Yes, that's me....with a drink
THANKS FOR THE CHAIRS MOM & DAD!!!!! :)
Tony is the little black speck out there
success.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Rapasardo's + Browns
This weekend is a long one for us - which we of course LOVE! Tony has a 4 day weekend and I have a 3 day, so we decided to make a little bit of a road trip with the Rapasardo's on Saturday! Tony and Andrew work together at 3/12...and well, Ali and I seem to get a long quite well. When I heard she used to work at LuLu Lemon and had a "thing" for Anthropologie, it was love at first sight.
Saturday morning we were texting with ideas for the day and decided on the infamous Okinawa Aquarium. It was about an hours drive north from Yomitan, so not too bad. The Aquarium was very neat. As you can probably imagine, the fish were HUGE and very beautiful. We had a good time walking around, the guys read just about everything they could - while Ali & I admitted that often times we look at the words, but never really read it...or care TOO much. On our way home we stopped at Blue Seal to get some ice cream. I don't think that will be the last time I stop there - a scoop of sea salt cookie was pretty darn good.
We all went our separate ways for a couple hours and then met up at a cool rooftop bar/restaurant. Unfortunately when we got there they had stopped serving food, but we were able to enjoy a drink on the rooftop. Very cool setting! So we ventured off to a place nearby that we have all driven past a million times, but have never gone. Good thing we did! It was a hole-in-the-wall (probably why we haven't stopped yet) but delicious! Each table had their own grill and you order raw food and cook it yourself. Genius idea for a restaurant if you ask me. Ali and I got the shrimp and vegetables...I was able to cook the shrimp, but tony had to peel off the head for me. Gross.
It was such a fun day and evening! Sad to report the Rapasardo's are leaving end of December! We are so happy for them, but selfishly SO BUMMED!
Here are a few pictures:
We had great laugh from this picture.
Cafe in the Aquarium
There was some presentation going on. Of course we couldn't understand a word of it.
The first place we were at for an Orion beer
spicy sausage - YUM!
delicious shrimp
Pictures from a different camera:
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Random thoughts on paper..or on a blog post
Kindergarten - I have a whole lot to say about this group of kids, but I will keep it to a minimum:
Last week, Saburo (local kid) comes up to my desk sticking his pointer finger out at me (too close for my liking) and asks if he can go get a kleenex. Looking at what came out of his nose, "yes, Saburo...you may"
(we are learning the difference between telling and tattling in class right now)
Student: Ms. Tara, Dylan is kicking my chair
Me: Lia, are you tattling right now?
Student: NOOOO i'm not tattling!!!!!
Me: Then what are you doing?
Student: I'm telling you that Dylan is kicking my chair!!
Me: ooooohhhh
On a fun note, my kids are doing really well in class. Of course I am reminded every 10 mms that they are just 5 & 6 years old and I need to cut them a break more often than I probably do...but I am pleased with the class overall. Some days I love my job and others - eh, it's alright ;)
other random things:
Typhoon Fitow came to visit this past weekend. We prepared as if we were to lose power for about 3 days. Thursday morning around 5:15am Tony and I took the satellite off the roof, brought all the flowers in, I baked 2 pizzas, and had everything powered up just in case. I thought maybe we were over doing it a bit, but I guess we didn't know what to expect. Better to be too prepared than not! The storm wasn't anything too crazy. High winds and rain that tore up some small plant roots, but other than that - the power remained on and we had a GREAT excuse to stay in all day and finally spend enough time together to actually get stir crazy and sick of one another (ok, maybe not quite;)
Thursday night before the storm hit, I sent Tony a list of things to get at the grocery store since he was going home hours before me. Here was the list: Milk, Peanut Butter, Tequila, and Vodka. Oh yes, the essentials for a typhoon ;)
One of my favorite, if not my most favorite, thing on this island is the people. They are so nice and sincere. I hope those that come visit can stay long enough to really get a grasp of this. When we leave a store/restaurant of any kind they ALL say "thank you for coming". Those in the kitchen, at a different register, or someone stocking the shelves. When they hear one person say "thank you for coming" they all say it. You actually feel special and important LEAVING the place!
I like having the car I do. I have always had a thing for making "mixed" tapes while growing up. I used to listen to the top 9 at 9 EVERY night with a blank tape ready to press the play and record button at the same time, hoping to time it perfectly. I have missed making mixed cd's lately because of all the bluetooth action i've had in the cars we owned..but now, I don't have that! And loving it :) I get to make mixed cd's once again :) and my car has a tape player! Maybe I can somehow have my mom scavenger up some oldies.
This past Friday Tony and I met some friends at an Italian place in Yomitan. When we pulled into the parking lot, waiting for the others to arrive, we sat there for about 10 minutes watching a guy across the street do karate in his living room. We both admitted that if this were someone working out in the states, we would have laughed quite a bit. But here in Japan, we couldn't help but to stare with amusement and think it was way cool. There are many times I am reminded where I live, but this time it reeeeeally hit me. Very fun.
That is all for my randomness....for today anyway
Last week, Saburo (local kid) comes up to my desk sticking his pointer finger out at me (too close for my liking) and asks if he can go get a kleenex. Looking at what came out of his nose, "yes, Saburo...you may"
(we are learning the difference between telling and tattling in class right now)
Student: Ms. Tara, Dylan is kicking my chair
Me: Lia, are you tattling right now?
Student: NOOOO i'm not tattling!!!!!
Me: Then what are you doing?
Student: I'm telling you that Dylan is kicking my chair!!
Me: ooooohhhh
On a fun note, my kids are doing really well in class. Of course I am reminded every 10 mms that they are just 5 & 6 years old and I need to cut them a break more often than I probably do...but I am pleased with the class overall. Some days I love my job and others - eh, it's alright ;)
other random things:
Typhoon Fitow came to visit this past weekend. We prepared as if we were to lose power for about 3 days. Thursday morning around 5:15am Tony and I took the satellite off the roof, brought all the flowers in, I baked 2 pizzas, and had everything powered up just in case. I thought maybe we were over doing it a bit, but I guess we didn't know what to expect. Better to be too prepared than not! The storm wasn't anything too crazy. High winds and rain that tore up some small plant roots, but other than that - the power remained on and we had a GREAT excuse to stay in all day and finally spend enough time together to actually get stir crazy and sick of one another (ok, maybe not quite;)
Thursday night before the storm hit, I sent Tony a list of things to get at the grocery store since he was going home hours before me. Here was the list: Milk, Peanut Butter, Tequila, and Vodka. Oh yes, the essentials for a typhoon ;)
One of my favorite, if not my most favorite, thing on this island is the people. They are so nice and sincere. I hope those that come visit can stay long enough to really get a grasp of this. When we leave a store/restaurant of any kind they ALL say "thank you for coming". Those in the kitchen, at a different register, or someone stocking the shelves. When they hear one person say "thank you for coming" they all say it. You actually feel special and important LEAVING the place!
I like having the car I do. I have always had a thing for making "mixed" tapes while growing up. I used to listen to the top 9 at 9 EVERY night with a blank tape ready to press the play and record button at the same time, hoping to time it perfectly. I have missed making mixed cd's lately because of all the bluetooth action i've had in the cars we owned..but now, I don't have that! And loving it :) I get to make mixed cd's once again :) and my car has a tape player! Maybe I can somehow have my mom scavenger up some oldies.
This past Friday Tony and I met some friends at an Italian place in Yomitan. When we pulled into the parking lot, waiting for the others to arrive, we sat there for about 10 minutes watching a guy across the street do karate in his living room. We both admitted that if this were someone working out in the states, we would have laughed quite a bit. But here in Japan, we couldn't help but to stare with amusement and think it was way cool. There are many times I am reminded where I live, but this time it reeeeeally hit me. Very fun.
That is all for my randomness....for today anyway
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Fuji
Hey, just thought I would throw up some of the pics from my trip to Mt Fuji, Japan recently. I finally got to see what mainland Japan was all about and as I suspected it was beautiful over there and very different than life in Okinawa. My favorite part was the fact that it was 70 and sunny with no humidity with great running trails through the forrest. Hopefully soon I will get to go with Tara and next summer climb the mountain...12,389ft!
To give you a quick rundown on my job and why I went there I'll try to explain as best I can considering operational security. My unit shoots artillery and we cannot do this on Okinawa because of some restrictions so the Government of Japan pays for us to bring our equipment to mainland to train there instead. It is a very interesting part of my new job and routinely I am in meetings with around 15 Japanese (Government of Japan officials, logistics company reps, etc.) with our small planning team discussing the training and negotiating the details of our upcoming exercises. I am in charge of most of the transportation and maintenance for our unit so this is important for me be involved in. This was the first time I got to be in the planning and actually go see it in action. I had lots of commitments back at the unit so I only went on this one for a short time. Here are some pics!
To give you a quick rundown on my job and why I went there I'll try to explain as best I can considering operational security. My unit shoots artillery and we cannot do this on Okinawa because of some restrictions so the Government of Japan pays for us to bring our equipment to mainland to train there instead. It is a very interesting part of my new job and routinely I am in meetings with around 15 Japanese (Government of Japan officials, logistics company reps, etc.) with our small planning team discussing the training and negotiating the details of our upcoming exercises. I am in charge of most of the transportation and maintenance for our unit so this is important for me be involved in. This was the first time I got to be in the planning and actually go see it in action. I had lots of commitments back at the unit so I only went on this one for a short time. Here are some pics!
Truck inspections prior to leaving for Camp Fuji
Breakfast bento box
About to offload
Moving the howitzers to get ready for the convoy
Offload
These pictures do not do the mountain justice, its huge!
Offloading our gear
More bento boxes...yum!
Went out to an awesome all you can eat and drink restaurant too!
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