Blogs from Okinawa, Japan, Asia
May 5th 2011
For the Golden Week holiday, The Susan Team (my Canadian friend Susan and I) ventured to the other Japan for a rejuvenating girls' retreat: Okinawa, baby. The tanning, pina coladas-on-the-beach weather we daydreamed about at our desks left much to be desired. But, being a sunshine-spoiled Miami girl, it was easy to appreciate the physical and cultural beauty of the Hawaii-like islands without the sun. We started in the sublimely sketchy Naha, the capital of Okinawa prefecture, where we mingled with some characters, shopped for beachy souvenirs and basically reveled in the swanky un-Japanese-ness of it all. It was Japan without the order, Southeast Asia without the beggars and the Jersey Shore without the English. By night we found a guy serenading the side of a building from his balcony with what I've been calling a ... read more
December 19th 2010
Well, this is it, folks. My last day in Okinawa. Probably. That's the thing - you never know with the military. As it stands right now, Chris is off to Afghanistan in the middle of March after spending February in America for combat skills training. This means I'm checking out of Okinawa for good and will be heading back to Ohio. I think I'm going to sub, hang out, etc, and then go somewhere fun for the summer. We should still be moving to Dayton, Ohio in September sometime. But anyway, back to the fun stuff. Since we knew we were quickly running out of time to see the island, we signed up for a few activities. We went on the Battle of Okinawa tour, which took us all around the island to look at various ... read more
October 10th 2010
This weekend was a double holiday for us - Columbus Day (which all of the federal government, including the military, celebrates) and Sports Day (a Japanese holiday). We were looking for something to do, and the giant tug-of-war going on down in Naha seemed like the perfect thing to do. The Naha tug-of-war has been going on for the last forty years as part of the Sports Day celebrations. The tradition seems to have started in the 17th century, but it didn't make it into the Guinness Book of World Records until 1997. I doubt anyone will kick it out of the record book, either. The rope is absolutely enormous - about 90,000lbs, over 3 feet in diameter, and over 600 feet long. It takes up several blocks of highway 58 (which, rather inconveniently, is basically ... read more
October 6th 2010
As I'm sure many of you know (either via Facebook or my mother), Chris and I got married. It may seem like it was too soon or rushed or what have you, but we spent a lot of time discussing it, weighing our options, etc. We were planning on getting married in the spring anyway, and when we looked at the advantages of getting married sooner, we figured the sooner the better! Neither one of us wanted a big wedding, and I hate to disappoint, but there was no romantic proposal. That's just not who we are, and we wanted to do things our way. I do have a ring - a very pretty amethyst - but that was as far as we wanted to go with wedding traditions. (Ed.: When girls say they don't want ... read more
September 4th 2010
Konnichiwa! Greetings from Japan! So, quick update on my life. 1. I am no longer a resident of the European Union. I have cut all ties with Douai, and my visa has expired. le sigh. 2. My mother and I survived Africa. It was tough, hot, and sweaty, but we made it through alive (and no parasites this time!) 3. I spent a brief three weeks in the US, running around Pittsburgh and getting dragged to the gym twice a day in Ohio by my mother. I unpacked all my black, French clothes and packed up my shorts, bathing suits, and tank tops. 4. I moved to Japan! Now I live in Chatan on the tropical island of Okinawa with my wonderful boyfriend, Chris. And I got a job! But I have to wait several weeks ... read more
August 28th 2010
Alrighty, 3+ weeks in Japan and finally I am going to write a travel blog on the first week or so. Hopefully I don't forget about too many of the more interesting things but a lot has been happening over the last little while. Also this Japanese keyboard is infuriating to use. Good thing the internet cafes are so damn comfortable. After the stress of Hanoi I was hoping for a nice relaxing flight to Okinawa. It didn’t exactly work out that way unfortunately. We got on the flight in Hanoi no problem and we had to change planes in Hong Kong. At Hong Kong airport I ran into a road block at the transfers counter. The guy wouldn't give me a boarding pass because I didn't have a return ticket booked from Japan. Apparently this ... read more
July 10th 2010
Hey people! So today the calender say the 10th of July, though I'm writing a bit about my diving trip with manta and other fish! I have taken many pictures, and a lot of video's, though most of them are to big to be uploaded, anyone know of a good way to make them smaller in size? anyway back to the 4th, I woke up haft past 7, took a quick shower and went down to the convinient store to buy some quick breakfast. after swallowing the rice I went over to the diving shop (200 meters from the hostel) and prepared for dives. we where 5 people and 2 instructors. 2 people where taking their licenses while the rest of us went exploring. we started at nizakanzen point and there we dived to around 18 ... read more
July 10th 2010
So I've been a lazy writer since I went to Iriomote. Which now comes back to haunt me! Damn! I have decided to put some of the days together as to make it more interesting, not to mention that I have already forgotten some of the things. To many impressions stored somewhere in my brain. 05 / 07 - 2010 Tamaki, Yoko and I left Ishigaki around lunchtime departing to Iriomote. The boat fare was around 3.800 yen. We arrived at Iriomote around an hour later and was picked up by Takuma, who drove us to his hotel. After checking in we took the car out for a spin around the island to see its wonders, there are roughly 2300 inhabitants though the second largest of Okinawa prefecture. We rode on a ox driven wagon to ... read more
Meeting Yoko and Michelle and eating with Yumi's family
Published: July 4th 2010Asia » Japan » Okinawa » Ishigaki Island
July 4th 2010
30 / 06 - 2010 I really didn't do much today, though I did write some emails, read some in my book, and wrote on my blog. at 15.00 I heard a knock on my door, and saw the owner. He told me that Yumi wouldn't be coming to pick me up, and that she didn't have time to go get Yoko and her American friend (Michelle), who where to arrive at 16.40. I decided to go by myself, and arrived at the airport 16.30. after meeting them, we took a taxi and went to Hotel art box where Michelle is living until tomorrow (the 3rd). We drove into town and placed Yoko sensei's stuff in our room(we share room). Then we went to a Izakaya to drink a couple of beers and and ate some ... read more
Diving on Iriomote and the first days with Yumi's family
Published: July 1st 2010Asia » Japan » Okinawa » Ishigaki Island
June 30th 2010
27 / 06 - 2010 I woke up around 10 in the morning, feeling well relaxed. I took a shower and cleaned the room a bit. Takuma came by around 11.30 and together we drove down to a “secret” beach, with 2 staff members from the hotel. Fortunately the hotel had plenty of snorkeling equipment to borrow from, so with the trunk full of beverage and equipment, the 3 lads and I rode down to take a swim. It was low tide, so it was somewhat hard to get out into deeper waters due to the poisonous coral, but we managed. There I took some pictures and some movies, which I have posted. Unfortunately the pictures don't show all the multitude of colors, apparently I hadn't set the cameras configuration correct, bummer!. We swam quit a ... read more
