Our New Life in Okinawa

Wow, so much has happened! And we have been REALLY bad about taking pictures!!

Joel and I moved to Okinawa on 8 Sep of this year. We were so grateful to be able to spend two weeks in the States with our friends and family first so it was great segue way into our new life. It was bittersweet to say the least to leave Iwakuni. We have wonderful friends and a fantastic church family to whom we had to say good bye, but we truly felt called to accept our new role in Okinawa.

We went through the now more familiar rigmarole of staying in temporary lodging, buying and sharing a car for a bit, looking for homes and adjusting to new jobs. It was a whirlwind, but exciting! We knew we needed a home that would accommodate Bruce, since we had already made plans for him to arrive at the end of October! Also, we were really hoping and praying we could find a place on the beach... and that we did!!

We splurged big time one evening and bought a $50 pizza for dinner from a super great restaurant called Pizzakaya. It had lobster, truffles, caviar, asparagus, caramelized onions... DELISH. A once in a lifetime experience!

The first week we were in our new house, I saved a kitten! I heard this cat WAILING outside, ALL NIGHT but couldn't figure out where it was coming from (it kept waking me up and made me so mad!). The next day, when we got home from work, I heard it again! So I went looking, and this kitten saw me from across the street and went bounding in front of traffic to get to me, nearly getting us both killed because of course I tried to save it from moving cars! Joel tried to get me to leave her down by the beach where all the other stray cats are, but she wouldn't leave me. She had to be held or it wailed, and she would literally sit on my foot and climb up my pants leg every time I tried to set her down. I had to keep her for the night until I figured out what to do.

Long story short, I told Joel I had no intention of keeping her because Bruce was coming in a couple of weeks and I knew he would literally eat her the first chance he got, but I couldn't just abandon her. I told Joel I wouldn't name her, though, to help avoid getting attached and that I would find her a home the next day.

But, wouldn't you know Joel named her?! "Screech"! Because that's what she did all night!

I wound up taking her to work with me the next day (don't worry - I called my boss first thing to let him know I had a kitten in my office and he just laughed and laughed and pulled a prank on me later pretending I was getting into SUPER BIG TROUBLE!!) It was great to have Screech there with me in the office... she fell asleep in my lap for much of the time and would play with the cord when I was on the phone. She still screeched quite a bit and had to be held constantly!

I was able to find a home for her by the end of the day, after everyone in the office fell for her as well. I REALLY WISH we could have kept her, but Bruce is our first child and has special needs, so he is best as an only child.

**NOTE: A couple of weeks ago, I saved ANOTHER screeching kitten who had gotten trapped in our neighbor's back yard for two days!! I don't know how they could sleep with it back there! I had to hop the fence and get it the next day because they weren't home and its screeching was driving Bruce insane and me into mania! When I tried to go inside real quick to grab it some food and water, it followed me in without my knowledge and Bruce FOR REAL, LITERALLY tried to eat it. I had to use my ninja skills to save the thing and keep Bruce from chomping it to bits. I was able to feed it and pawn it off on some Japanese kids walking by, so I hope and pray it is doing OK wherever it wound up! Bruce is a BIG STINKER!! LOL. :-D

Now, enough of the cat stories and on to more food!!

Joel and I found a sushi place that we LOVE that served wonderful items like this tuna tartar over greens and avocado with a raw quail egg on top!! With a just a drizzle of sesame oil, this dish was amazing!

Pure deliciousness.

For my post-birthday weekend (the weekend of my birthday we were trapped inside for a couple of days with no power as we survived our first of what will be many typhoons!), Joel and I stayed an evening in Naha, the capital city of Okinawa. We did a lot of walking and found a neat, water walk-way to the city castle.

The weather was gorgeous and we had a super fun day!

We stumbled upon some authentic, Okinawan dancers.

We have noticed a lot more Chinese influence here than we saw on mainland. The dragon architecture at the castle was super cool!

This is definitely more Chinese inspired than the Torii gates and such we saw so much of on mainland!

Now, I have to show some Bruce pics:

What a crazy, wild ride from New Jersey to Tokyo to Okinawa! Not only was Bruce a trooper, but Mrs. Diller was our HERO for taking Bruce to the airport and Joel for making the trip up and back to Tokyo in one day and dealing with all of the crazy customs processes! Joel sent me this picture from the car on their way home to me that night. I was SO excited, I just sat outside waiting for Joel to pull in the driveway.

Bruce was manic and jet lagged and confused, but still the same ol' Bruce. He was pretty passive aggressive the whole first week as payback, we think, for making him take that looooong crazy trip, LOL. 

Getting adjusted to life at the beach!

Watching the world from our bedroom balcony... Bruce is completely normal now and we are SO HAPPY to have him here with us! He is a special dog to say the least and we love him!

We are SO grateful and blessed to be here on Okinawa! We have found a church, made great friends, and had some crazy adventures already! Bruce has settled in and is learning the language and we really like our new jobs. God is good and we will have more stories to follow for sure!

Mount Fuji.... Again?!?

So, I am apparently a glutton for punishment and decided to hike Mount Fuji again, hoping against all hope I would have a better weather experience! My friend, Alicia, really wanted to go, thus I decided it would be a fun, girls' trip to squeeze in before Joel and I left for Okinawa, so go we did!

We took three Bullet and a couple of JR trains for nearly 5 hours to the Fujiyoshida area.

This was our view the next day as we walked to the bus station to hitch a ride up to the 5th station (where the hike begins)! It truly is a stunning mountain.

Still looking so fresh and energized - getting ready to hop on the bus!

Here we are at the 5th Station about to begin! At this point, the weather was SO MUCH BETTER than what Joel and I faced last summer.

It's still an active volcano so the landscape reflects that lava look.

This trail may not look like much, but it is steep and it is treacherous... and this was the easiest part.

As you can see, it started getting foggier and foggier the higher we climbed. 

Alicia was AMAZING. This girl has energy and endurance like I've never seen. She must be half mountain goat because I found myself really struggling with the lack of oxygen and had a lot of muscle cramping, but I don't believe she even felt winded!

We made it to the top! Alas, I had NO VIEW AGAIN this year, but we could feel the altitude and the cold too, as evidenced by our layers of clothing at this point.

Bottom line, we made it up in 3.5 hours and down in 2.5. Really good time, but Alicia's would have been better if she hadn't had to wait on me. :) I am SO glad we made time to accomplish this! What a fun, adventurous trip! We OWN Mount Fuji!!! 

Weekend in Saga Take Two!!

Y'all remember our Japanese family, the Yamasaki's? Well, they invited us down to their beautiful home again this summer when Kouichi and his two kids were in town (we missed you Kizuki!). They always go out of their way to make us feel like true family members and it is always a BLAST hanging out with them! The language barrier is powerful but it's amazing how much you can communicate without using verbal skills. Acting things out, smiling and laughter speak loads!

For lunch on Saturday, Kouichi and his dad, Bob-san, took us to a waterfall near their home. This particular area is known for their Carp - they farm raise them to keep their food intake regulated. The Carp are bottom feeding fish, so thankfully, the ones that are intended for human consumption have been accustomed to a cleaner diet. 

The entrance to the restaurant specializing in Carp dishes

Seating was contained in private tatami rooms. When we were ready to order, Kouchi placed a phone call to the kitchen.

This was the spread they ordered... per person!!!

The first preparation of Carp was sashimi style. It was very thinly sliced and kept on ice. There were fine bones in each piece, but they were edible. Definitely changed the texture from the typical sashimi we eat. It was deliciously fresh and had its own distinct flavor. The pieces on the shiso leaf in the center there are actually raw pieces of skin. I was not a huge fan personally, so after eating one, I gave the others to Kouichi who LOVED them!

This was our FAVORITE. It was a delicious hot soup with smoked Carp and its roe. At first, I did not think I was going to be able to eat it because it looked just like pork, so when Kouichi told me it was Carp, I gobbled it up! It definitely did not taste or look like fish!

After lunch, the family invited us to observe a traditional ceremony in which a Buddhist priest comes to the house to perform a ritual in which they commemorate the 50th anniversary of a great grandfather's death. There was a lot of preparation involved and we were truly able to see how the tatami room is utilized in a Japanese family home. 

After the ceremony was complete, it was time for dinner! The Yamasaki's definitely know how to EAT WELL! Check out this spread:

Fried shrimp and chicken

A Japanese pancake - it's almost like a thick crepe with vegetables and Japanese seasoning... I personally LOVE them!

A sushi platter (there were TWO of these!!)

Kanpai!!

What a HAPPY baby!!

Such a cutie!

The boys satisfied after the big meal! (Kouichi, Bob-san, Sam-san, Taka-san, and Joel)

Brothers, can you tell? Just missing Shinji!

Mai is so beautiful!

Now, this kid.... THIS kid I adore!

There is so much love and joy in this family - it rubs off! We are SO blessed and honored to have them in our lives!

Now we have to give a shout out to our friend, Neph. He graciously provided a tour of the air traffic control tower for us when the Yamasaki's visited Iwakuni. They were BIG fans of his, so he made it on their wall of pictures!! Go Neph!!! :-)

Our last day in Saga, we went to a famous pottery store to not only check out the gorgeous wares, but to try our hands at making our OWN pottery on the wheel!

There were many types of styles, designs, sizes, etc. etc. It was overwhelming and I wanted ALL of it! 

After walking around and getting inspired, we had the chance to try it ourselves!!

This guy made it look SO easy!!! He was truly masterful!

We each started with a huge lump of clay. You would shape what you wanted out of the top portion, then use a taut string to slice it off the mound if you wanted to keep what you created. 

I had NO idea the level of difficulty I was about to experience!

Kouichi turned out to be quite skilled. I think he is secretly a potter in his free time, LOL

My failed creations... the master potter had to help me each time, and I still found a way to screw them up! I went through my entire lump of clay, LOL! Thankfully, the last one (the middle one in the picture) was salvageable. It was called "unique" by the master. Kouichi sent us the finished products after they were glazed, though, and they were BEAUTIFUL! Truly an ugly duckling turned swan moment! Now I know why God being the potter is such beautiful imagery... He knows what the finished product will be after all of the difficulty in forming and setting the clay!

We had a fabulous time with the Yamasaki's and as usual, were blown away by their generosity, openness, and positive energy. Hopefully, we will have an Okinawan visit from the family?? :-)