Goodbye October

After a few weeks of rain, we finally got some sunshine!

Not much to post but I thought I'd check in. Last weekend another typhoon headed our way, it rained, actually, poured the entire weekend. The wind and rain together made it hard to do anything. It was pointless to use an umbrella because the wind would blow the umbrella either sideways or straight up, almost to the point of breaking it. The typhoon changed directions again and missed hitting Okinawa. Darn, maybe it will hit us one of these times!
Friday night, Rachel and I ate at Chilli's on base. We had burgers, margaritas and ice cream! It was fun to eat American food and be surrounded by other Americans. However, the burger didn't settle too well with me. I only had half of the burger but I'm just not used to eating beef, so, I think it's a sign to stay away from it, especially here!

I took Rachel to Okinawa World on Saturday (the place I went my first week here that has the habu sake). Okinawa World is a 2 hour drive and with the rain it was an "adventure" of a drive. Luckily, Rocky made me a detailed map, after only a few detours, we actually made it. We sampled and bought habu sake and hibiscus tea. I found good Okinawa donuts too (to my aunts and grandma; they are as good as the ones in Little Tokyo). Okinawa World wasn't as interesting this time around, even for Rachel. We only stayed about an hour before heading back.

Saturday night, Rachel and I went to Kathi's house (the lady who lent me the new mattress). She is a dentist in the air force and her husband is also in the air force. They got here a few months ago from San Diego. Kathi invited us over for dinner and told us to bring our laundry to use her American washer and dryer! We ate a homemade chicken dinner and a delicious pudding dessert.

Sunday, we went to church on base and shopped at the new BX (base exchange). I was told this new BX on Kadena is the 2nd largest BX in the world! The biggest is in Europe. I bought some Christmas gifts and American magazines. Rachel, Lori and I ate in the food court and talked for a few hours. Again, it was nice to be around other Americans. Sometimes, I just like sitting and watching them, wondering what made them want to join the military, if the like it, etc.

Tomorrow my class will celebrate "fall" by carving pumpkins, counting and graphing the seeds and making a pumpkin dessert. Saturday is the school and church "Fall Festival." They will have games and food booths and I'm helping make some of the food. It will be nice to see some of my students outside of school. Not much else going on for Halloween here. Japanese people don't really celebrate Halloween. Our office secretary told me that Halloween just started getting popular here a few years ago and that most kids don't dress up. My students don't know what Halloween is, so they don't know what they are missing out on =) Poor kids, I'm sad that I'm missing out on Halloween!

Rachel has been here 3 weeks and has 3 weeks left. Our calendar is getting booked with things to do before she leaves. She has been relaxing and enjoying her vacation. She has not been going to school with me but will go with me tomorrow to help out with our party.
Next week, report cards are due and parent conferences are the following week. Lots of stuff going on in November!
I'm getting information about a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, so I'm hoping we will get to attend that soon. Hope your all enjoying the fall weather in SoCal!

XOXO
Kristen

Orion Brewery & Pineapple Park

This week...this month has flown by! Rachel has been keeping me busy, so this update is a little late. That and the fact that I still don't have a computer make it difficult to post as often as I'd like. After this post, I'm all caught up on blogging and will feel much better =)
Last weekend, we took a tour of Orion Brewery. Orion is the most popular Japanese beer and is everywhere! The Orion brewery is up north, in Nago, and since we were going to Pineapple Park in Nago, we made a stop at the brewery!

We had an appointment for an English tour, but after waiting 20 minutes they told me that they didn't have anyone who spoke English to give us a tour. The gave me a guidebook and told me to read it as we walked around. It was a short 10 minute tour. We got a free pint of freshly brewed Orion beer at the end of the tour which made it worth it =)

Where all the magic takes place!

Very cool cans.

The quality hops used in Orion beer are imported from Germany!

Perfect endings to the tour.

After the beer tour, we made it to Pineapple Park, after a short detour of getting lost. Pineapple Park is also in Nago and is very close to the Orion Brewery. Pineapple Park is a pineapple winery and pineapple farm.

Rachel, Jessica and I

We paid 500 yen ($5.00) to ride a automated pineapple cart through a pineapple farm.

Hungry for pineapples!

Then, the real fun began! We were led through a gift shop of pineapple wine, champagne, juice, cookies, chocolate, bread, jelly, pie, etc. The best part was, we got samples of everything! The wine was good and the champagne was delicious! I bought a few bottles to share with everyone over Christmas dinner =) The pineapple chocolate and cookies were my favorite, as far as food. Every two steps, there would be a new sample of food. It got kind of gross after a few minutes of stuffing our mouths with sample after sample. Everything started to taste the same. I made my purchases and left before eating more and feeling sick.
I ate so much pineapple I turned into one! haha, wow, I've been hanging around 2nd graders too much!!

Our view when leaving the parking lot!

At this point, we were in need of some "real food" so, we ate lunch at a Japanese restaurant across the street from Pineapple Park. We ate teriyaki bowls while sitting on tatami mats!

After lunch, we were ready for pineapple dessert! We walked back to Pineapple Park and had pineapple ice cream. It was light and tangy, I loved it!

We bought pineapple popcorn to go, we tried it later that night and it was good, different, but good!

On the way home we stopped at the resort in Nago that we like so much (the expensive one, with a nice beach that we stopped at a few weeks ago). The sun was setting, so it was perfect picture time.

You can actually see my feet through the water, crazy! Definitely a reminder that I'm not in Southern California!

Beautiful sunset!

My favorite picture!

We attempted to write "Japan 09" in the sand.

It was a successful day and Rachel wants to go back to Pineapple Park before she leaves, so I'll be back within the next few weeks.

I can't believe the last week of October is approaching.

Things at school are going well. Parent conferences are coming up in a few weeks and I really only have a few students that are getting low "C's" in a few subjects, otherwise the grades aren't too bad. A lady who is studying to be a teacher has been coming in my classroom to observe Sarah and I. She is a military wife who is taking college classes and needs observation hours in an elementary school classroom. My principal thought our room would be good for her to observe. It was not long ago, AT ALL, that I was observing teachers in their classrooms, and now I'm the teacher being observed! Weird! She is a really nice lady and even signed Rachel and I on base tonight to eat at Chilli's. We were craving American food, so it was a nice Friday night treat!

Our school doesn't allow us to celebrate Halloween which is kind of sad but I'm determined to do something festive with my students. So, on 10/30 we are having a "fall celebration." Sarah and I had Lori buy us some pumpkin pie filling, graham crackers and whipped cream. With these ingredients, students will measure, make and eat their own pumpkin pie creation. We also bought a few pumpkins which we will use to predict the weight, diameter and number of seeds in each pumpkin. Then, at our celebration, we will weigh, measure and count the seeds inside our pumpkins. I'm looking forward to a day of fun with my students. Celebrating with students and showing them that learning can be fun makes all the stress in teaching worth it!

I went running this week, the first time since being here. It felt amazing! Rachel and I ran on the beach as the sun was setting, it was gorgeous! The weather was perfect and there were lots of military people running, so it was a great atmosphere. We did some ab exercises on the sand after running. I have not felt better since being here than I did after that run. It was only a few miles but now that I know where to run and that there are lots of people running, I will do it more often. After running, I spotted a baseball/softball field where high school aged kids were practicing. I stopped and watched them play for a few minutes, it really made me feel at home. A run and watching baseball and softball, might be as good as it gets here =)

I have more fun adventures planned this weekend. The rain has been off and on the past few weeks and it's pouring right now. Hopefully we get a little sunshine soon!

Love,

Kristen

Shuri Castle and International Street

I had last Monday off in observance of Columbus day, weird to celebrate Columbus day in Japan! My students had no idea who Columbus was, so I gave a brief explanation, hoping they would remember why they were getting the day off of school. Rachel and I took advantage of our free day by heading down south to Naha, the capital of Okinawa.

Our first stop was Shuri Castle. According to my travel book, Shuri Castle is the #1 must see historical spot on the island. We followed the directions from my travel book and forgot our map at home. Luckily, we had an easy time finding the castle.

A little history, Shuri castle was the palace of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed. In 1992, it was reconstructed on the original site. Shuri flourished as the capital, and continued to do so during the second Sho dynasty. For 450 years from the beginning of the 15th century, it was the royal court and administrative center of the Ryūkyūan Kingdom. It was the focal point of foreign trade, as well as the political, economical and cultural heart of the Ryūkyū Kingdom.

Rachel and I at the entrance of Shuri Castle

Pathway along the perimeter of the castle

Stairway leading up to the castle grounds

View of Naha from the top of the castle

One last picture before entering the castle (which is still being reconstructed).

Authentic Japanese performance by geisha's.

We had to walk barefoot inside the castle. We were given plastic bags to put our shoes in.

A Tatami mat, as shown here, is traditional Japanese flooring. Tatami mats have a uniform size and shape. Houses and restaurants have tatami rooms in which you eat on the floor. A room with 6 tatami mats would be called a "6 tatami room."

Exiting the castle. The castle was smaller than expected, we were only there an hour. It was a great piece of history to learn about.

After Shuri castle, we attempted to go to International Street, a famous street in downtown Naha that has a variety of shops and restaurants. A worker at Shuri castle was nice enough to give us a map and directions to International Street. We ended up at grocery store where a worker tried to give us directions but didn't speak English. The worker ran to a small restaurant in the same parking lot and got a chef in the restaurant who spoke English, to give us directions. We were happily surprised at the kindness of the workers and laughed about how people in L.A. would not go out of their way like this to help others. The chef told us we could leave our car in the parking lot and walk to International street which was about 10 minutes away. So, we did just that. We were surprised to see that International Street looked VERY similar to downtown L.A., minus the bums. The shops actually sell a lot of items that I've seen in the stores in L.A., now I know where they came from!

International Street

My tour book said that one of the best places to eat at on the island is this Sam's restaurant. So, we stopped to eat here and were VERY impressed by the fresh, delicious seafood and steak!

Our chef, cooked our food on the grill in front of us and even enjoyed posing for the camera =)

I ordered scallops and shrimp, Rachel had a steak. Our meal included veggies and pineapple bread and butter! It was different but delicious!

We ordered speciality drinks so we could get the souvenir cup!

After eating we browsed a little more before heading home. Neither of us bought anything, it was fun to look at but nothing worth buying.

We stopped at A&W on the way home and had root beer floats. I had a root beer float at A&W on base and it was normal....the ones off base are not normal. They put cubes of ice in the float, it doesn't sound like a big deal but it just ruins it!

We didn't end up going to the salsa club last weekend because Rachel was sick. She started getting a bad cold and stayed home all week to rest. She tried buying cough drops at the store but couldn't read the labels because they were all in Japanese. She ended up buying candy that looked like cough drops and used those ever time she coughed! Luckily, she is better now, even without taking real cough drops! =)

I finally got a few mattress for my bed here! Jessica's friend was a nanny for a military family here and the family has been really nice to us. They told me they had an extra mattress that is a brand new, American mattress. I took them up on the offer, borrowed the school van and picked up the mattress. I took off my mattress pad because I realized that was also hurting my back. I am sleeping much better now and my back is no longer hurting, thank goodness!

More postings and updates to come within the next few days. I'm so glad I'm able to use Rachel's computer until my new one arrives in the mail!

Love to you all!!!

Kristen

Laptop is Down!

Just a short update: My laptop screen went black and I think it's down for good! It made it two months for me here! The screen started flickering off and on and stayed off, so much that I can faintly see the screen. It first happened the day Rachel arrived but it worked fine the next day. Well, it happened again yesterday and it still isn't working. Luckily, I am able to use Rachel's laptop! I've been doing a lot of fun things and I'm anxious to post on here but it might have to wait a few more days.

Paul John is getting me a new laptop at home and will mail it to me here...hopefully it gets shipped to me this coming week. It was time for a new laptop anyway, plus not having access to one at all times is helping me get out and do more things. Last Monday, Rachel and I went down south to Naha, the capital of Okinawa. We went to Shuri Castle and International street. Today we went up north to Nago and took a tour of Orion Brewery and Pineapple Park. Tomorrow we will be shopping on base and going to church. Lots of pictures and fun stories to come =)

XOXO

Kristen

I'm Official....

I received my alien card, I am now a Japanese alien! I can use my alien card in lieu of my passport so I don't have to carry both with me at all times.
Rachel arrived safely on Tuesday evening. Here is our first picture in Japan together, at the Naha airport minutes after she arrived. We were a little excited to see each other!Lori's husband Daniel took me to the airport to get Rachel. We took the express way, so it was only a 30 minute ride. It was raining and super windy because the typhoon was getting close to us. I was worried Rachel's flight might get deterred but she landed right on time. By the way, the typhoon missed us and hit Tokyo instead. Maybe we'll get one soon =(
I was so happy to have someone from home here with me, I cried when I hugged her, then she started crying, then we both started laughing =)
Daniel gave Rachel a little tour on the drive home, which I'm sure she barley remembers now because of jet lag. We took her by our school, American Village and the area I live in. She said she didn't sleep at all on the plane, so she was exhausted. By the time we got home, it was 10:30 pm. We set up the air mattress, showered, talked and went to sleep. My room feels much more like a room now, I'm already sad thinking about how empty it will feel once she leaves.
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Rachel went to school with me. I introduced her to my students and they are all happy to have her in our classroom. Starting this week, I will have her working with small groups during math and reading time. She was able to sleep regularly each night and didn't experience much jet lag at all. It's been so nice to have someone from home on the other side of the world with me! We have been giving our abs a workout by laughing so hard that our stomachs are often sore from laughter.
Rachel in her new bed for the next month.
Before picking up Rachel on Tuesday evening, I had open house at school. It went smoothly and it seemed like a successful evening. The principal introduced all of the teachers, then we walked the parents of our students to our classroom. We had about 15 out of 23 parents attend, so it was a nice turnout. Sarah and I talked about our classroom rules, behavior management procedures, grading scale and explained our daily routine. Rocky was our translator, so we had to pause after every few sentences to allow him to translate for us. It was a new experience to speak in front of a room full of parents that had no idea what I was saying, until it was translated. At one point, I forgot I had a translator and spoke for about 2 minutes straight before remembering Rocky needed to translate. I informed the parents that our main focus is on language skills and that we really need their support by reading to their students each night. I talked to a few parents who have children that are struggling and gave them suggestions on things to work on. Open house only lasted an hour and the time flew by. All the parents are very friendly and supportive.
My students did very well at their first chapel last week. They were very enthusiastic and energetic while practicing in the classroom but got shy when performing in front of the other classes!
This is the video of my students performing their song during chapel.

Reciting their bible verse.

The meeting with my "difficult" students mom went well. The mom brought my students nanny with her because she said the nanny spends the most time with him. The nanny was doing most of the talking, in Japanese of course, so we had a translator. They said he did well in kindergarten and has not had any problems until this year. He does not listen to them at home and will not do anything they ask him to do. We informed them that he cannot continue at this rate because he is still not completing any work. We concluded that they will hire a tutor to teach him 3 days a week, after school. Sarah and I will make copies of all classwork we do and sent it home so the tutor can reteach him the work we have done. The mom said she will buy our textbooks so she has a set at home for the tutor to use. I was happy that they were cooperative but sad that it takes all this for a 6 year old to do his work. I'm really starting to like this kid and hope that he comes around. This week, we will hit the 2 month mark of being in school, he needs to catch on soon!
We have Monday off for Columbus day (weird that I'm in Japan celebrating Columbus day when most people in the U.S. don't get it off!). Our plan for the weekend was to head to northern Okinawa to do some exploring. On Saturday morning, Rachel and I packed our bags in hopes of staying overnight at a resort in Nago. Nago is in northern Okinawa and although it's only an hour and a half from my apartment, everyone makes it seem like it's SO far away. We looked up a few resorts online but wanted to see them in person before deciding where to stay.

Here we are in the car ready for our adventure.

The drive was beautiful, right along the coast with the whole way up. It was cloudy and overcast with lots of fog over the ocean.
We drove for two hours without seeing any resorts we were willing to stay at. We decided to find something to eat and come up with a new game plan over lunch. We saw stopped at an Okinawa restaurant we saw off the side of the road. The sign said it was "Slow Cooked" Okinawan food, we weren't sure and still aren't sure what that means. We ordered curry rice and Okinawan veggie soba. We loved the soba and rice but neither of us liked the curry.
It was traditional Japanese style seating. We took our shoes off and sat on a mat, there was a spot for us to put our legs underneath the table.As we were taking pictures in front of the restaurant after eating, we realized the sign in front of the restaurant was for one of the hotels we had looked up! We looked around and saw the hotel, 20 yards away from where we had just ate! It was an old looking, motel 6 type of hotel. We were so glad we didn't reserve the hotel ahead of time! It says it's a "resort" but it was not on the beach and looked nothing like a resort, by American standards anyway.
We drove down the road a little more and stopped at an ice cream hut on the side of the road. The lady working there did not speak any English. She couldn't tell us what flavors she had so she motioned us to come around, into the hut. We walked around and she gave us the ice cream scooper and two spoons to do taste tests. Very unsanitary but a nice gesture. I chose strawberry and Rachel chose blackberry.
We continued heading in the direction of home when I saw a sign for a golf resort. I drove into the resort and saw a beautiful hotel...it was actually a resort! It was nothing like the other hotel. We parked, walked around and hung out on the beach for a few minutes. By this time it was already 3:30 and it was starting to sprinkle, so we decided that we would come back here to stay in a few weeks. It's a very expensive hotel but so worth it compared to the other hotels! While looking around, we saw that we can para sail, ride paddle boats and rent jet skis at the resort! Something to look forward to in the future.
Busena Resort in Nago.

We stopped at "Nago Pref. National Forrest" which was a small forrest area that had some hiking trails and camping areas. I'd like to go back to check out the hiking trails. We ate Korean BBQ and shared a banana split for dinner on the way home. It was a fun day of exploring. The aquarium, pineapple park and Orion beer factory are all in Nago, so I'm sure I'll be back there soon!
This past Wednesday and Thursday night, Rachel and I had salsa lessons from Rocky. He has been giving lessons to my student Monica's mom. Monica's mom owns her own school and has a dance studio at her school. Rachel is new to salsa but has been doing well. I love learning something new while getting a workout in. We went to the lesson on base Friday night and bought Rocky dinner for being so kind to us. Tonight, Rachel and I are going to a salsa club with Rocky and Monica's mom. Since tomorrow is a holiday, we are going to take advantage and stay out as late as we can.
Yesterday, my mom, Lindsay, Josh, Philip, Savannah and Grace were all at my mom's house so I was able to see and talk to them all on the webcam! It was the first time I was able to see them all at once. I was very excited to talk to them, yet sad to see them all and not be there. Time is flying by though and I'll be home for Christmas before I know it.
Looking forward to only working 4 days this week =) Hopefully I'll have some interesting things to post again in a few days.

XOXO
Kristen

P.S. Some people haven't noticed this but sometimes I post videos on here. You have to click on the videos to watch them, they will not play automatically.