Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Career Day

Friday was Career Day at London’s elementary school. Not an unusual thing to have at school, right? When I picked him up from school I asked him what his favorite career was. Not an unusual question, right? It was his answer that was unusual… sumo wrestling! It was another reminder that we’re not in Kansas anymore!

Here’s London teaching Cannon how to sumo wrestle. Apparently he was taking good notes!

Okuma with Grammie

One of Grammie’s requests before she came over was that we visit Okuma while she’s here. Great! Any excuse to go to Okuma, the military resort in the north of the island, is fine by me. So I made a reservation and here we are. Stevie, unfortunately, was on call when we came on Sunday and after an inundation of term pregnant women from the mainland due to the earthquake and tsunami and radiation, he gratefully took the opportunity to stay home and have a quiet break.

We arrived Sunday afternoon and had a nice stroll and play on the beach. We were searching for the trampoline that they used to have here when we found the playground and I challenged Grammie to her first game of tetherball. Well, after 67 years, Grammie has found her champion sport! She rocked at tetherball beating everyone multiple times. Of course it probably helped her that I was laughing so hard that I was crying. Who knew tetherball could be so fun?





Beating Emmy

Beating Cannon

Beating London

Monday we headed over to the restaurant to fill our bellies on biscuits and gravy, pancakes and other champion American breakfast foods for breakfast. Then we drove a short distance to a fabulous hike that I haven’t done in 18 months. This wonderful trail leads you up and down the steep sides of the northern Okinawan landscape, over gorges and out to a gushing waterfall called Hiji Falls. Although the weather was too cool for the beach, it was perfect for a strenuous hike through the hills.




A little artistic photography mixed in with my hike...


Hiji Falls

Emmy was a trooper on this hike - these were not easy steps, but she took them like a champ!

Go Grammie, go!




After our hike, we headed down the road to the Bashofu Weaving Center. Bashofu weaving is a traditional handmade craft that has been a part of Okinawan culture for centuries. This tiny little center in the middle of a tiny little village is a reminder of how life used to be. They showed us a video (in English!) which really explained the process as well as giving us an insight into traditional life. I think this is the first time I’ve actually been anywhere in Japan and had a very eloquent and informative video shown to me in English. I wish there had been others because I really understand now instead of piecing history together through poorly translated sub-titles and pictographs.

The short version of bashofu weaving is that women of this village use banana plants (bashofu) to make fibers to make thread to weave into cloth to make traditional kimono and other items. Intricate “splash” patterns are designed and the thread is dyed in specific places using one of two natural dyes (indigo or brown) to create the patterns when woven on a loom. It was unbelievably time intensive to make the finished material and I now have an appreciation of why the price is so high. Unfortunately, the signs were clear that there was to be no photography, so I have nothing but words to share with you.

Friday, March 25, 2011

And the Winner is...

CANNON COATS!!!!

Yes, he won the Okinawa District Science Fair!  His presentation and research on the effect of UVC light on E-coli blew them out of the water!  We are all so very, very proud of him.



There's our winner!

The District Science Fair was held on Kadena at the Community Center and displayed 85 entries from American elementary school students on the island.  Of the 85 entries, 50 of the boards were prepared by fifth graders so the awards were for 1st through 5th place.  But our Cannon took the top prize!  The judges were so impressed by him that one came up and asked for his picture with Cannon!  We have a celebrity!  After the winners were announced, the student had to tell everyone what their research was about and what they learned.  Here's what Cannon had to say:



Unfortunately, the winners were not even presented with a ribbon or a certificate from the District, which has me brooding.  I will correct that for Cannon, but the District will also be hearing from me on Monday...  Is this a commentary on the importance of science in our society?

Squawk and Gobble

Taken off of a name of a restaurant in Bluffton, SC (the Squat and Gobble), the Squawk and Gobble is the name of my quilt group.  No, I have not aged significantly since turning 40, this is a cool group!

Here's the story, about a year ago, my neighbor and friend, Angie, showed me a quilt square she was working on - a beautiful kimono design.  She explained that she is a part of an Okinawa quilt group and this is just one of the squares.  Each of the 20 members of her group picked something that was symbolic of Okinawa to them and then designed a quilt square around it.  I loved the idea and thought it would be a great souvenir of Okinawa so I looked for a group to join.  None to be found.  So with the encouragement and guidance of Angie, I started my own group!

I was a little daunted by the thought of making 20 squares, so I decided on 12, and made a group of friends and neighbors which is even better because everytime I will look at their square I'll be reminded not only of Okinawa, but also of the friendships I made here.

We've been meeting monthly to check progress and "squawk and gobble" since last May and last night was our final meeting.  It was a bittersweet moment as I'm glad to be done, but I'll miss our monthly hen sessions.

So without more waiting here are the squares...

My square: koinobori (fish flags which are hung for Children's Day at the beginning of May)


Maureen's square: sanshin (an Okinawan stringed instrument)


Liz's square: taiko drummer (you see these at festivals in the summer)


Sarah's square: torii gate (traditional entrance gate to temples)


Michelle's square: kimono and obi


Krimp's square: fans


Wendy's square: gecko in a window (we get a lot of these here!)


Janelle's square: geta shoes (traditional wood base shoes)


Lisa's square: sea turtle (found in the waters around Okinawa)


AnnMarie's square: kokeshi doll/Japanese lady with high heels and umbrella (kokeshi dolls are traditional wooden dolls - the heels and umbrellas are a daily sight in Japanese womens' dress)


Kelly's square: shisa (these guardians of the home keep away evil spirits and keep good spirits in a home -these ones are missing their faces still)


Julie's square: cherry blossoms (Julie was London's teacher last year and although she moved back to the States last year, she stayed part of the group!  Yeah, Julie!)


The fun part of the evening was bidding for the squares we wanted.  Since some of the squares had variations of fabric colors, we had to come up with a way to fairly distribute them.  I made cards with everyone's name, then after we laid one design on the table, we could throw our card on the one we wanted. 




How to settle then? Why arm wrestling, of course! I think Michelle really wanted this square, Liz looks like she's in pain!



So here's our group (from top left: Liz, Kelly, Lisa, Sarah, me, Maureen.  Bottom left: Wendy, Krimp, AnnMarie, Janelle and Michelle)


And our quilt (minus the cherry blossoms in route from the States)



She's Back...

Yes, just like the post office, through rain, sleet, snow and...radiation - Grammie delivers!  She arrived safely on island Wednesday night much to the delight of Emmy, London and Cannon who were anxiously counting down the days to her arrival (as were Stevie and I).

I'm sure we'll have another month long adventure with her, although with this being her third time on Okinawa I'm going to have to stretch to find something new to show her!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Nuclear Boy

This video is so typically Japanese and so funny, even though it's a very serious subject. Apparently, this is how the Japanese are explaining the nuclear reactor situation to their children!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Another Blue Beater Excursion

You might have noticed a trend lately - the weekend rolls around and the entire family and our friends Liz, Don and Lydia load up into our van (aka "The Blue Beater") and head to some part of the island.  It's been really great and we've had some really fun times.

So today was no different.  The grand plan this time:  head up island to the same place as two weeks ago, but this time drop the guys and the kids off at the beach for fishing and play while Liz and I went to see the azaleas (hopefully this time in bloom...)

Well, that was the plan, but as they say about the best laid plans...

So we headed up island, but accidentally got off the highway one exit too early so we had an extra little bit on the two lane road instead of speeding along the highway.  But that turned out to be a good thing since the raindrops started and we were hungry.  Conveniently, I spied a restaurant that I had recently read a review about so we parked the Beater and piled in to... OHOP!  Yes, sounds a lot like IHOP, and with good reason.  It was the Okinawa House of Pancakes!





Now, to most this would not be thrilling, but when you've lived without a decent artery-clogging, lead-belly, grease-dripping American breakfast for two years this was like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!  We knew we were in for a treat when we were escorted through the kitchen entrance (so we didn't have to walk all the way around the building to the front) by a man who, as London described him, looks like he could kill aligators.  Yes, the dude was American, but certainly not active duty!  The all-over tatoos, long white hair, jean overalls, and foot-long goatee kind of gave that away.  But I had faith that his restaurant could provide the real deal.  And it did.  Biscuits and gravy, sausage (which tasted more like mini-meatloafs but very yummy), pancakes, waffles, eggs.  I'm drooling just thinking about it again.





So with our bellies full and the rain stopped, we piled back into the Beater and headed for the beach.  Found that, deposited men and boys (girls opted to see the "zaleas" as Lydia called them) and drove off to see some gorgeous blooms.  But the blooms were not cooperating and after driving 1 1/2 hours for the second time in two weeks to see them, they still were not out in full force.  But the Japanese were (very crowded) and the rain started again.  So we opted for plan B - find a remote coffee farm that Stevie and kids and I had visited about 18 months ago.

It's a good job there aren't that many roads on the north end of this island so once we got on the only road running down the east coast I knew it was only a matter of time until we found the farm.  And we did.




The interesting thing about this little place is, well, everything.  It sits in the middle of nowhere, yet there were lots of people there.  The best I can figure a family lives in the main building and then has little "shacks" where you can drink your coffee.  As I described it to Liz, it's an eclectic collection of buildings decorated in an eclectic style complete with coffee beans on the floor and chickens running around!  My description was not exagerated!



But they make an absolutely delicious cup of coffee from freshly grown and roasted beans and an equally delish coffee pudding (and some pretty good toast for the girls).  That's about the extent of their menu.  Everything is served so elegantly including an orchid with the pudding and the coffee being served in a china cup and saucer.  Gotta love Japan - it's all about the presentation, forget that you're eating with the chickens!


Coffee pudding

Emmy liked the chocolate cookies they gave out!

Chillin with my elegant cup of coffee.

Roasting the fresh beans.

Emmy really liked the chickens!

Feeding the rooster cookies.

This was our shack - love her attitude!

Flying high off our coffee buzzes, we returned to the male parts of our family to find they caught exactly one thumb-sized fish in the 2 1/2 hours that we left them.  But they seemed pleased with that so I'm happy for them.


London trying for a fish.

Another Great Friday Night

Our neighborhood is great - I think I've said that before, but it really is.  We're like one big family here and we spend a lot of time outside playing with the kids, chatting and just being neighborly. 

So it's not unusual for us to "fire up" the fire pit on a random Friday night and people - young and old - to just migrate outside and join us.  Sometimes there's hot cocoa, sometimes margaritas, sometimes marshmallows, sometimes cookies.  This Friday, Stevie made the ladies a special tent as it started to spit rain on us.  Don't we look a site!


Let the Games Begin!

Yep, it's officially soccer season again.  We had the weekend kickoff for both Cannon and London on Saturday taking up the better part of the day.

London's team is the Strikers - they were doing great until the other team scored a goal with two minutes to go...



And Cannon's team is the Oki Waves - they were doing great for the first two minutes until the other team took over the game...



Ah, well, there are plenty more games to go!  Both boys played their hearts out and that's all you can really ask for.