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I’ve been meaning to write an exciting entry for you all, but now I’ve forgotten what sorts of interesting bits of Okinawan life I was going to throw at you. I was going to write up a funny little story about how I watched a family sneak platefuls of tempura into napkins and bags at an all-you-can eat buffet, but after a week, it doesn’t seem quite as amusing as it did at the time.

This past Saturday (the 23rd) was Memorial Day in Okinawa and apparently there were some ceremonies and such, although I didn’t see any evidence of anything special happening. But last Wednesday the entire school headed to a theater to view a movie about World War II to remember the war. I thought that the movie was about Okinawa and the actual battles that happened here. I was surprised to find that this movie was actually a cartoon and although I could get the gist of what was going on, I only realized that it wasn’t taking place in Okinawa when there were lightning bugs (Wait! Okinawa has lightning bugs?!) and then snowfall (Now, I know that we don’t get snow…). Anyway, the movie was about a young girl in Tokyo and basically her family just kept getting killed off. She had an unlucky life, that’s for sure. The only real response by the students who traveled 40 minutes by foot each way to see the flick, was uproarious laughter at the portrayal of some goofy GIs at the end of the movie. I felt like the entire auditorium was laughing at me. Strange.





Then on Friday (yet another week with only 5 classes) we had Track and Field Day. It was sort of like our various volleyball days, but since you never really knew who was doing what, it wasn’t as much fun as the tournament. And it was hot. My homeroom did enjoy some victories and of course, all the students were good sports about being forced to run around a track in 100 degree weather. I spent the day amusing students with my excessively large sunglasses. They were passed around amongst the entire homeroom class and I did have a nice time sitting under the trees and chatting with some of the girls. I also had a lovely raccoon sunburn as a souvenir from the day (despite sunscreen applications). The day afforded me the opportunity to enjoy some lunch and yummy watermelon on the beach and then since I was down in Mihama, I wandered around shopping (and seeing hundreds of students who suddenly decided that they can talk to me) and enjoying hazelnut coffee and a book. I will miss sitting and just looking at the ocean while sipping on a drink. I think I need to move to Seattle.



My weekend was a nice one, including some gym time and a couple of hours on the beach with Bridgit on Saturday. I finally turned on my air conditioning and the thought of leaving the coolness (okay, freezingness) of my apartment fills me with dread. Also, strangely, my apartment has reverted back to the way it smelled when I first moved in. I’m sure it’s due to the heat and being closed up more often, but every time I walk in, I am transported to my early days in Okinawa.

This week is supposed to be surprisingly normal with my usual 10 classes and no strange events during the day. Sorry that my life hasn’t been full of any extreme excitement. I am starting to make lists of things to get done before leaving and need to ship some boxes this week. I have also paid my last month’s rent and am getting ready to blow some money on myself in the near future. I can’t believe that in 32 short days, I will be walking on real American soil (not the military base kind) and will be facing an extended time in the States for the first time in a long time. Anyone know of any jobs?!?! Seriously.

A Steamy Weekend

In more ways than one. The weather. The loooooove motels. The hotness of a stone room.

First, the not-so-steamy stuff. On Friday, my not-crazy-at-all gym friend, Izumi, joined me for dinner. She picked the restaurant, an Italian place that I had never been to, and we spent three hours enjoying our meal and talking. The food was oishii and the conversation was nice. We discussed all sorts of things and although I’m not sure if she was following everything I said, it wasn’t awkward and we made a dinner date for next Friday at the other restaurant that she wanted to take me to. A successful first date (and things weren't strange between us at the gym today. Ha.)...

Izumi mentioned that she forgot her camera but wanted to do “Print Club.” You all know that I’m never one to refuse print club! She said she hasn’t been in a booth for two years and as we scoured Mihama for the best shots, we found a bit of a Print Club Mecca with scissors for cutting apart your pictures at various stations, about 20 different booths, costumes to wear for your pictures if you’re so inclined. We picked the shiny booth that was “New Model” and jumped in. I was so happy to see that Izumi struggled with what exactly was supposed to be happening as well! I thought it was just my total lack of Japanese skills. We took some of the best shots that I’ve done and had a blast trying to figure out all the menus.

(Sorry I can't take a better photo of photos)

Today at the gym, she said that she had "so much fun with Print Club!" It was apparently the highlight of her weekend. I thought it was going to be the highlight of mine as well …. until…

On Saturday, Bridgit and I decided to take hold of destiny and make our weekend worth something for once. So because it wasn’t terribly sunny, we decided to finally hit the Love Hotel Valley in Okinawa City. Obviously, Bridgit and I weren’t in it for a romantic rendezvous. We just wanted some sort of crazy Hello Kitty themed room with a big hot tub. We grabbed some snacks, had our bathing suits, and some magazines to lounge around and look at. The love motel business is described nicely here. Essentially a lot of generations live under one roof and well, you can use your imagination as to why people might visit these hourly hotels. You can either get a “rest rate” for two hours or if you show up late at night, you can pay a nightly fee which is usually cheaper than an actual hotel.



So here’s how things happen:

First, you pick your hotel. We drove the valley and were deciding between a pirate theme, carnival, or 2001 astronaut theme. Inspired by Johnny Depp, we zigzagged our way to the giant submarine pirate building.



You pick a garage and pull your car into the spot. At this place, you pick up a phone and say what room you are checking into and then the garage door closes (with material to block your license plate number). You walk a short little hallway up to your room. The door mysteriously opens as you walk in and there you go, your own little retreat.

We were so disappointed, because the bath was only big enough for one person (although it did have jets) and the room was really nice! We didn’t want nice! We wanted swashbucklers, eye patches, and “Ahoy, mateys!” Bridgit called the front desk and somehow convinced them to let us leave without paying for the room. They opened the door to let us back out and then the garage. (You have to pay before you are allowed access to the car.)





Our next stop was the carnival one. Surely, with crazy clown signs and elephants and seals, there would be some sort of theme room.



This place was creepy from the get-go and despite the whole front desk anonymity thing, Bridgit got a lady to give us a room with a big tub for cheap. We walked in and ummm… well…. I don’t know how to describe this room except to say that there were no clowns, no lion tamers… only a ton of diseases crawling around an absolutely decrepit room. The tub was big, but no jets and also quite creepy. So we soaked in the experience for about 20 minutes, paid our dues, and took off giggling at all the craziness we had run into. Who cares if we never exactly found a theme room. We’ve done the love hotel thing and it was hot.





While we were sitting in the room, trying not to touch anything, we planned our next course of action. We decided that even though we didn’t have the directions with us, we would try to find Thai Med and have some hot stone therapy. By some miracle, we found the place and for only 1200 yen, I was treated to a relaxing afternoon at a spa. The basis of the treatment is that you lie down on hot stones that have some sort of infrared radiation that is completely safe (and apparently is a cure-all, including preventing cancer and relieving costiveness (whatever that is)! Score!). There is steam pumped into the room with some relaxing music (although the politicians outside on bullhorns seeped through at times). You face down for five minutes, flip and do your back for 10-15 minutes, go outside to drink water and eat some Okinawan sugar, and then head back in for another cycle. I did the whole thing four times in 90 minutes. And you sweat. And sweat. And sweat. Your outfit weighs 20 pounds more by the time you’re done excreting all the water in your body. You can feel a constant stream of sweat and the pores literally being opened on your face. It was amazing. After I finished my time, I needed to wait for Bridgit (who got a very personal lymph node massage) and enjoyed the best tea ever. I was completely relaxed. Fantastic. Check it off the list. (We found a spa near my apartment with pedicures, massages, etc. and plan to hit it after payday this week. Also, according to Izumi, the gym has a hot stone room downstairs that I can use if I pay a bit more.)

And that brings us to today. I’m not scheduled for any trysts, unless you count chilling with McSteamy, and am just sitting indoors enjoying the torrential downpours and thunder. Perfectly suited for my relaxed self. That hot stone stuff must work miracles. Ahhhh....

How they do things up north...

There are some things here in Okinawa that are “must-sees” and you would think that at some point during my 10+ months here, I would have visited these sites. Well, just like the fact that I’ve never been to a Bears game, have never been on the Navy Pier ferris wheel, and have never been up the Hancock Building in Chicago, I just sort of put off going to the famous aquarium here on my little island.

This weekend, I put it at the top of my list of things to do, which involved a trip to the friendly north and crashing on Amy’s couch for two nights. Saturday ended up being a fairly beautiful day despite weather predictions to the contrary. After schlepping to the Jusco bakery for some delicious pastries, we made our way to see some fish in large quantities. I owe Amy big-time for taking me to the aquarium since she has had to take numerous visitors there before and will most likely be taking her mom next week. She was a great sport, though, as I oohed and aahed at the tanks. The admission price at the aquarium is slightly steep considering that this place can be entered and exited within an hour. The most famous bit is the world’s largest freestanding tank or something like that. It was quite impressive and have made a fantastic “Finding Nemo” wonderland out of that tank.







After snapping some photos, we met up with Paul, king of off-roading, and decided to go see a habu snake (Okinawan poisonous snake) fight a mongoose. Or at least that’s what we thought we were going to see. Turns out ¥300 won’t allow you to see any actual blood spillage, but we did have a funny nature man show us the habu and many other snakes found on the island. There were only 7 of us watching the show and since we were the foreigners and they thought it was funny, we had numerous snakes wrapped around us and each got to experience forked tongues kissing our noses. He showed us a video of an actual mongoose/habu fight in the wild since anti-cruelty laws prevent public showings. Spoiler Alert: The mongoose wins. I guess the mongoose is one of three natural predators for the habu. He brought out a mongoose named Sachiko who won 50 something mongoose/habu battle royales and was the reigning champ for Okinawa before it was outlawed. I guess they don't make heavyweight champ belts for little mongooses. Mongeese?







After our slight disappointment at not getting to see a battle, we headed into the hills to a shiisa café. Despite the fact that it is fairly hidden, it was hopping as people looked at flowers and a plethora of shiisa. It was a relaxing time and we enjoyed it just as much as this little fellow.







The next item on our list was to do some glass blowing. Juhi met up with us and we enjoyed a special teacher’s discount. The actual process of making glass only takes about 3 minutes. You stand on a box and blow into the hot glass to get the height for your glass and then sit in a chair and roll a metal pole, while sticking a sort of prong in the other side. Mine looks fairly terrible, but Juhi has become a professional in her time in Okinawa.



Our next stop was another café on Sesoko island that is connected to Motobu with a bridge. We ate at a lovely café and enjoyed some pizza, while mosquitoes feasted on us. It was very relaxing and Zen ... all of these little cafes are full of character. I could go café hopping all day long. In fact, maybe I will someday soon.

By this time, Amy and I needed to head back to Nago because we were expected at a potluck for one of her friends. Our contribution to the dinner was going to be German chocolate cake. We drove out to the house and much to our surprise, there was no one to be found, except some barking chihuahuas. We were troopers, though, and decided not to waste the cake, but rather eat it for a late dinner with “Sex and the City.” It also made a delicious breakfast.

On Sunday, we met up with Bridgit in Nago and Christina took the two of us over to Camp Schwab to the military beach. It wasn’t a very sunny day and hardly anyone was there, but it was a nice excursion, and although Taco Bell was closed, we did get some Pizza Hut. Although Pizza Hut and Taco Bell are a taste of home, I wouldn't actually choose a meal there in the States. Funny how important normal breadsticks become when you can't have them.

"Third Annual Going Away/Coming Home Family Farm Extravaganza"

Aquire the sign to your calendar! We us who have possessed the party 2007 August 4th celebrate everything which is let escape over last year! In order for we to return from Japan at the farm of the Griggs family for hitting hard the 3rd annual summer, connect us! We toss beanbag. We enjoy 3rd annual Otaru toss. The food is tasty. It should drink, there is many beer.




(We want to celebrate all the stuff that happened over the last year so mark your calendars for August 4th for our annual party!)

Not for those easily offended---

You've been warned. But this is hilarious. And explains so so so much.

Ashes to Ashes

Seiko was back at school today after her grandmother's funeral. On our way to class, she asked whether most Americans use burial or cremation for their loved ones. I told her that it seems that most people prefer to bury the dead, but that cremation is also an option. Then we had a bit of a communication problem outside of the classroom before walking in as she kept asking me something about "bones" and although I tried to explain embalming, I wasn't answering her question. Finally, as we prepared for our class, she explained that her grandmother was very tiny and her ashes were placed in a small urn. She said they picked out the bones from the ashes and put them in the urn. The most important person at the funeral was given the honor of picking up the top of the skull from the remains. To be honest, I found this all to be sort of strange and looked it up at wikipedia. Apparently during the funeral rites, bones can be picked up and shared by two people with chopsticks. This explains why passing food from chopstick to chopstick is a big no-no as it reminds people of death. (You should also never (emphasize never) put your chopsticks straight into the rice sticking up as this is also a death thing.)

In Okinawa, we have gravesites that are absolutely massive and can be found in the most random places. During festivals, like Obon, families will clean the sites and leave offerings, while having a family picnic. When walking through some of the neighborhoods around my apartment, I sometimes see cans of tea and flowers left at the graves.







The shape of some of these graves are supposed to resemble wombs... returning to the beginning through death. It's interesting and walking among these giant structures is not nearly as creepy as a graveyard in the States.

Geriatric Madness in Okinawa

Here's a story for you---

This morning Seiko told me that she needs to cancel our class for tomorrow because her grandmother passed away. I, of course, gave her the obligatory "Oh, I'm so sorry!" She said not to be sorry at all ... that it is a good thing and will be a celebration of her life. She was 103 years old.

Okinawa is famous for having the largest number of centenarians in the world. Supposedly there are over 800 people on the island who have survived past the 100 year mark. Most of this goes back to diet, friendship, island lifestyles, etc. You can read about it and the Okinawa Diet here. Apparently there are significantly less cases of demetia, cancer, and heart disease compared to the rest of the world. This might explain why there are 80-year-olds at the gym doing one-arm push-ups. (Exaggeration, but still) My fellow teachers taught my the "eat until you are 80% full" rule when I first arrived. (hara hachi bu) But then they told me that they save their other 20% to fill with dessert. My kind of eaters!

So, later, I ask Seiko if she has anyone else in her family who has lived a long time. I was thinking that she would tell me that she had a grandfather who lived to 85 or something. Instead, she says, "Oh, yeah. My gradfather, who is dead now, he lived until maybe 104 or 105." And that's not all. "And my other grandmother she is over 100 too." I was completely amazed. I told her that she is going to live forever and she showed me her lifeline on her palm. She said that it was a deep and strong lifeline, but that she doesn't want to live until 100 because "that's just too long." My poor little American lifeline was nothing compared to hers. :(

Pretty fascinating stuff.

It's not a Memorial Day BBQ, but I'll take it

I headed to Naha on Saturday to do some wandering since it wasn't beach weather. There were a few interesting moments, including being wrangled into an artistic boutique by a funny man wearing a sarong, some bobby sock dancing in front of the kencho, and an interesting exchange with a crazy old man. Basically it went like this:

Old Man (about 1/2 a block away and sitting on a bike): Teacher!
Me: (wondering how he knows that I'm a teacher...)
Old Man: Where are you going?!
Me: Ummm...Kokusaidori
OM: Straight! Up there!
Me: Yep. Through Heiwadori, I know...
OM: Good Luck! (pause) I LOVE YOU!!!! (pause) DO YOU LOVE ME?!

Naha isn't a beautiful city by any stretch of the imagination and is covered with souvenir shops. In one of them, there was a group of mainland fifteen-year-old boys looking over the omiyage selections offered (gifts particular to an area...Okinawa's is beni imo tarts). They had shopping baskets and were consulting lists, visibly counting out how many taco rice packets they need. They were really cute little shoppers. I spent hours wandering shops and reading at a coffeeshop. It was a nice relaxing day

Here are some photos from the bustling capital of Okinawa:

Heiwadori, a maze of vendors of all sorts of items... You can see some very strange food items deep in the interior of the market.


The ubiquitous shiisas that are sold everywhere in Okinawa and line every gift shop.


I don't like goya either, Strange Sculpture Man.


A typical gift shop lining Kokusaidori... notice all the goya baby.


The random dancers that were drawing quite the crowd and should spend a bit of time working on their dances. (They were really bad.)


It was supposed to rain today so imagine my surprise when I woke up to a beautiful day. After cramming in a workout, Bridgit and I headed to Araha Beach, which was packed with tons of locals and military families. It was a beautiful day, although we are definitely in the "hot season." Although some sunscreen was applied, I decided to forego it on my legs and back. I'll be paying for that in about five hours.

The problem with ferris wheels

Besides the fact that they make me vomit...

They are impossible for poor Japanese youngsters (and senseis) to pronounce. "Feddis Wihru." Impossible. Way too many "l"s and "r"s raining on the word parade. Why does it matter that ferris wheel will never be used in common conversations throughout Japan? It doesn't.

But today was the big day for Oral Communication II 3-2 as they tackled their presentations about all that Chatan has to offer. In English. Seiko and I cued up a videocamera and headed to class in high spirits. We were greeted by students running around asking me "How? (As in "how do I say this?!") And everyone was feeling very genki. As they settled down, I realized that there were teachers in the hall watching the spectacle and the principal (Kim Jong Il with his trusty video camera) and the vice-principals were standing in the back of the room. The professional photographers even made an appearance. And then it hit me what a big deal our little 50 word presentation was for these kids. I also became very thankful for practically writing one group's sentences to avoid humiliation. (They had it in Japanese, but had NOTHING in English with 10 minutes left last class. I had to help.) Anyways, as two groups struggled with "ferris wheel" in the last minutes of cramming, we settled in for the show.





As the groups went up one by one, I have to say that I was proud of their English. Yes, a couple of them were impossible to understand (and I even knew what they were saying) and one girl trying to say "ridden on it" got her tongue twisted and said an expletive. (Hilarious!) But overall, they showed some nice presentation skills, but I might just be partial to them since they're my favorites.



One thing that cracked me up from the very beginning of this process was what they actually picked to do their presentations on. Now, Chatan doesn't have tons of heritage sites or anything, but students could have been a bit more creative. They picked a park, the ocean, the bento place next to school, the ferris wheel (ack!), a restaurant in Jusco, a soba shop in Sunabe, and an American restaurant. For the next project we're branching out our vocabularies. "It is very beautiful." "It is delicious." One group did write (by themselves), "Your wallet will be safe because prices are low." Good on them!





Update: This morning I gave a CD of pictures to Seiko because she requested copies. In return, she gives me a professionally printed CD that says "Welcome to Chatan" that the kocho-sensei (principal...Kim Jong Il) made from his pictures. I thought, "Wow. That's nice and puts my permanent marker label to shame." Then he comes up after the morning meeting with DVD cases with Seiko's picture on one side and my picture on the other. So thoughtful!

It took me a second---

My favorite class (Oral Communication II 3-2) is currently working on little presentations about Chatan. Today their team names were revealed, including an "Adidas" team and a "Yankees" team. And then this little gem --- "Low-temperature Anesthesia." It took me a second (and the little clipart of a yawning lion helped).... Hibernation! I think. I laughed really hard.

In that class, I also have some boys who continually throw Spiderman webs at me and are only happy if I give them the wrist flick as well and some girls who connected their textbook stories about San Francisco with "Full House." I really do enjoy that class. There's always something---

3...2...1... CHIZU!

One of the most addictive parts of Japanese culture is called Purikura (Print Club). Teenagers regularly climb into these photo booths with their friends to make stickers for their collection books. And these books of crazy photos with weird English sayings, extra little accessories, and special effects are impressive (and always being passed around when they're supposed to be listening to the teacher). While I can't possibly compete with seasoned Japanese teenagers, I have given in to the fun to be had by popping 400 yen into a machine... many many times.



The booths are spacious and I have seen pictures with an improbably high number of people crammed in (of course, those Japanese kids are really tiny and bendy). The problem is that everything is in Japanese so essentially you just have to hit buttons quickly and see what happens. There's always a countdown of some sort and when it hits 4...3...2... you just start throwing out the index finger to make selections. One time Bridgit and I somehow selected a camera on the floor and had to crouch down to take pictures and jump up to make selections. Those happened on a day full of unfortunate purikura experiments in Miyako that resulted with one sheet printed out with the same bad photo for the whole thing (and nothing fun done to it yet), some crazy weird hair that we somehow put on ourselves, and a terrifying experience in a Disney Princess booth in which no useable photos resulted because there were about a 100 cameras to look at while movie scenes (freaky Snow White witch) played...





After your photos are shot (usually about 8-10), you are sent around the corner to make them kawaiiiiiiii. This is where the random button pushing can be troublesome and the countdown can cause ill-fated decisions out of panic. Usually it's quite fun, though, as words, pictures, tiaras, dates, sparkles are added to the photos. After you finally figure out which button means "finished" and 2 minutes of printing, you have your very own sticker sheet. (I don't have a book and hence have all my little stickers are currently stored in a classy white envelope... What are you supposed to do with these things? I have put a few on my phone... maybe I should just start sticking them on everything in my apartment for fun.)





Anyways, it's an addictive habit and Bridgit and I can't resist print club. It draws us in every time with its bright colors, cheesy posters, and the promise of an award-winning Top Model print club printout. I also introduced Josh, Laura, and Ken to the fun to be had in these wondrous booths. Good times! Here's one of our photos from yesterday's trip to Mihama.

"Looks like you could use some sunscreen!"

So anyone who lives on Okinawa and has access to AFN military television (sorry, Amy!) has seen the same "commercials" over and over again. Bridgit and I regularly quote these mindless, yet sometimes amusing, commercials. Baaaam! I'm a styrofoam cup, yo! The question is: how much of my brain capacity is going to end up storing AFN spots and will it ever be freed up again?

"Okinawa is like the dingleberry of Japan"

Last Friday evening I found myself sitting in the Naha airport with Bridgit while sucking down some delicious Banana Java Chip Frappuccinos (get thee one of these fraps!) and waiting for our fellow travelmates - Amy, Juhi, Christina, and Paul - to arrive from their lengthy journey down the island from Nago. Our calm was destroyed by panic-ridden text messages from Amy about how they were going to "be cutting it close. Real close." We were encouraged to fake death or bombs in order to stall the plane. Thankfully, we saw Paul running towards us with a few minutes to spare and everyone else following in tow. Of course, our plane was delayed.

It was an ominous beginning to our weekend on Miyakojima, an island famed for its beaches and according to Seiko, "no adventure or excitement." Nevertheless, we were in high spirits as we boarded our 40 minute flight to our destination. Upon arrival, we were handed the keys to our very own flash minivan which would serve us well as we drove around the island... and as we shocked the locals with greetings and waves in a completely non-Japanese manner.

The first night was spent checking into our hotel, complete with a game of janken to draw rooms, and eating at a small Japanese restaurant where we almost drove the waitress straight into the arms of madness. The food was good, especially our first version of beni imo in tempura form, and we were off to karaoke. There were some stellar performances and Amy and I were more than willing to clap politely for each performer, while keeping our own musical genius to ourselves. (We wouldn't want to outdo the others...) We also met up with some of the Miyako ALTs and headed to another bar to get a glimpse at Miyako nightlife.



The following day started out slightly overcast, but by the time we had finished a lunch at a Greek restaurant on the ocean (with absolutely no gyros in sight), it had become a gorgeous day on the island. We did some off-roading in the van and thanks to a local's suggestion, tried some beni imo/sesame mochi which was really excellent. It was all a great build-up to going to the beach. Although it took us a few wrong turns (and a surprise cockroach attack in the car --- Juhi's first bloodcurdling scream), we found the white sand shore. Miyako is home to the longest white sand beach in Japan and it provided fun in the sun and sand for a few hours. The water was clear and warm (after you got used to it, of course) and was a perfect way to spend an afternoon.





Our evening was spent chowing down on pizza, including Christina inadvertently trying a habanero pepper, which later led to hysterics as Amy and Juhi attempted to remove her contact lenses. We decided that as exciting as visiting Miyako snack bars would be, it would be just as much fun to head back to the hotel for some storytelling and cockroach trapping (Juhi's second scream). Paul proved quite heroic as he caught the cockroach in a cup and the next morning suffocated the still-alive insect with a hearty spray of cologne.



On Sunday, we were disappointed with cloudy skies, although they had been predicted. We decided to head to the famous cape where the view is usually astounding and makes for great calendar pictures. Unfortunately, it was sort of dreary and dull for us, so after snapping some photos, we headed to the German Village of Miyako. For some reason, supposedly from a sistercity in Germany or some sort of cultural link, they have built a German castle and some buildings that look German. And although Paul's German accent had us rolling, the whole things was bizarre and disappointing. And uberJapanese. It just didn't make sense.





We had an afternoon to waste before our flight that night and we spent it eating and playing cards. Most of the time was spent discussing A) bodily functions and B) how the Miyako ALTs (and those ALTs on even smaller islands) still have any shred of sanity. After 48 hours on the island, we were all ready to board our flight to our slightly bigger island.