Sorry it's taken me a few days longer than expected, but here are the last pictures and details from Wendy's visit.
Wendy's husband Ryan lived in Okinawa for a few years when he was eight years old. His dad was in the air force and their family was stationed here 20 years ago. Last Tuesday, we met up with one of Ryan's friends who is a contracted physical therapist on Kadena air force base. Ryan met him in college and didn't remember that his friend was living here until now. We got signed on base so Wendy could look around, then went shopping at the comisarry. We had dinner at Chilli's and then went to the gym to work off our unhealthy food!
Thursday evening, I took Wendy to American Village to try soba noodles. It didn't look appealing and I told her that I threw up the last time I ate the noodles, but she wanted to try some authentic Okinawan food. We ordered and paid for our food in this vending machine (the same place I first tried soba when I got here in August).
I ordered vegetable soba and Wendy ordered pork soba. Mine was okay but Wendy hated hers. She hardly ate any of it but was glad she gave it a try.
Here we are waiting for our noodles.
Wendy also wanted to try sushi, so on another day we had sushi at the sushi go-round in the American Village area. I only had the cooked sushi this time but Wendy tried a variety of sushi and LOVED it! I guess that made up for the soba noodles.
Thursday and Friday, Sarah was not at work so Wendy helped me with the 1st grade class. She was a huge help! I was still very tired after both days but it would have been way worse without her help. She loved helping which I am so thankful for.
Random but here is a picture of the road I take to get to school each morning.
My students being silly.
They have to do the peace sign in every picture, I vowed to never do that while I was here and I've accomplished that goal =)
My students performed a skit and sang a song during our last chapel.
Singing and dancing on our last chapel day.
Friday night, Wendy and I got pedicures at the famous salon everyone talks about here, "Cocok's" which is about 50 yards from my apartment. They gave us great leg massages, lemon iced tea and great pedicures. It took 2 hours just for the pedicures but was so relaxing. It was a rainy evening, so after pedicures we made a chicken salad and baked potatoes for dinner. It was the perfect ending to a tiring week.
Saturday night, we drove up north (not too far north this time). It was another rainy evening but we wanted to try a buffet dinner show at Manza Beach Hotel. Rocky told me they have a great dinner and authentic Okinawan dance show. Since I hadn't done something like that here and Wendy wanted to experience as much as the culture as possible, we decided to give it a try. We stopped at the glass factory first (which was down the street from the hotel) to pick up our finished glass from the week before. We were both happy with the way our pieces turned out.
We got to the hotel with enough time to walk around the lobby and take some pictures. It was a gorgeous, modern hotel.
An Okinawan man playing instruments in the hotel lobby.
Open view of the ocean from inside the lobby (you can tell it's rainy season here).
Bakery in the lobby. We didn't try any of the sweets but they looked tempting!
In front of the buffet, ready to try some Okinawan food and see a good show!
We were given the option of steak, chicken or lobster as a main course (we both chose lobster) and all the side dishes were served buffet style. The lobster was covered in a mango sauce that was a bit too overwhelming. It was decent though.
We enjoyed side dishes of noodles, fruit, taco rice, mochi, shrimp tempura, sushi and delicious Okinawan cookies. The side dishes weren't that great but I filled up on fruit which was good enough for me.
The 30 minute show began with a shisa dog dancing on stage.
Drummers also performed.
Playing the sanshin, a traditional Okinawan instrument similar to a banjo.
These ladies taught the audience how to clap to their dance and use some of their instruments.
Pictures with the shisa dog after the show.
It was a fun cultural experience and we are both glad we went. We made it home in time for a good nights sleep before taking Wendy to the airport Sunday morning. She had a great time and I was so thankful that she didn't mind resting in between all the fun activities.
I am so grateful to have been able to share this experience with so many people that I love. I have an amazing set of family and friends and being so far from those that I love makes me appreciate you all even more.
Today is Friday evening, 3 school days to go! I still can't grasp the concept that I only have one week left in Okinawa. I torn down my classroom this week and started on report cards. It will be a bittersweet goodbye to my students come graduation day next Friday.
I will be posting my tour day with Rocky and a few of the other teachers from Memorial day soon. Tomorrow (Saturday) I will start packing my suitcases to see how much room I have for any extra souvenirs. Not too much planned this weekend except for sleeping in and packing. If you want any last minute items from Okinawa, let me know asap!
See you in one week =)
XOXO
Kristen
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