Wednesday, September 24, 2008

.awesome.

as i was driving back from the grocery store i thought it was about time i took pictures from the cute little look-out spot on the way to my apartment when the sun is setting. i also noticed some big thunder clouds and took an amazing video of the lightning.. so cool!


Monday, September 22, 2008

i heart my kids

last week was a stressful week with losing my voice and getting a cold.. not fun when you have to teach! with a fun and relaxing weekend, i was back to normal for the start of week five. today was a good day and the kids were adorable as usual. even my behavior problems were actually behaving today! can i hear a hallelujah?! :) here's some of my children and me during lunch...





Sunday, September 21, 2008

.sunday.fun.

after church and the rose garden (one server recognizes us now and says hi when we walk in... we even noticed she got a hair cut and colored her hair.. it shows how much we go there!) the girls and i went on base to meet up with lori and her family to check out the USO craft fair. we started at the hat throwing game.. you pay $5 for six throws and you throw a hat (like a frisbee) at rows of hand blown glass.. gorgeous bowls, cups, candle holders, lamps, and some other interesting (if you want to know i'll tell you haha) creations. i won six beautiful pieces of blown glass.. some bowls, a candle holder, and a cup. the best part is that they are all handmade in okinawa so i have wonderful souvenirs to take home! after browsing the booths, i also bought some glass blown goblets.. so gorgeous and cheap! after the craft fair, lori wanted to take us to a shopping center to show us the beautiful tea sets that are also very reasonable.. LOVE shopping on the base!!! :) i also found a hot pink satin sheet set for only $25! didn't have my bed size so i will definitely have to go back! there was so much japanese stuff that will be great for souvenirs and presents for all of you :) we then went to the BX which has everything! it's like target, best buy, and department stores all put into one store. brand names (coach, clinique, etc) were placed with the more affordable products which was funny to me.. it just didn't look right to see a $300 purse next to a $30 purse! seeing so many americans and american merchandise i almost forgot i was still in japan haha. we ended the night with TACO BELL. praise the Lord! i've missed my crunchy taco supremes! :)
i just finished some grading (my kids are improving in their grades.. another praise the Lord!) and now i'm ready for another week of school!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

the pacific ocean!



yes, we FINALLY went to the other side of the island to put our feet in the pacific ocean! rocky, a fellow teacher at new life, took me and the girls to the beach to go on a glass bottom boat. so fun!! luckily he had a friend who worked there so we only had to pay 500 yen ($5) instead of 1500.. yay for connections! :) i've never been on a glass bottom boat before and it was amazing. the ocean was so clear and such a pretty turquoise! i wish the pictures could have shown how bright and shiny the fish were like the clown fish (nemo!) and some blue fish that looked like they were glowing. my favorite were these fish that were rainbow.. their fins were bright yellow and they had pink, green, and blue all over their bodies.. gorgeous!








after the beach, rocky took us to "okinawa world" which has a huge cave, glass blowing, and okinawan culture to see. the cave was amazing! it reminded me of the descent and planet earth haha.. i'm just glad i didn't see any bats or crazy creatures! :) i loved seeing the glass blowing.. it was actually cheap to blow your own glass.. something i'll have to do before i leave! there was also a brewery there and i found it very interesting that they put snake in their sake! there are big jugs you can purchase with literally a full snake at the bottom. okinawans believe that it is really healthy for you.. no thanks!




on our way home rocky took us to his favorite ice-cream place.. the best in okinawa according to him... and it was good! i tried the crazy flavors first before i settled on a good one... strawberry :) i tried sweet potato which tasted like french fries haha. for dinner, rocky wanted us to eat pig's feet. uhm, no. mom, you should be here eating it! :) instead, he took us to his favorite place to get soba. soba is noodles in a broth that takes a day to make. i had chicken soba and it was really good! fun day, but i'm exhausted!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

rain, rain, and more rain

even though the typhoon didn't come directly to us, some intense rain and wind sure did come. if this kind of weather isn't even a real typhoon, i'm excited to see how intense it is when we finally get one! the kindergarten teacher (lori) had the lovely experience of getting the rain in her classroom which got water all over her carpets and ruined them, so the girls and i went to camp foster to pick out some floor rugs at a furniture store with lori. it was heaven lounging on one of the beds.. i miss my soft bed at home!

here's alison and me taking a break from holding the rug.. and enjoying the american furniture.. i miss comfy couches, chairs, beds...


we actually fit the two rugs in the clown car! :) when we went to the squadron party, we had five people in the girls' car, and a couple that arrived when we did were laughing when we all piled out of the car, saying it reminded them of a clown car haha. our cars are very entertaining :)


today was an even crazier rainy day. this morning the wind was blowing hard and the rain was intense!! the kids of course loved it and kept yelling "typhoon!" leo and jed were especially excited so i had them go out my backdoor to video them amazed at the rain. ignore my frog voice haha.. i'm losing it which is not good when i have to teach!



the rain and wind is supposed to go away by this weekend. i have to finish laundry so hopefully it does! i'll end with a picture of my class. they LOVE getting their pictures taken!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

day of shopping

as everyone already knows, i love to shop. :) a high-schooler at new life, lina, comes into my room after school to hang out while i clean up and get ready for the next day before leaving for home. since she knows where some of the malls are, we decided to go on saturday to check them out. it was interesting to see some of the things they have! for one, they have self piercers! i asked lina what it was and she casually told me it was to pierce your ears.. uhm, do you see something wrong with that!? i could not imagine piercing my own ears or somebody else's! what if i did it crooked haha! and then she told me there are ones for your belly button and upper ear. i'm sorry.. but when i got my belly button pierced the PROFESSIONAL piercer had to manually do it (not use the clamp.. just the needle) to make it perfect because i guess my stomach moves a different way. i would hate to know what it would look like if i did it myself!

i went to the hello kitty store.. so cute. in the states, the stereotype of japanese people is that they are obsessed with hello kitty so it was fun to go to a store with just hello kitty stuff.. and there was a lot of random stuff haha. i've also observed that there are a lot of arcades everywhere you go, which is also a stereotype of japanese people (that they love video games). in my class, all the first graders have at least one DS.. a lot even have two! the arcade at the department store we went to was full of kids and adults. it was funny because it wasn't packed with arcade games but slot machines! i was laughing to myself as i saw kids sitting in front of the slot machines trying to win coins. the machines reminded me of the penny machines at vegas. and the adults were serious about it too! at the back of the arcade, lina wanted us to take pictures at a photo booth. WAY DIFFERENT than the photo booths at home! you sit in a green couch in the huge booth and pick your background and take about five pictures. then you go to another booth to decorate the pictures and then print them out and download them to your cell phone.

we ended our shopping excursion by getting some doughnuts at mister donut.. yum! you get points each time you buy something and can buy coffee mugs, keychains, tote bags, and other cute things. so we'll see how many points i can make in a year :)

Friday, September 12, 2008

it's official!

i've been here officially a month! it definitely feels like i've been here longer.. probably because i've done so many things i'm not familiar with.. which is exciting but also very exhausting. in only a month, i've learned to drive on the wrong (by the time i come home i'll think everyone else drives on the wrong side haha) side of the road, put together a classroom, became a first grade teacher!, became an official alien (woohoo!), discovered great food at the grocery store, gotten used to ONE english tv station and ONE english radio station, figured out yen, booked a trip to tokyo, learned my way around okinawa, said farewell to my priceless hair straightner (a very sad day), managed to live by myself and actually enjoy it, experienced amazing japanese food, realized how much i took for granted simple things like a clothes dryer and mirror (mirrors are expensive here!), realized how much i get stared at here (i don't know if i'll ever get used to it.. stop and stare by one republic is our theme song here haha), found out how much attention you get when you're single, gotten use to a small apartment (now i think it's a good size.. what a month can do!), became a pro with keeping in contact with people sixteen hours behind me, and hopefully soon will have experienced my first typhoon.

i already know that this experience will teach me a lot throughout the year. for one, i'm learning to be a very independent person. before japan, i hated doing things by myself. now i'm doing so many things by myself! living by myself, going shopping by myself, even to the beach by myself. it's very invigorating! :) but at the same time, i've been meeting amazing people here to share laughs with and even some tears. God has blessed me with wonderful company and hopefully some lifelong friendships!

one month down.. nine to go! i'm excited to see what the next months have in store.. i started a list but you'll just have to wait and be surprised after i actually do them! :) you're in for a treat with some of them!

love you all and thanks for the prayers and comments! see you in nine months!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

random.. but i love this picture!


i wanted to post this adorable picture of one of my first graders, jed. the bag on his head is his lunchbox.. the japanese style lunchboxes. all the kids have them.. it's a cotton sack that comes with containers to put your food in.. even a lil container for your chopsticks :)
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an american weekend

as the title to this blog infers, it was a weekend full of people speaking english! and american food! so refreshing :) friday night we went to the kindergarten teacher's house on kadena air base.. it was her daughter izzie's fourth birthday. her older sister, carolyn, is one of my students. it was a strawberry shortcake theme.. just look at the cake and cupcakes! and the cupcakes were funfetti!!! oh how i've missed that cake mix :) and dinner was PIZZA.. american style haha. the joy of being on a military base. the birthday party was fun... the house was PACKED and a lot of school kids and co-workers were there so that was nice to hang out with them outside of the school atmosphere. the preschool teacher told me a lot of poop stories through the years haha.. if you ever want to hear them ask! they are hilarious!!!

saturday night we went back to the kadena air base to go to a squadron party.. or as they like to call it, a bat passing. like i mentioned in an earlier post, laura's husband is a fighter pilot in the 44th squadron and their mascot is a vampire bat. these parties are themed, and this one was "okipulco" (okinawa + acapulco). the food was delicious! shrimp, beef, fruit, amazing salsa.. basically stuff i miss in the states. the evening started with live music in the backyard. everyone was super nice and the girls and i were laughing saying how crazy it was to only be able to hear english being spoken haha. during the "official business" of the bat passing party, one female fighter pilot (there are two in this squadron) was leaving for alaska, so she was given some gifts and words were spoken on her behalf. AND THEN the bat came out.. yes a real bat.. in a jar. whoever hosts the party has the bat, so the bat needed to be passed on to the next lucky party planner who has 44 days to have the next party. tonight there was also a vampire bat in a frame, so they had to vote which one they wanted to keep. since most of fighter pilots are guys, the bat in the jar was chosen to stay. i looked at it up close and i'm not thinking the jar is filled with formaldehyde.. there are pieces of bat floating around.. kind of gross haha. philip.. you would have definitely enjoyed the last part of the evening :) there was flip cup and i played a game of beer pong (i got four in a row phil!).. they are basically like a bunch of fraternity guys haha. and not in a bad way.. they like to have fun... and it was fun!today is going to be very low key. church and then lunch at the rose garden is always great fun. i'm excited for you to eat at the rose garden when you come dad! it's american style food so you won't gag from sushi or anything like that :) i have my first FULL week of school tomorrow so i'll let you know how that goes! hopefully it won't be too tiring haha.love you all and hope you all are doing wonderful back in the states. keep me updated with your lives!!!
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Thursday, September 4, 2008

my God-spot

i'm sitting on my balcony looking at the moon and stars in the cloudless night sky and i feel so humble right now that God has placed me in this gorgeous place for year. one of my God-spots (place where i feel and see God's beauty the most and where i like to go to think about life) in the states was always at the beach, so i am feeling God constantly since i'm living on an island! i just feel so blessed right now to be at this place at this time in my life. i know i would not be here without God. with everything going on in life, i easily would have stayed home, but i knew God wanted me to be here. and sitting here right now, stars sparkling over my head and the ocean eye-view from my apartment, i feel an overwhelming reassurance that God is with me and watching over me.

i have to lead devotions tomorrow at our morning gathering before school, so i guess this is why all this is on my mind. i just want to let everyone know that i really appreciate all your prayers and notes of encouragment since i've been here. God gives me strength and courage to be a risk-taker and come to japan, but all your love gives me strength too :)

here are some pictures of gorgeous places that i have fallen in love with. enjoy!


transit cafe.. great food and gorgeous view! i literally could sit there for hours and get lost in the serene surroundings.



the ocean.. tranquility at its finest.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

my children!

here are some pictures of my adorable little first graders!





Monday, September 1, 2008

.sightseeing.

so about that festival haha. it was really strange and i have no idea what went on. we went to jusco first to get some dinner (and here is the squid you can purchase! i will try it one day) and then paid five hundred yen to watch the festival inside the stadium. we plopped on the grass and watched some very strange performances. i did enjoy the first one, which was a band from jamaica. the rest of the groups, however, were not easy to understand. there was a dog/llama like costume and it was eating a person? there was also a play and they were wearing masks and talking in high voices. another american walked past us and asked if we knew what was going on and laughed. guess he couldn't help us! a lot of the women/girls were wearing kimonos, which were pretty to see. i saw a store to buy one, but they are ten-thousand yen, so it might be something i get before i go home. we decided to leave the festival early and head to ice-cream since they had double scoop for the price of one. they give you little spoons to eat with you ice-cream cone, and i watched kids actually use the spoons! sorry japan.. i like licking my ice-cream.

the jamaican band


yesterday after church and the sunday tradition of going to the rose garden (great food!), the girls and i used a tour book to check out some sights. i've never been to that part of the island yet, so that was exciting. our first stop was some castle ruins. the guidebook actually said to turn right at a gas station.. now those are some good directions! :) it was a gorgeous walk around the castle ruins and beautiful scenery from on top of the walls!

the gas station.. don't you like the hanging gas pumps!?

dog pooping pictures are at all the parks



our last stop was one of the few lighthouses in okinawa. it cost two-hundred yen to climb to the top and it was exhausting! the stairs were steep and too tall for my legs haha. the ocean was so blue.. i'm excited to see it when it is sunny outside. we saw people fishing and walking around by the cliffs. we got there a little too early so we didn't stay for the sunset, but the pictures i took are just as good as a sunset :)