The sky here is amazingly beautiful, I could stare at it all day (and I often do)!
This week went by super fast, it was so nice to have Labor day off to run errands and relax, why can't we always have four day work weeks?On Sunday, the day after going to Okinawa World, I slept in for the first time since I've been here. I mean, a deep, good sleep in! I woke up at 9:30 am and Jessica was at church so I stayed in my pajamas while I skyped with family and friends until 1:30 pm. It was so relaxing and such a nice change from having to wake up and rush to be somewhere right away. After skyping I gave the apartment a thorough cleaning (haven't done that since I got here and anyone that knows me, knows I need a clean house in order to stay sane), did some laundry and got ready for church. Jessica went with me and it was once again a beautiful mass, I enjoyed every moment. After mass, we took advantage and ate pizza at the food court on base. We chatted and just enjoyed being in an atmosphere surrounded by so many other Americans.
Living by so many military bases and being on base at least once a week has made me wonder about military life....what their daily life is like, what their jobs entail, how they are able to be so far from home and away from their families for so long, etc. Some of them look so young, it makes me sad, knowing they are giving up their life to serve our country, yet most of us have no idea what they sacrifice so that we can enjoy simple pleasures in our lives.
My second week of teaching went by fast...but I would be lying if I said it was easy. It was still exhausting! Just when I thought my students were catching on and getting into a routine, they totally threw me off. Tuesday was surprisingly good, Wednesday and Thursday were not so good. How they go from following class rules and staying on task one day to completely ignoring class rules and doing whatever they want the next day is beyond me. I know it's only the second week and we are working on it...but it's taking all the patience I have.
The bento truck, aka lunch truck started at school this week. The truck drops off student lunches which are to be delivered to the students....delivered by who? You guessed it, us teachers. So, now when lunch starts, we are to go to the office, pick up the lunch orders for our students, get a class list, see which food students ordered and give students their correct lunch order. After giving students their lunch, we have to walk back to the office to get our lunches, heat up our food (with all teachers sharing one microwave) and eat, all within 25 minutes. Today while in the mist of delivering lunches to my students, one of my first graders decided to cry her eyes out because she got a medium bento and wanted a small one! Let's just say that by the time I am eating my lunch, I am more frustrated than relaxed. Sorry, just had to let that out. My team teacher and I finished our planning for the next 2 weeks so we will see how things unfold.
This "walking stick" spider was on the ceiling right outside of my classroom, my students LOVED it!
I headed straight to the beach after work today for a much needed relaxation time. The beach we went to was 10 minutes from school and 10 minutes from home. Seeing how close it is makes me think I'll be stopping by there on the way home from school pretty often. I was only there a few hours but was able to lay out, take a dip in the water and just sit in silence!!!
This beach, like most beaches here is sectioned off into a swimming area. Huge nets are up to keep jelly fish out. Most people have tubes and just float in the water. Weird that there are no waves to body board/surf in. It's kinda like a pool in the ocean...just an area in the ocean to swim in. There is one area with beach chairs and umbrellas but you have to pay to sit there. The sun is so hot when laying out, I think investing in a beach umbrella might be a good idea.
These helicopters flew over the beach area while I was laying out. They were VERY loud but looked really cool. I've been hearing a lot of military planes flying around here the past few days which is usual. 
The beach was fairly empty, with a few Americans but mostly Japanese people. This little boy in his Mickey Mouse swimsuit (tail included) was adorable, and he actually didn't seem to mind keeping the hat on!
We left the beach and headed to Mc Donald's for Friday night dinner. Jessica and I are trying to make Mc Donald's an "every other Friday night dinner" ritual. I had a Big Mac meal again, this time I added a mint McFlurry...delicious. I wasn't brave enough to try the chicken teriyaki or shrimp sandwich, but I'll work up the courage one of these days! When we left, I was the one driving, we got in the car and Jessica got confused and thought she was driving (we sometimes still have a hard time realizing our car is right hand drive) she accidentally put down the emergency brake, as she tried to push the brake pedal down, in the passenger seat! All before I had even started the car.....we sat in the car laughing for a good 3 minutes before leaving and then laughed the entire way home. I laughed so hard my stomach is now sore, I needed that laugh and it's been a long time coming.
This is inside McDonald's. Notice anything different?
There were a few sinks throughout the restaurant to wash your hands at (great idea considering swine flu is spreading like crazy here!). The lady in the booth is studying! Each time I've been to McDonald's here, at least a few people are studying. I guess McDonald's here is like the Starbucks of the U.S.
Not sure if I mentioned this already, but my principal told us last week that he wants us to come in on Saturday's once a quarter to clean the school building. Men will clean the air conditioning vents and women will clean the windows. Tomorrow is our Saturday for the quarter so I'll be at school cleaning for a few hours. Luckily, there is a huge Orion beer fest this weekend, so I'll be heading to that tomorrow night to try and relax and have some fun. Pics and weekend update to come soon.
This beach, like most beaches here is sectioned off into a swimming area. Huge nets are up to keep jelly fish out. Most people have tubes and just float in the water. Weird that there are no waves to body board/surf in. It's kinda like a pool in the ocean...just an area in the ocean to swim in. There is one area with beach chairs and umbrellas but you have to pay to sit there. The sun is so hot when laying out, I think investing in a beach umbrella might be a good idea.
These helicopters flew over the beach area while I was laying out. They were VERY loud but looked really cool. I've been hearing a lot of military planes flying around here the past few days which is usual. 
The beach was fairly empty, with a few Americans but mostly Japanese people. This little boy in his Mickey Mouse swimsuit (tail included) was adorable, and he actually didn't seem to mind keeping the hat on!
We left the beach and headed to Mc Donald's for Friday night dinner. Jessica and I are trying to make Mc Donald's an "every other Friday night dinner" ritual. I had a Big Mac meal again, this time I added a mint McFlurry...delicious. I wasn't brave enough to try the chicken teriyaki or shrimp sandwich, but I'll work up the courage one of these days! When we left, I was the one driving, we got in the car and Jessica got confused and thought she was driving (we sometimes still have a hard time realizing our car is right hand drive) she accidentally put down the emergency brake, as she tried to push the brake pedal down, in the passenger seat! All before I had even started the car.....we sat in the car laughing for a good 3 minutes before leaving and then laughed the entire way home. I laughed so hard my stomach is now sore, I needed that laugh and it's been a long time coming.This is inside McDonald's. Notice anything different?
There were a few sinks throughout the restaurant to wash your hands at (great idea considering swine flu is spreading like crazy here!). The lady in the booth is studying! Each time I've been to McDonald's here, at least a few people are studying. I guess McDonald's here is like the Starbucks of the U.S.
Not sure if I mentioned this already, but my principal told us last week that he wants us to come in on Saturday's once a quarter to clean the school building. Men will clean the air conditioning vents and women will clean the windows. Tomorrow is our Saturday for the quarter so I'll be at school cleaning for a few hours. Luckily, there is a huge Orion beer fest this weekend, so I'll be heading to that tomorrow night to try and relax and have some fun. Pics and weekend update to come soon.Wish me luck as I'm cleaning the school building tomorrow =)
My love and thoughts are with you all!
My love and thoughts are with you all!
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