The same but different ...

So I thought once I got here, it would be this huge culture shock. I mean what could be more different than Starkville, Mississippi and Okinawa, Japan? But what I am realizing is that things are the same but different. The culture shock was more like a tiny little twinge. At least so far anyway ;) Here are a couple of examples of what I mean. They have sweet potatoes. Very delicious, sweet potato tasting, sweet potatoes...they are just purple!! (I know, right??)

We have stop signs, but they are shaped like triangles. This was a little harder to get used to. Because in the states, what does this look like??? Yeah...a yield sign! You better stop, buddy!!
This is the Japanese version of a shopping cart. The funny thing about this is that the English on the sign for this (I should have taken a picture of it...) said, "Medium size shopping cart" I'm not sure you can get the feel for just how small this cart is, but the little green basket sitting in the cart is one of those little baskets that you can carry around with you if you don't want to push a cart. I'd hate to see what size they would call our American sized shopping carts!! Monstrous, Colossal, Mammoth!!
Today, I went to McDonald's and I had the Shaka Shaka Chicken. Something you won't see on an American menu. It was quite tasty. Basically, it's just a piece of chicken without the bun or anything, in this little bag...with your choice of seasoning...and you can see the directions. You pour it in, "shaka shaka" up, and enjoy!!

Here is a picture of a Pepsi that I bought after a quick pit stop at one of the many vending machines. (Oh how I love the vending machines!!!) See...the same, but different!!

Anyway, these are just a few examples of how life has SLIGHTLY changed. As you can see, it's all still relatively the same...just a little spice was added and "shaka shaka" :)

SKYPE!!

Oh Skype...how I love thee. Logan is on spring break this week, and today he was at his Uncle Lee's house. So I was up kind of late and decided to call and see how his morning was going. (Time difference, you know) and we asked if Lee had skype. He didn't, but he downloaded it for us so that Logan and I could see each other and talk. It was great!! I took some snapshots from our conversation...

Logan eating some of the strange seaweed snacks that I sent him. He said he loved these things in particular. I should say he did. This was the last one out of a huge bag!!

Even though we talk nearly everyday, it was awesome to actually SEE him while we talked. THANKS, Lee! Maybe we can do that more often. :) I'm signing off now, with a smile on my face. Goodnight everybody! My webcam purchase has now officially been worth it!

Package home...

I mailed a package off on Saturday to Logan that was full of random things from the island. Mostly the weirdest, "non-perishable" things that I could get that would clear customs. He called me this morning and loved it! I'm putting this post here so that hopefully Logan and Mrs. Jackie will read it and will email me a picture of him in his new shirt, direct from Japan, eating his undecipherable snacks, so that I can insert the picture below :)


My blog NEEDS that picture!! I've already started accumulating things for his next care package. I'm going to have to start making a list of all the things that I can't find here at the BX that I miss from the states and have him mail me care packages in return!! We'll trade ;)

Exploration

Some days it's just so pretty outside that you can't stay in the house. Today was one of those days. So I decided to drive until I found a beach (hardly a huge feat on a tiny island in the Pacific!). But parking is always a huge issue here, so I went to my source of information okinawahai.com and read up on all the beaches, which ones had easy to find parking, and came up with Zanpa beach. It's about 30 minutes from Kadena Air Base...so I was off. Top down, directions in hand, fully charged camera battery, and sunscreen applied. It was beautiful! I took some photos. I wish the blue-ness of the water had come through in the pictures. It was so pretty!! I even met some people who were vacationing from Tokyo and staying at a resort across the street from the beach. They were really nice and really wanted to talk to me. (I think it's the southern accent) but my lack of Japanese and their broken English made it nearly impossible. It was funny to try though. We all laughed a lot. There was a lot of pointy talk. It was like charades! I was set until I needed to say more than hello, good afternoon, yes, and thank you!! ha!

After a hot day relaxing on the beach, that's when these random vending machines that are literally EVERYWHERE all over Okinawa come in handy. I just put on my caution lights, pulled over, jumped out and got a drink. When in Oki, do as the Okinawans do ;)

Adjustments

I seem to be adjusting pretty well here in Okinawa. I hardly even notice the F-15's flying over head in formation anymore. When I first got here, I would stop and stare and watch them in awe. Now, I don't even pause my conversation...just kick it up a few decibels. The constant sound of construction behind my house has become rather soothing. I rarely ever try to get in on the driver's side of the car when I'm a passenger and vice versa, I only drive on the right side of the road when I want some excitement ;) And the sight of everyone else's toes, that at first made me scoff, has since made me rather jealous. So, like a lemming, I took the plunge. Apparently, "EVERYONE has to get their toes painted" by one of the very talented Asian women with a tiny paintbrush and acrylic paint. It's art. You go into the shop, are seated in a very comfy recliner, they cover your legs in a super soft blanket, and give you a book of designs to peruse while they get started on your toes. In the meantime, someone brings you tea, and you sit and talk and sip your tea and fret over what design you want to be marked with for the next couple of weeks!! It's quite the decision! Here's what I picked for my first time. There will be others. I liked it ;) It's completely out of character for me. Which MUST mean that i'm adjusting to island lifestyle, right?

Lost in translation

Sometimes some of the translations crack me up!! This was the box to a frying pan. Wonder what the "idea for cooking" is?? And are daddy's allowed to use it? Hmm... :D Sorry. It made me giggle when I saw it. I had to share.

New car = freedom!

So I finally got my car!! Isn't it cute?? I love riding around with the top down! I've always wanted a convertible! And this is the perfect place to have one! I'm gonna need some sunscreen STAT!! So far, I haven't seen another one of these cars on the island...not even in another color. No one can say they didn't see me coming, that's for sure!!

And with my new car, means freedom to explore the island a little bit. Yesterday was my first time to really be able to drive around, so I stuck to base and just got acclimated to driving on the "wrong" side of the road, and to my new car and it's odd transmission (half manual - half automatic) ... but today, I got brave. I went OUTSIDE the gates! Oh yeah. All on my own. I found my way to Jusco. It's kind of like a mall/walmart. It has a lot of little stores in it with clothes and things, and a starbucks, etc. But then it has a huge part that has home stuff, and a grocery part, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Here's a picture of the grocery part...It had a lot of stuff in it. All in Japanese. I had NO IDEA what I was looking at!!

Case in point...I saw these little things in a plastic case. No English on the label, but it looked yummy. So I bought it. What was it you ask?? Well...I ate one of the balls and it seemed to be a molasses covered ball of dough. I ate two to decide if I liked it or not. I'm still undecided!! lol

This is the HUGE ferris wheel that is in American Village. I can't wait to ride it. It moves so slow that you can barely tell it's moving, but I bet the view from the top is amazing!! I was going to try and go to the beach or walk down into American Village and take some pictures after leaving Jusco, but it was sprinkling so I decided to head back home and eat my (not sure what adjective to use) sticky, doughy, interesting balls and the weird undecipherable lunch that I picked up. I'll save the walking for another day. Logan will be so proud of me that I've ventured out of the house! He asks me every day what I did, and generally my answer consists of the gym or the grocery on base or laundry. I think he's been concerned that by the time he got here this summer I would still be a hermit that was afraid to drive or carless!! His fears can subside now! I've breached the base gate all on my own and made it back to blog about it! ;) More pictures to come now that I've got wheels!! Stay tuned!!

Our house

So i've had several requests for pictures of our new house here in Japan, so here they are...!! Keep in mind we don't have everything in place just as we want it yet. Especially upstairs!! We haven't hung ANYTHING on the walls upstairs!! We have three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. I spared you the pictures of our bare walled guest rooms with just beds in them...you'll get that experience when you see the master bedroom ;)

Our House!!

The front door

The backyard

Our gameroom/breakfast nook area

our very bare walled master bedroom

The living room

The kitchen

Whales!!!

Once a year, the humpback whales come into the warm waters of Okinawa to breed. This would be where I would put the awesome pictures of our whale watching tour that we went on yesterday ... had we been able to go. But unfortunately, it was cancelled due to weather. Oh well, there's always next year!!

Justin and I decided to make a day of it anyway and head down into the capital city of Naha and try to find the fish market. (Thank goodness for iphones and GPS!!) We picked up some fresh sashimi (raw fish) and fruit and brought it home and had a great lunch!

I also finally found Logan some cool chopsticks ... I'd say overall, it was a very productive day!!

A perfect day

Here are some pictures of the beach...it was a great day.

Okinawa...weeks one and two

The first two weeks here have been a blurr. Buying cars, moving into our house, getting our japanese drivers licenses, getting cellphones, learning to drive on the "wrong" side of the road, an earthquake, tsunami warning, all while recovering from jet lag. Yeah. I must say, the people here are amazing. Everyone here is so nice. Like "southern" nice. The people and family of the people that Justin works with, and the Japanese people as well. It's crazy. So far, I haven't met one person who hasn't been willing to go completely out of their way to help you out. This was our "welcome basket" that was in our TLF room when we arrived from the airport. It was nice to have food and snacks waiting on us after getting off such a long flight!!!



Without a car for the first week, we haven't been able to do THAT much exploring, but we've gotten out a bit. We went to a couple of the beaches see the sights. They are beautiful. I took these pictures with my cellphone, so they don't do it justice! It was a little chilly and rainy this day, but it has rapidly warmed up. I can't wait to hit the beach for the first time. It shouldn't be long now. It is about 77 degrees here today. So nice!







I had the opportunity to go down to Naha for an afternoon one day. It was really cool. It's much larger and "city-esque" than the area that the base is.






There is a large fish market there that is pretty cool. Locals catch fish and bring it into the fish market. You can buy it there, fresh out of the ocean and either take it home, or point to what you want and then head upstairs and they will cook it for you right there. There were several things that I saw there that even I wouldn't want to eat (having looked at it in the pre-cooked stage) like these little guys...


Standby for more pictures and posts. On Sunday Justin and I are going on a whale watching tour and then a trip into Naha. It should be amazing and definitely photo/blog worthy!