Northern Highlights

The day after Christmas Alex and I went on a tour with MCCS to visit some places that we needed to see before we left the island. Liz, Lonnie, Raquel, Juan, and Emilio joined us for this fun filled day. The first stop was at the Nago Glass Factory. There the girls made their own glass with help from the professionals. I was unable to multi-task on the last step. We had to roll with the left hand and use the tongs in the right hand to make into the cup shape. After glass blowing we went to Fruit Land for lunch also while there we feed the birds and goats and walked through the butterfly area. Then we headed to the Pineapple Park. We skipped the ride since we already been on it before and went straight for the free samples. We tried wine, cookies, candy, juice and even a pineapple pickle(NOT GOOD). The last stop was the well anticipated stop for the guys, Orion Beer Factory. They didn't care much for the information given on the tour but could not wait for the two free samples.

Christmas Day

I woke up around 630 and laid on the couch for a little bit since Alex was still sleeping. We opened our presents. Alex got a wedge set, golf bag, and two jackets for Sapporo. I received a Mintpad but was later returned for an IPod Touch since the mintpad would not work with our computer. Santa also brought me a pair of Coach flip-flops since he knew my feet would be hurting half way through the New Years Party at the O'Club. Alex and I headed over to the Browne's house for waffles and ham. We have been going over there since the first year we were here. For dinner Liz had us over. We had lasagna, manicotti, salad, and garlic bread. I also brought over the chocolate fountain for desert. I sure have put the fountain to use this year. It was a fun time for all of us to be together and remind others of what happened the previous night. We exchanged gifts and watched a few movies.

Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve we went to Raquel's house for the 2nd Annual Christmas Eve Beer Pong Tournament. The week before we made tamales. Now we got to eat out creations. Santa came for a visit to drop off some presents for everyone. We all sat on Santa lap. Then the fun started. We played several games, the first was unwrapping kisses with oven mitts relay. Alex, Lonnie, Kayleigh and I were all a team and we won (thanks to Emilio doing the Captain pose). We also played a round of beer pong.

Sumo in Okinawa

Alex and I have check off another box on our "To Do List While In Japan", we went to a Sumo Tournament that was held here on Okinawa(I know a shocker Liz wasn't with me). Last year was first time in 10 years that they came and held a sumo tournament here in Okinawa and ever more shocked that they came back this year. We showed up and the wrestlers were warming up. Then what Alex called the B league come out and wrestled. Next was the major leagues. These guys were huge. It is funny to all the Japanese people were running up to them and getting autographs and pictures. We have no clue who they are so we sat in our seats.

Pottery Festival

Liz and I decided to explore the island by going to a pottery festival down in Naha. We both were looking for bowls and I was looking for some Christmas presents. While we were there we ran into a lady who was allowing people to make their own pottery. So Liz and I waited for our turn to make a bowl or cup. The language barrier wasn't a problem until we wanted to keep our cup and bowl. We get to pick them up near the end of the month.

Halloween

Alex had finally made it back from all his TDY's. We went to the club for a halloween party. I wanted Alex and I to go as Dog and Beth the Bounty Hunters but he had other plans. He decided to go as "The Dude" from the Big Lebowski. However, some people thought he was Jesus.

More Family Pictures

Family Pictures

I've been bugging Alex to get some new pictures of us taken. My friend Liz got her family pictures done by Amanda Webb. I really like what I saw so I booked us an appointment. I wanted both beach and Okinawa theme. We knew Alex was going to say no to the beach since he and the sun don't get along and no to the Okinawa theme because its Okinawa. Since he wasn't there I went with both ideas. The pictures turned out great. It was fight to get him to take off his Nike's but we did get him into the flip-flops.

Oktoberfest

This past weekend I went to Oktoberfest at the Butler O'Club. It was a fun filled night of drinking beer, eating cucumber salad, sauerbraten, and sauerkraut and an Oomph band. Liz was the DD, thanks to her we all got home safe and sound except my car. We went to the club It died when Liz dropped me off at my house. Laura and I pushed the car in a parking spot. It is still sitting there I think it needs a new battery.

Bullfighting

I was a little unsure about going on this tour but Liz convinced me to go with her. The bulls only fought with each other. They were on a leash with trainers and several others people on the sidelines to help pull the bulls apart. I can say I went to an Okinawa bullfight and don't need to go again.

Eisa and Orion Beer Festival 2009

This weekend there was an Eisa and Orion Beer Festival near the base. Alex went TDY on Saturday and should be back later on this week but I'm not planning on him being back anytime soon. So Liz and I went since the rest of the group opted out. We arrived really early so for next year the beer part opens at 4 and Eisa starts at 3. We had fun people watching and listening to Okinawa music. Also next year we are going to play a drinking game since the two announcer said Orion about 5 times in a sentence.

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho Off To Work We Go

Last week, I started working again at the school. Within the first 30 minutes be being at work I got a new job. I'm now the PSCD aide, which is the SPED Preschool. I really did not want to do it but I knew no one else wanted to be that aide. So I took one for the team and it has paid off. Since I have to be with the kids all the time, I will no longer be doing cafeteria or recess duty. I will help out the other aides when time allows. Plus, I found out today that my teacher put in a request for more work hours for me and it was APPROVED. I guess that means no more leaving early on training days with the rest of girls. I will miss my old kids but I know they are in good hands. I'm excited to work with my new kids. Another sad part about this new position is I wont be working as closely with the other aides. I will miss the talks in the hallway and eating lunch with them.

Mt. Fuji

Alex and I conquered Mt. Fuji. We started at 8:30 in the morning from station 5. It was a very long day. We stopped around 12:30 for lunch, good thing we got subway the night before for the hike. At each station along the trail, you can have stamps burned onto your stick. I sent Alex ahead around 3 to get to the top and the stamp on our hiking sticks. I didn't want to get to the top too late and not have proof that I made it to the top. I finally made it to the top at around 4:30. We stayed at the top for about 20mins before headed back down to the car. We finally made it to the starting point at 8:06pm.

Summer Vacation Part II

Alex was assigned a Tokyo trip. We had planned a trip to Tokyo for later in the summer so we could hike Mt. Fuji but that plan was not approved so this trip fell into our laps and I jumped at the chance to get to Tokyo at the military's expense. I got all my EML paperwork and was able to get on Alex's plane. I was able to sit in the jump-sit all the way up to Tokyo and I watched Alex fly and land the plane (the perks of being married to the pilot). We went to Tokyo Disney the first day. I think Alex was a little over the whole Disney thing since it was the second Disneyland in a month. Then we hiked Mt. Fuji. That was a long day, we started at 8:30am and crossed the gate at 8:06pm. Thankfully we went on a good day with no rain and very minimal winds. Since a week before a person died while trying to hike Mt. Fuji. I was able to get in contact with Mr. Fujita (family friend who knew me only as a baby) and meet him for lunch. I dragged Alex to another Disney park called DisneySea. We spent about 5 hours there and had a nice dinner on the ship. While we were in mainland we were on a mission to find the infamous underwear vending machine. We didn't have to go too far to find it along with some other crazy sex related machines. Alex and I walked around Shinjuku, Shabuya and Fussa at night. The only thing that I was not able to do was to go to a temple or shrine so that kind of sucked but we have at least another year left. All in all this was a action packed summer that is going to be really hard to beat.

Our Summer Vacation Part I

This summer we were on the go. I went home for a few weeks while Alex went to Alaska. We got back from our separate trips and together we went to Hong Kong and Macau. While in Hong Kong we went to Disneyland. Another day we did a tour of Hong Kong, where we went up to the top of Victoria Peak and got to ride on a sampan around the world famous Jumbo Seafood Restaurant. We went to Macua for two reasons: to jump off the Macua Tower and to go a casino and play Pai Gow. The Macau Tower is 764 feet tall. It was a lot of fun, next time we are going to bungy jump. We learned how to play Pai Gow before but they had no tables so we settled on Craps. It was a bad night at the Craps table. We hope to go back and explore more of Macau.