Feeling like a princess

I saw this and thought it was way too funny not to share. No wonder I feel like a princess ;)

New House (Part one)

So as most of you know Justin and I moved into a new house off base just over a month ago. It's been great. Not far from base, about a block from the seawall, and right across the street from a great Turkish restaurant and a coffee place.

Our move was a whirlwind. Justin was TDY when the movers came so I unpacked as much as I could. When he got home it was straight back to work, unpacking in our spare time, while trying to spend some time together before he left again….this time for a deployment. In between all that, we managed to get in our awesome trip to Taipei. All of that is to give my excuses as to why there are still boxes in the house and why I am just getting around to posting pictures of the house (and why the house pictures will be posted in at least two parts … because there are still boxes and messiness in all the parts that I didn't take pictures of!!)

So here is our house.

This is the game room/extra room. That door to the left leads into Justin's bathroom. This is on the first floor. Other than the garage, it's the only thing down there.

On the second floor is the kitchen, living room, and one tiny half bath. Here's a picture of the kitchen and bathroom below. Living room and upstairs to follow!

Isn't that the tiniest sink you've ever seen?? :)

Different Cultures

There have been many great things about living overseas (traveling, adventure, BEACHES!) as well as not so great (the lack of mexican food and Wal-mart spring to mind!) But one of the things that I hope to take away from this experience is just how different cultures can be. For instance, before our recent trip to Taipei, I researched some of the Do's and Don'ts of their culture. Did you know that you never EVER point to a tombstone? Or whistle at night? Both are seen as an invitation to ghosts. You should never give a friend your umbrella but should "rent" it to them (for like NT$1 which is about 30 cents) because the word for umbrella in mandarin is very similar to the word for break up. Funny how things work.

During one of our last days in Taiwan, Justin and I hopped on a train and headed in search of a small (in comparison) town with one big Buddha.

Three hours later we arrived in Changhua City. After gazing at the Buddha, we grabbed a

cab back into town. I must add that being that far away from the usual tourist sights, english speakers were a rare commodity. Luckily to find the Buddha, we were able to show a picture in the travel guide and POOF! we were driven directly there. The ride back however, was a little more difficult. Finally "CHOO CHOO!!" was able to drive home the point that we wanted to go to the train station!

Anyway, back in town, while waiting on our train we walked around and found a little dumpling place, pointed to a picture, hoped it was edible and ordered. As we were eating we heard music begin to play down the street. Like an ice cream truck coming. We waited and watched in amusement as people from everywhere began to come out with bags of garbage. Yup. That's right … people deliver their garbage to the garbage truck! We even saw one older lady on a second floor put hers on a crank and lower it down to street level where someone else took it in for her. I think if our garbage guys knew how good other garbage guys had it, we'd have a strike on our hands!!

I know that was random and kind of silly, but I thought it was just a perfect example of "Everyone has their own way of doing things"

Taipei 4/2011

As we prepared for Justin's rapidly approaching deployment, we decided to take some time for ourselves and take a trip. We searched around and picked Taipei, Taiwan. After only an hour and a half flight on China Airlines, we arrived in busy, bustling Taipei. It had a great mix of modern conveniences, shopping as well as touristy things, and temples. I think we made a good pick!

This is one of the temples right in the middle of Taipei. You can see a Buddhist monk knelt in prayer.

The scenery was absolutely gorgeous as well. This picture was taken in the park surrounding the Chiang Kai Chek memorial. It almostlooks fake!

It was crazy to see the amount of food everywhere. There were markets filled with lots of food on nearly every street (a lot of it unidentifiable!) I have no idea what this really is, but Justin was brave and tried it. Some kind of gelatin/lime drink.

I guess this is Taiwan's version of escargot?? We didn't try that!

We took an awesome Gondola ride over tons of tea farms to the top of a mountain where we were able to partake in a tea ceremony. Definitely a cultural experience I will never forget.

When we went in search of the Maukong gondola, we came across the Taipei zoo. From what I've seen so far, typically the zoos in asia are kind of sad but this one was amazing! Complete with pandas!

And last but not least, one big Buddha!

My derby player's card

Here is my player card for derby. As you can see, I decided to change my name. Introducing:

Babblin' Bruiser #7

Proud Air Force Wife

Unless you've been under a rock, in a coma, or in a deep state of denial, you've heard about the tragedy that is occurring on Mainland Japan. First a massive earthquake, then a devastating tsunami, and now a nuclear disaster. Of course no matter where in the world I was, my heart would be heavy for the people of Japan in the wake of this tragedy, but living here - on this tiny island of Okinawa - this literally hit close to home. The Japanese people are so sweet and polite. Giving and good natured. Humble and respectful. And even during this time of devastation have shown the ability to thrive to survive yet not resort to looting and violence as we as Americans have sadly almost come to expect in the wake of a disaster.

While I can do very little to help, though I wish I could, I am so proud to say that Justin, his squadron, along with the rest of our American Military Forces are doing all they can to help the country of Japan and it's people. It's not often (never) that I get totell (and rarely that I even know) about Justin's job. But this time, the Air Force posted an article online so I think that makes it fair game, right?? :) Here is a picture of Justin's plane (MC-130H Combat Talon II) taking off from Kadena heading to the mainland to deliver help. If you'd like to read the article that talks about this particular flight, here is the link http://www.353sog.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123246559

While I have no idea of the specifics of what Justin and his squadron are doing, I know it's important, and I know it's needed. I can honestly say that I am a proud Air Force wife. Actually, I'm just a proud wife.

Now, with all that said, I've had several people ask me if this nuclear mess will affect us here on Okinawa. I'm obviously no expert, but everything i've read (and it has to be true if I read it on the internet, right??) says that we should be perfectly safe. I don't think most people realize just how far away we are from the nuclear plants. Its about 1200 miles. And right now the area of concern is about 30 miles around the reactors. So we have about a 1,170 mile buffer zone. AND even if the wind does carry some of the radiation this way, by the time it reaches here, it should be dissipated enough that it wouldn't be harmful to humans. Less than what you would get with one x-ray.

Here's a little map to show you where we are in relationship to everything. We are that tiny little island next to the big blue arrow.

Stay tuned for more updates. Big things to come. The movers come in exactly one week to pack up our things and we will officially say GOODBYE base housing, and HELLO new house!! WOOHOO!!!

One more!!

Okay, so remember I said we had three teams under our league, The Kokeshi Roller Dolls? Well here is our official "Shisa Slammers" photo!! All of the girls on my team are so great! It's a good thing that I absolutely love every girl on my team since we spend 6 hours a week together skating and bumping into each other!

If you are looking for me among all the awesome-ness that is my team, I'm front and center!

MORE DERBY!!!

I just wanted to share our League photo with you guys! The Kokeshi Roller Dolls - Spring 2011 - I think we all look GREAT!! Just so you aren't having to do a "Where's Waldo" hunt to find me in all the awesome-ness, I'm on the right hand side, second row from the bottom, third person from the right.

I know, I know, I know …. that my last several posts have been about Roller Derby. I do occasionally do other things - like soaking in a hot bath, laying on a heating pad, and online shopping for roller derby clothes :) I know I said it before, but I'm having a great time. It's great exercise and great friends! Who would have ever thought i'd like something that involved EXERCISE - not to mention falling down repeatedly! HA!

Just more derby pictures

Nothing exciting - Just wanted to post a couple more derby pictures.

Derby Update

I promised a derby update, so here it goes. After lots of falls, bruises, and an accident that nearly broke my nose, I am proud to say that I am now an OFFICIAL Kokeshi Roller Doll as of this past Saturday. I have fulfilled my two month probationary period!! I fell and I got back up. And I kept coming back for more. Now I can get my offical KRD tank top with my name and number on it. I can't WAIT!!

DelectaBelle #7

About a month ago, the league (KRD) split into three teams. We each have our own logos, our own coaches, and our own practice times. That way when the time comes, we will be able to bout each other. I am a Shisa Slammer!!

And here is a picture of my team. Such great girls! I couldn't imagine having a better team!

I know it was a short update, but I hope you get the gist. I am loving derby. Regardless of the falls and occasional bruised ego! :) As for the nearly broken nose incident….well, let's just say that I hope that never, EVER, happens again - and thank goodness for mouthguards!!

Birthday

This past Sunday was my **th birthday. (censored to protect writer's self esteem!) I got so many wonderful things for my birthday. Justin came home from a TDY just in time to help me celebrate, I talked to Logan and my grandparents bright and early that morning, and I received so many Happy Birthday's from all the people that I miss so much. Later that day, Justin and I went to sushi then to the seawall to watch the sunset, and then home to watch a movie and eat popcorn. It was a great day!

And on top of all that, Justin got me an awesome present!! A new Apple MacBook Air complete with all the accessories! This thing is awesome. This is my first official blog post from it. Look at how thin it is! Even when the laptop is closed it is not even as thick as half a penny! CRAZY! And super fast.

For those of you who know me, I'm sure you can imagine how much i've been geeking out over the last week or so. Reading articles, watching "how to" videos on how to get the most out of your mac….I love gadgets!

Okay, I'll wrap up this post. But, stay tuned for a Derby update coming soon. I promise.

Okinawa Bullfighting

Last week I was able to experience my first bullfight here in Okinawa. It seems to be a pretty big sport here on the island, although it's different than what you would imagine. In Spanish and Mexican bullfighting, it's bull against versus Matador - and in the end, the bull is killed with a sword. In Okinawa bullfighting, two bulls are lead into the ring by their owners and then they fight to determine which bull is the strongest. I wouldn't call it "humane" but this would be as close as it could get. The Okinawa rules are - two minutes of bull on bull contact and then the crowd picks who was the best. One article I read said to think of it like Sumo wrestling....that's actually pretty accurate.

Now that's a face only a mother could love ;)

Before the actual bullfighting began, they did a little demonstration to show all the different moves that the bulls do.

The "Demo" bulls were even anatomically correct. The Japanese think of everything!!

The CHAMPION!!

Tug of war

I'm trying to do better with this whole "blog" thing. We'll see how long it lasts!

Here are some pictures from the Tug-of-war on Gate 2 street that Justin and I went to back in November. It was quite the experience. I wish I had a picture that really demonstrated just how big this rope was....! This was actually a SCALED DOWN version of the tug of war that is held annually down in Naha. Here are some fun facts about Okinawa's claim to fame: Around 15,000 people participate in a tug-of-war during an annual event in Naha, in Japan's southern island of Okinawa The rope used in the event - 200 meters long, 156 cms in diameter, weighing 43 tons and made from harvested straw - was recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest rope. We're famous!!

Me....posing. Pretending like i'm actually going to participate in this crazy event!

Here it goes. Everyone pulling with all they've got. Chanting, "Pull, Pull, Pull, Pull" I think the rope actually moved about two inches, but it was enough to make our side the winner!!

Roller Derby

After hearing that I joined the local Roller Derby League, the Kokeshi Roller Dolls, some people have asked me if I've lost my mind. Maybe. But I am having a great time on that slippery slope to insanity! How did it happen you ask? What made me think, "Hey...I'd like to fall down, get hit, and skate until I want to puke!" Well, one day in December I was looking on facebook and saw an all call event for the league. And I thought about how much fun that would be, but "who am I kidding?? I can't join a DERBY LEAGUE! I have zero experience and zero skill!" But then I read the qualifications for joining the newly formed league. 1. Be at least 18 years old 2. Be a woman and 3. Have health insurance. Well, check, check, check! Turns out I was perfectly qualified!! ;) We have a wide variety of skating skills, but I can say that i've never seen such positive reinforcement from a team. It doesn't matter WHEN you fall, it just matters that you got back up. We practice three nights a week, skating our hearts out. Our first bout will be at the end of April. I hope I'm ready!

Christmas

Here's a little post to show just how much we got into Christmas in the Norton household. Even Shadow squelched her inner Grinch and got in to the spirit.

Blowing the dust off ....

My blog has been pretty stagnant lately (my inherent laziness) but I decided to blow the dust off and make a post. Hopefully i'm not too rusty! ;)

The day after Christmas, Justin and I headed to Kyoto (on mainland Japan) for a few days. It was awesome. Yes, Okinawa is technically Japan, but they have their own culture here. A mixture of Japanese, Chinese, and American. (I'm sure there are many other influences that I'm just not aware of) So needless to say, we were very excited to experience the Japanese culture.

There were so many amazing temples in Kyoto. They would be tucked back into alleyways and around corners....even in the middle of street shopping. I can't imagine trying to take on the task of visiting them all.

This street was a really cool street that you could walk down. So cool, just tucked down an alley right off one of the main streets. There were just tons and tons of restaurants on this street. We hit it up a couple of nights while we were there.

While in Kyoto, we had some amazing and different foods. Here is Justin trying an octopus on a stick. I have to admit that I passed on that one!

Some nepali food. DELICIOUS!

And sukyiaki --- basically just thinly sliced pieces of beef, vegetables, and tofu that you cook in a hot pot on your table. And THEN you dip into raw egg before you eat it. I was definitely worried at first. Can you say salmonella?? But thanks to the wonders of the iphone, I did some research while dinner was cooking and found out that the risk of salmonella from raw eggs is only 1 in 30,000. We decided to take the risk to get the full experience. (Justin was much braver than I was....I only tried it a couple of times and then ate the rest sans-egg, but he dove right in! Luckily we dodged that food poisoning bullet!)

On the day that we were leaving Kyoto to head back to Osaka to catch our flight, it started to snow. It was so pretty! AND COLD! It was nice to say that I saw snow before coming back to 65 degree Okinawa weather! (You will never hear me complain that it's not cold! I'm not a fan! lol)

So that's a quick synopsis of our trip. It was awesome. We were able to take the bus most places that we wanted to go. That was an experience in itself! We would have a full bus and I would think, "No way can one more person get on here!" and then we would make another stop and five people would shove their way on! Claustraphobics would not be able to handle a Japanese bus route, that's for sure!

Hopefully it won't be long before the next post. I'll try to do better, but I make no promises!

-Misty