island, and also find a few new good ones!

First Adventure: Toyosaki Beach! 

I've only visited this beach twice before because it is not as close to my house as some 

other beaches and it is a little too manicured for my taste (only one small roped-in

swimming area?! Puh-lease)....

But they have extensive sidewalks and side roads.  Perfect for rollerblading! 

So I broke out my sweet blades, loaned Wil my bike, 

and enjoyed the perfect weather. 

 Doesn't he look pleased?

I love how clear and perfect the water is in Okinawa! 

Second Adventure: Blue Party! 

 Wil's trip coincided with the Blue Party I had planned as An Yang's going away and I was SO glad! He helped me soooo much with set up and tear down and got the opportunity to meet all the wonderful people I love in Okinawa.

Wil getting a drink...

from an amazing bartender. :) 

Making new friends!

And jamming with Max.

Third Adventure: Okinawa World, Mozuku Soba, 

Mibaru Beach

It took us a little extra time to get around the next morning, but we filled the rest of the day with adventure! First stop: Okinawa World and Cave Park! 

 Wil seemed to enjoy the caves and taking photos of all the different stalagmites. 

He's a bat!

Next stop: Mozuku Soba!

 This is one of the BEST places to eat... in the world. Mozuku is a type of delicious seaweed harvested in the water near the restaurant. This restaurant is extremely dedicated to the healthy, stringy stuff and include it in the soba noodles, the broth, the rice, the tempura, the salad, and even the desert. It's... amazing. 

Last Stop: Mibaru Beach

 We caught the last few rays of sunlight at the beach near my high school. 

Love the look on Wil's face. 

Frolicking happily. :) 

Fourth Adventure: The Great North

 First, we hit up the Pineapple Park. It is a great place to have some silly fun, 

learn all about pineapples, and stuff yourself on free pineapple samples: 

wine, cake, cookies... heaven. 

 Second, we went to the must-see Churaumi Aquarium. It is my favorite place to 

take guests, and so I've been there about ...Oh, a million times. <3 it.

I <3 Garden Eels. Kawaiiiii! 

Fifth (and last) Adventure: Naha! 

Unfortunately, I had to work most of the days Wil was here, but I was able to take a couple half days! One of those was spent in the Prefectural capital: Naha. 

Who doesn't want to pose with a decapitated pig in sunglasses?

Ramen!! 

AhhhAAahhh!

Naminoe Beach is kind of a joke. Just look at that view!
But it's worth visiting, if only for comparison purposes. ;) 

Naminoe Shrine was pretty sweet, though. 

And Wil got to experience the temple cleansing. We don't have a lot of actual shrines in Okinawa. 

We also stopped by Shuri Castle to take in the view and walk around the grounds for awhile.

 Our last stop was to a Kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi place. Wil is a very adventurous eater. He has some delicious Octopus in this photo.

Matcha (Green Tea) Ice Cream Sushi

Wil's giant pile of sushi plates, and his awesome face. 

Overall, it was incredibly fun to have my ole buddy here. 

I hope more and more of my friends come to visit. 

I want to be a tour guide more often!! 

さよなら

My heart grows heavier with every moment. Doom is approaching. Soon my workdays will be significantly less enjoyable, my weekends significantly less joyous, my lunch hours significantly less entertaining.

Yang-chan

is leaving. 

How did it come to this? How could time be so cruel as to bring this to pass? Why? Why?!

On Friday night I organized a huge going away party for Miss Yang. About thirty people showed up at my apartment, dressed in blue, and bearing blue food and drinks for a "Blue Without You" themed party. We even had Blues music and a little Blues dancing. Not to mention the decor. :) I hope Yang-chan knows now how many people care about her!

In about an hour I am going to wake her up (she's staying in the other room) and drive her to the airport. I have a feeling that there will be a ton of people there to see her off, too. That girl is well loved, that's for sure!

The "Blue Wall" with pictures of everyone expressing their blueness.

I sincerely hope you come back and visit Okinawa, Yang-chang. You will have a place to stay as long as I am here (which should be awhile yet). You've been a great friend, and I feel so lucky to have met you. Please stay in touch.

{Photos from the camera of the talented Miss Sarra}

March in Photos

I have been failing at my Project 365 lately. I blame the sudden, untimely death of my little point-and-shoot camera and my D80s steady progression toward the electronics graveyard. It's time I start putting money aside for a new DSLR. Ugh.

Despite my petty excuses, I did manage to capture most of the days in March, and want to share them with you now. :)

Unfortunately my Spring "Break" is over and classes start tomorrow so I don't have time to re-arrange or caption them. Also, I have another blog that I want to post. So, you can view all of my 365 photos and their captions HERE on Flickr.
Happy Thursday!

Spring ... Break?

In the Japanese school system, teachers often work when everyone else is on vacation. It's a sad state of affairs considering that a major bonus of being a teacher, in the western mind, is getting all of those extended vacations: summer vacation, Christmas vacation, spring break... heaven!

Not so for the Japanese teacher.

This week is, technically speaking, Spring Break. Students of all ages have thrown aside their school uniforms and their heavy backpacks, are sleeping in past 6 a.m. (gasp!), and are enjoying this stunning spring weather on their bikes, in their neighborhoods, on the beach... Meanwhile, I sit at my desk from 9-5 with no energetic students to make my day more bearable, surrounded by busy coworkers rushing about frantically. I can't for the life of me figure out what is keeping them so busy, however. Every day I rack my brain for projects to keep me busy, and still end up with more down time than is physically healthy.

The insane look in my eyes can testify to that fact.

Yesterday, for example, I watched as the old teachers prepared for transfer by packing up their desks, some current teachers moved to a different desk, and a couple new teachers arrived to place their belongings into a empty desk. Feeling left out of all the hubbub without a new desk to move to, I decided to take everything off and out of my desk anyways and clean every nook and cranny, clean out the old archives of lesson plans that I never touch anyway, and start fresh for the year. I even gave the tatami room a quick vacuum. However, those tasks barely lasted me until lunch.

Clean, organized, redecorated, yay!

While technically, I could take nenkyuu (paid leave) and go frolic in the sun with my students, I am a little low on spare days after my Seattle trip (we get 10 per semester) and need to save them for visiting friends. Soooo.. I am finding small ways to make this week feel like spring break, even though it really ... isn't.

On Saturday, my darling friend Neave came to the main island from her little, far-away island and brought a friend along for the adventure. So, on Sunday, I packed the two girls into my car and whisked them away for a day of fun.

First stop: breakfast! There is only one place on the island (outside of the military bases) to get a real, big, American breakfast: the Rose Garden. Yummmmmmmm....  Since it was a Sunday morning, we had to wait about 20 minutes to be seated, but it was totally worth it.

Check out the size of those bacon strips!

We then continued to the middle of the island where drove across the long sea road to a bundle of small islands all connected by bridges. We started with my favorite island, Hamahiga Jima, where we spent most of the day exploring shrines, caves, beaches, and the jungle. It.was.wonderful.

We also drove along two other islands and explored some underground hut-like structures on Ikei Jima where people lived 2000 plus years ago. Awesome.

At the end of the day, the three of us ate a yummy Okinawan meal, drove to my apartment, and snuggled up for a movie, tea, and cookies. Feeling of Spring Break: Achieved.

The next morning, being Monday morning, I had to wake up early and go to work. However, my college roommate, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Ben, were visiting from Chiba, Japan, so I took a half-day and set off for another adventure!  Our first order of business was lunch. On a hunger scale from 1-10, Sarah was a 6 while Ben was about a 7. Time to eat! We tried two cafes, the "pig cafe" and the "cow cafe," which were both closed; so we set off on a slightly longer drive for the "hill cafe" which was, thankfully, open.

You can't tell, but there's a really nice view behind us.

Oh, there it is!

Yama no Chaya is the sister cafe to Hamabe no Chaya, the cafe with the lovely ocean views which I  have posted about on a few occasions. It also boasts delightful views, just from a farther perspective. :) This cafe also serves up some scrumptious Okinawan dishes. Yum!

After a long, leisurely lunch, Sarah, Ben, and I headed for the Peace Park. They toured the museum while I took a relaxing break with a book. Then we all met up and walked around the park. The Peace Park is very extensive, full of sobering shrines and tombs, and boasting numerous uplifting views. We walked from one end to the other and ended up at the locally dubbed "Ghost Beach" for it's less-than-lively occupants. ;)  When dinner time approached, we finished off a lovely day at another favorite local eatery: Paradise Cafe. Cashew nut chicken, for the win!

Sarah showed me around Tokyo when I visited last summer, and I was so glad to return the favor. It was really wonderful to see Sarah again and show her my new home here. I hope that wherever we go in the world, we can always meet up for adventures and a few good laughs.

As you can see, though I may have to work through most of Spring "Break," I am finding little ways to enjoy my spare time. In fact, I am about to enjoy a leisurely, sunny lunch. My stomach says: It's time! Here's to more adventures this week, and a fast approaching weekend!

Donation For Japan Earthquake 11th March2011

Donation For Japan Earthquake 11th March2011
Originally uploaded by dragonpeace

Happy Friday :)

Ah, the end of the work week and the start of a glorious weekend. In an hour some coworkers and I are heading up to the northernmost tip of the island, staying the night, and then relay-biking from the top to bottom of Okinawa. I am excited. I think it will be just what I need-- a kind of happiness reset button of exercise and great people. :)

I am far from forgetting about the terrible things that have happened--and are still happening--in Japan, and I won't let up on my efforts to spread the word about donation and relief efforts, but I don't have to be sad all the time, right?

...

Right?

To remind myself, and those of you who are feeling heavy-hearted (Sarra), that it's okay to laugh, here's a video that made be explode in giggles this afternoon. 

I just love babies.