some highlights from the week...
*showing michelle japanese beaches!!
it was VERY windy that day and we bought ice cream at the grocery store to eat on the beach.. bad idea haha! i got ice cream in my hair, sand in my ice cream, and michelle got chocolate all over her face :)
*during the week, michelle was our special helper in class. the kids had fun getting to know her!
*did a night of shopping at main city (a nice size shopping mall), and ended the night by eating at this yummy italian restaurant. we did dinner for two which consisted of a drink, salad, cheese fondue, pizza, and three desserts!
*zakimi castle ruins. fortunately it was a gorgeous day.. i wanted michelle to see all the beautiful scenery around okinawa!
michelle was just as amused as me with all the lovely dog pooping pictures :)
in front of the ruins
such a beautiful landscape!
after the castle ruins, we went further up north to see the zanpa lighthouse. along the way we saw a gorgeous beach, so of course we had to stop to explore!
having fun climbing! the waves started to crash against the rock.. didn't want to pull an uncle jim! :)
THEN we made it to the lighthouse! it was already closed to go to the top, but we had fun walking around admiring the scenery.
*had some more fun hanging around at another beach.. what could be better than sitting at the beach with your best friend talking about life, breeze softly blowing, sun shining, and gorgeous blue-green water?
found a cute seahorse statue! it was right by a bath-house that has a wonderful hot spring area for anyone to stick their feet in.. did i mention that it is FREE?! my feet felt sooo soft afterward!
*i took michelle to my favorite restaurant on the island.. sam's by the sea! it is tropical themed and all the waiters and waitresses wear sailor outfits. old school hawaiian music plays and there are also glass floats and pufferfish with lights in them hanging all around.. so cool! and it's right on the beach, so it has a fantastic view!
*the japanese teacher at my school invited michelle and i to her house for dinner. it was quite the experience to just get in haha! first off, i got directions from the school secretary, but she didn't mention which house it was.. just what road to go on. so we had two houses to choose from. looking through the screen door, i decided on one of the houses because the shoes looked like hers haha. i knock on the door a few times and no one comes to the door. finally i yelled "konbanwa!" (good evening in japanese) and an elderly lady comes to the door, smiling from ear to ear. she starts rambling on and on in japanese and i have NO IDEA what she's saying.. i don't even know who she is! i take off my shoes hoping this is the right house haha.. then i see mrs takemoto's daughter and know i'm in the right house haha. in japanese culture, it is very common for the whole entire family to live together (three to sometimes four generations all living under the same roof). walking up to the top floor, we find mrs takemotos part of the house and have dinner up there. she prepared LOTS of food for sushi, which was fun to make! i had fun getting to know her better and talk with her kids. her son visited my class one day a few months ago because he had a day off from school (he goes to japanese school), and since he's good friends with jed, he hung out in my room for the day. him and her older daughter had gotten back from a style of karate using sticks, and was showing us their moves.. very cool! the littlest child (she is a pre-k student at our school) feel asleep at the kitchen table.. so adorable! :)*we went to naha to walk kokusai street, which is a big tourist area that has a bunch of shops of souvenirs. i'll have to get some stuff there before i leave!
*saturday was a BIG day of doing stuff in nago (far north), so i'll put that in the next post!
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