Rachel departs, 1st quarter down, Peace Park Visit

After a thrilling 6 weeks, Rachel headed back to the U.S. on Monday =( She rode to school with me in the morning, then at 9:30 Mr. Elofson and his wife took her to the airport. She was definitely excited about going home, Okinawa is good in small intervals for visitors. My students had just got back from music class when Rachel announced that Mr. Elofson was ready and she was leaving. When I told my students Rachel was going back to the U.S., they all let out a big "awwwwww." My American student got up and hugged Rachel. I told them that her suitcase was big enough to fit at least two kids and asked if any of them would like to go to the U.S. Almost all of their hands went up frantically. When I let them know that they wouldn't see their moms and dads for a really long time, a few hands went down. A few students actually stood up and walked towards her when I said they could go with her. haha. I got a little teary as I hugged her goodbye, it will definitely not be the same without her around. 

It was weird to get home from work and not have Rachel sitting on our couch, then going to my room and seeing half of my desk, closet and floor empty. This morning she emailed me to let me know she made it home safely. Apparently, they gave her a hard time getting on the plane in Okinawa because her ticket said "Miss Rachel" on it, and they told her that "Miss" meant she was a child, she almost missed her flight! 

I was blessed to have her visit for so long and to have created so many great memories together =)

I had 1st quarter parent/teacher conferences last week and they went very well. I had a translator for all my parents which I'm kinda getting used to now. All my parents were very supportive. I was surprised at how well the parents knew exactly what their kids were learning in school, they actually go through their folders and look at their papers! One common theme that most parents were concerned about was their child's printing. They felt that their kids were writing too sloppy. I told them that most of their printing is fine, I'm always able to read it without a problem. I didn't tell them, but compared to kids in the U.S., they have great printing! Parents were also concerned about the vocabulary in our reading books. Most of the language in our books is way over my students heads. I am going to start making vocabulary lists and reviewing them daily to help with comprehension, which is what all my students need to work on. Most parents asked me if their child was speaking English all day at school. They were surprised when I told them yes, the whole day, every day. They said they don't speak English at home, at all! I must have some talented students to be able to speak English half of the day and Japanese the other half! 

The lowest grades I gave were in bible and science. The test questions in both bible and science are worded in a way that English learners can not grasp. I'm changing the test format and I'm sure that will help the grades go up. Overall, everything went well and I was able to get all my planning done through the end of December! 1st quarter down, 3 to go!

Rocky took us out to eat Okinawan soba. Okinawan soba uses regular noodles while Japanese soba uses buckwheat noodles. There were huge pieces of pork rib in the noodles, Rachel and I gave our meat to Rocky. The noodles were good. We asked about the sign that said "Snow Corn" and Rocky said it's like a "Snow Cone." haha. We ordered them for dessert and they were delicious (better than the soba)!

 After dinner Rocky took us to the movies (my first movie theater experience in Okinawa) to watch Michael Jackson's "This is it." After the movie was over, everyone stayed in their seats to watch the credits until all the lights come on and the credits ended! Nobody got up to exit like we do at home. I couldn't figure out if they do this for all movies or they just really liked this movie. I found out the theater we went to, is one of the few theaters off base that shows English movies. I have a feeling I'll be visiting there quite frequently. 

I don't have all the pictures from our adventure last Saturday yet, so I'll do another post with that info.

On Sunday, Rachel's last full day here, we went to the WWII Peace Prayer Park in southern Okinawa. My friend from high school, Albert, was stationed in Okinawa last year. He got me in contact with some of his friends that are still stationed here. I invited his friend Omar, who is a navy coreman, to the Peace Park with us and we all had a great time. Omar has a very nice camera so we got some good pictures! Rachel and I enjoyed asking Omar a zillion questions about military life.

This park is located in Mabuni Hill, where the battle of Okinawa ended. The park is dedicated to the lives lost during the battle, in 1945. Over 200,000 people (including Okinawans, Americans, Koreans, Taiwanese and Britons) died during this battle. The name of each person that died is inscribed in stone blocks, which are displayed in a courtyard area. The concept of the park is to pray for those that died during this battle and to share the story of the battle. The park is very scenic and beautiful but carries a somber, heavy intonation.  

This is the "Cornerstone of Peace" area with the names of all fallen soldiers and civilians inscribed in stone blocks.

Omar bought flowers for us to lay throughout the park. 

 Saying a prayer as we set down our flowers.

There was also a butterfly garden at the Peace Park, that's twice at a butterfly garden in one week! I wasn't as antsy with the butterflies this time =)

The world's largest lacquer Budda, Okinawa prayer for peace statue.

This "Young Boy Statue" symbolizes the loss of numerous children who perished during the war.

We walked up to the observation tower but it was closed. We still got a view from inside the museum. These are the "suicide" cliffs that people threw themselves off of in 1945, very sad.

There was am ample amount of Japanese students visiting the Peace Park with their classes. It was on Sunday but they were still in uniform! We asked a few of the students if we could take pictures of them, they all gladly accepted.

These girls got a little excited! They did this pose automatically when we asked to take their picture!

Omar got creative with his nice camera.

I told these boys I loved their hair and wanted a picture. They didn't speak much English but their teacher told us that they are "cocky" with their hair cut this way! haha.

The rest of the class got a little jealous and wanted their picture taken too.

This little girl was so cute riding around on her bike.

After the peace park we ate at an Italian pizza house by Camp Kinser (where Omar lives). As we were eating, we saw these characters waddling along in the parking lot. We couldn't stop laughing, we left our food on the table and ran outside to get a picture. AU is the name of a cell phone company in Okinawa. 

We ate dessert at Blue Seal ice cream parlor. It's a 60's style diner with food and ice cream that plays American rock music. I'm told there are Blue Seal/Big Dip ice cream parlor's in the U.S. I've had ice cream at Blue Seal at least twice a month, every month since being here =)

A sundae for each of us, mmmmmm!

Getting festive with the American solider.

It was a nice ending to a memorable visit with Rachel. 

I leave at 8:15 am on Thanksgiving morning for Tokyo. Our hotel is a 30 minute train ride from the airport. Thursday,  I hope to see Tokyo Tower. Friday, (your Thanksgiving day) I will take the train for 1 1/2 hours to Tokyo Disney to spend the day. Saturday, I will meet my tour group in my hotel lobby for my Mt. Fuji tour. Sunday I will squeeze in whatever else I missed =) My flight leaves Tokyo Sunday evening at 7:45 pm. I checked the weather and it will be in the 40's and 50's in Tokyo...I brought a thin coat with me but I think I'll be buying some hats and scarfs this weekend! I'm counting down the days =)

I think I covered everything. I hope your all still enjoying my updates. Let me know if you'd like more details about anything, I have the time and I love sharing with you. 

XOXO 

Kristen

Aquarium & Butterfly Garden

Our campus was closed on Wednesday in observance of Veteran's day. My students did not know what the term "veteran" meant, so I gave them a short lesson on Veteran's day, hoping they would remember why they were getting the day off of school. I talked about appreciating simple pleasures (like praying and dressing as we choose) and how soldiers have helped us gain those freedoms. 

I have one American student in my class whose father is in the air force, so I used him as an example of a "real life solider." By the end of the lesson, all the students were pretending to salute one another. When we returned to school on Thursday, a few students were excited to share that they said thank you to the soldiers they saw on Veteran's day. I couldn't help but smile and feel so proud of my students!

With Veteran's day off, Rachel and I headed up north, to the aquarium. We actually found the aquarium easily and didn't get lost for the first time, in a long time! 

We stopped to take our first picture before entering the aquarium and these ladies stopped us and asked if they could take a picture with us. We laughed and all took a picture together, they spoke broken English but were very friendly, they kept saying thank you and waving as they walked away. 

When we arrived, we found a lunch buffet, including all you can eat ice cream, cookies and little balls that looked like cream puffs but tasted like pancakes with syrup! Our table had this gorgeous view of the dolphin cove.

View while walking around outside the aquarium

Cute grass fish were everywhere outside!

Couldn't resist acting like a kid for a few minutes!

 Before I even started waving for this picture, four Japanese girls that were standing below me started waving. When I waved back, they all got excited and started waiving excitedly. I began wondering if they thought they knew me. As I walked down the stairs they were still standing there, I said hello and they began whispering and giggling while waving again. Rachel and I couldn't help but laugh. Weird! 

The inside of the aquarium had an ample amount of tanks with various fish and sharks.  

The giant white sharks and mantas in this tank, hold the world record for the longest time kept in captivity. The world's first successful birth of a manta pup in captivity also happened here. It's weird that they brag about holding a world record for keeping an animal in captivity!

We were actually able to touch and pick up these starfish, they felt fake, almost like rocks.

The aquarium was much smaller than expected, we were finished eating lunch, looking at the tanks, watching the dolphin show and walking around outside within two hours. We decided to go to the butterfly garden which was right down the street from the aquarium. 

We took a nature walk on the grounds, took a few silly pictures and a few amazing pictures of the view! 

There were butterflies everywhere inside, they even had red hats for us to wear to attract the butterflies. We were a little scared of the butterflies crawling on us...I think we hid it well though (not really!) =0

The butterflies kept trying to land on my legs but I wouldn't let them. I was moving around so much that I was afraid I was going to smash one of them! This is the only one that I let land and stay on me.

This one stayed on Rachel for a little longer than she was comfortable with!

After the butterfly garden, we stopped by our favorite resort hotel on the island, Busena Terrace, where the 2000 G8 conference was held! This was our 4th time stopping by the resort, just to hang out and imagine staying there! Sometimes, I even like to imagine that I live there =) We sat on beach chairs and watched the sunset. 

It was a fun little adventure! We stopped by Pineapple park on the way home, bought a few more bottles of pineapple wine, cookies and ice cream before calling it a day. It was random to have a Wednesday off but a nice change of pace! We got a lot of sightseeing in, I'm starting to worry that I might run out of places to see here!

XOXO

Kristen

Fall Weather & New Laptop Have Arrived!

Fancy sushi at a restaurant right next to my apartment!

Both Fall weather and my new laptop arrived this week! YAY! 

The weather, both temperature and humidity have cooled down significantly! I'm very excited to be able to wear long sleeves and jeans. I was begining to think I brought way too many winter clothes. 

This was the first full week that I left the air conditioning off in my classroom, some days it still got stuffy but overall, it was nice with just the windows open. 

I decided to go with a mac laptop (which Philip is still upset about but will get over) and I love it. So far, it's easy to use and skype works EXCELLENT on it! I've had several people tell me that the calls are so clear, they forget I'm across the world! Definitely a good investment.

My class enjoyed counting pumpkin seeds last week, however, they did not enjoy eating the pumpkin pie dessert they made! The recipe said to mix pumpkin pie filling with whipped cream, then to crush graham crackers on top and finish with a sprinkle of pumpkin spice. I don't care for pumpkin, so it didn't sound good to me to start with. After we helped each student pour the mixture in their cup, we began hearing gagging sounds! They hated it! One student started making a gagging sound, then another and so on, until all but two students were pretending to gag. We quickly put a stop to that but I couldn't help but laugh. I had just finished telling Rachel how Japanese kids are not picky with their food. I've never seen them not like a specific food or say that it looked gross. I'm used to American kids being so picky (myself included). Only two students liked and finished their dessert. I asked the class if they at least had fun making the dessert and they all said yes. I guess that counts for something =)

I helped with the fall festival at school on Halloween day. I assisted Rocky with the snow cone machine. The weather was rainy off and on, so snow cones weren't very popular. It was nice to see some of my students dressed in costumes and others in their regular clothes (not in uniform). 

Last week, I had my students create their own currency, including pictures, numbers, colors, and symbols. I showed them American dollars and explained what some of the symbols and pictures on dollars represent.  I told them they can chose anything they'd like. When I saw this one, I had to take a picture. This student did this all on her own, she even knew the date he was born!

Halloween night, Rachel and I ate at Tony Roma's at American Village (the little area with shops and restaurants). It was our second night in a row eating there, it's the best food we can get off base. We walked around the shops after dinner and saw some kids dressed in costumes. A few adults were dressed as Michael Jackson, they really love MJ here! The movie theater at American Village is playing his movie and they are always playing his songs on the speakers around American Village. I guess that kinda makes it feel more like home, haha.

The highlight of our night occurred as we were walking to our car, in the parking lot of American Village. Three Japanese girls, who looked to be in their mid twenties, ran up to Rachel and I saying "excuse me, excuse me." They proceeded to say in broken English "It's Halloween....party....Halloween....base." We stared at them for a second, trying to understand what they were saying. They giggled as they spoke to one another in Japanese, then tried again "Halloween base." I still didn't understand, they began giggling and speaking Japanese again. Rachel and I began laughing too. "Base party" was all that I could understand. Ohhhhhh, then it hit me.......they wanted me to sign them on base so they could go to a Halloween party on base!! I asked them if there were trying to get on base for the Halloween party and they said "YES! YES!" I told them I was sorry but that I don't live on base, so I cannot sign them on. They looked sad but still giggled and said "Okay, thank you, thank you. Happy Halloween!" We all laughed as we said goodbye and went on our way. I felt bad that I couldn't help them, but at least we all got a laugh out of it.

It still feels weird that when people see me, they think I am either in the military or a military wife....neither of which will happen!

Last weekend I was able to do more Christmas shopping after church, I found so many cute gifts! I'm thinking of inviting a few of the teachers from school over to my apartment in December for a Christmas wrapping party. I love playing Christmas music and eating holiday desserts as I wrap gifts. My apartment isn't very big but we can make it work. I've already been playing Christmas music, I can't wait to decorate my apartment and enjoy the holiday season!

I planned out my itinerary for my Thanksgiving Tokyo trip. I booked a one day tour to Mt. Fuji! I've always wanted to climb Mt. Fuji, but since it's November and snowing, the mountain is closed to hikers for the season. My tour will consist of going to Mt. Fuji's 5th station, taking a boat cruise on Lake Ashi (just below Mt. Fuji), riding a gondola up Mt. Komagatake and then taking the bullet train back to Tokyo. 

Jessica is going to Tokyo with me, but she didn't want to do this tour, so I'm doing it alone. I am so excited about it, I don't care if I'm the only person on the whole tour! 

The rest of my itinerary includes Tokyo Disney and Tokyo Tower (which I read is taller than the Eifel Tower). I'm sure I'll squeeze some shopping in as well =)

I completed and submitted my report cards this week, but not without a little chaos. We were given a flash drive with the files of our reports cards on them. I enter my grades daily, on a computer program, online.  We were emailed a list of report card comments to use, which also had Japanese translations for each comment. I just needed to enter my letter grades for each student and copy/paste the appropriate comments, sounded simple...so I thought. 

For some reason, my new laptop would not open the report card comments file. I tried on Sarah's computer and it worked fine, so I used her computer to enter letter grades. The next day, students had half day so teachers could finish report cards to turn in by the end of the day. I put my flash drive back into my laptop and the format for each report card was misaligned. I finished entering grades with an hour left in the day and submitted my flash drive to the principal. I told him that some of the files were misaligned. We tried fixing it for 30 minutes before realizing that since my laptop is a mac, it does not have windows on it (and that's what format the files on the flash drive were on). So, my computer opened the files using another program, skewing the format. 

With only 15 minutes left in the day, I ran upstairs to the library computers, copied and pasted all my comments and letter grades into a new file, with the correct format. Needless to say, it all worked out, and I submitted report cards right on time. I guess I can't do things without some excitement involved =)

I was pleased with grades, I only gave a few F's and D's, mostly in bible and science! The curriculum in those subjects is way over my students heads, so, I'm going to start making my own tests, wording them in a way that is more understandable. All of my students got either A's or B+'s in math! The most C's I gave were in phonics and writing, we are working on that. First quarter down, three to go! 

I've been able to get a few runs in during the week and I'm now on the 3rd season of Gilmore Girls. Rachel and I opened my bottle of habu sake, and finished it. I received a package from my mom in the mail, full of goodies, all of which I will use! The weather was perfect this weekend but we didn't do much. Random: we ate at an Italian restaurant at American Village, great food (hard to believe it was Japanese owned, tasted as good as food in the U.S.). The menu said "sorry but we do not allow leftovers to be taken home." We didn't think of it much until Rachel asked for a to go box for her spaghetti. Our waitress didn't speak English but said no. I pointed to a to go box at an adjacent table, the waitress said "only for pizza." We asked why and all the waitress could do was point to her stomach and say "bad." We couldn't figure out what that meant, I still can't figure it out. 

I've typed way too much, I'll write again this week with more fun stories =) Sorry for the lack of pictures...we've been low key the past few weeks.

Time is flying by and my students are continuing to bring laughter to my life!

Love you to all!

Kristen