Here Comes 2009...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
明けましておめでとう

"Akemashite Omedeto"

Happy New Year to One and All.
2008 was an exciting and eventful year for us- and we're hoping 2009 will be just as exciting (just maybe not so chaotic!) and filled with many many new things.

A bonus of living in a foreign country is learning about their customs and culture. In Japan, New Years Day is apparently one of the biggest holidays of the year.
Here is is a clip from Wikipedia...

Hatsumōde, hatsuhinode, the "firsts" of the year

Celebrating the new year in Japan also means paying special attention to the "first" time something is done in the new year. Hatsuhinode (初日の出) is the first sunrise of the year. Before sunrise on January 1, people often drive to the coast or climb a mountain so that they can see the first sunrise of the new year. Hatsumōde (初詣) is the first trip to a shrine or temple. Many people visit a shrine after midnight on December 31 or sometime during the day on January 1. If the weather is good, people often dress up or wear kimono. Other "firsts" that are marked as special events include shigoto-hajime (仕事始め, the first work of the new year), keiko-hajime (稽古始め, the first practice of the new year), hatsugama, the first tea ceremony of the new year, and the hatsu-uri, (the first shopping sale of the new year).

So here is to our First of this year- our first New Year in Okinawa.

We spent a quiet New Year's Eve- watched "Dan in Real Life", BBQ'ed hamburgers and snacked on shrimp cocktail. We all made it until midnight (thanks to a late coffee with plenty of caffeine for me!)and stood outside with neighbors watching the fireworks (see above) over Chatan Town and listening to all the shouts of "Happy New Year"!

Ice Skating

Another Free Trip!

Today, December 30, we went Ice Skating at Southern Hills Skating Rink (this is the only ice skating rink on Okinawa). This was yet another trip we won through the Schilling Center (gotta love it!).

We meet at the Schilling Center at 10:15 and by 10:30AM we were on the road comfortably ensconced in a full sized bus. We all took advantage of the very relaxing 30 minute drive to do a bit reading.

Although we were a bit worried, they DID have skates to fit Matt's feet (whew!).

Opening the doors into the rink itself, we were hit with a blast of frigid air- ahhh! Pure heaven! It was actually COLD...and it felt oh, so very good! Even before hitting the ice, we decided it was worth the trip just to sit in the blessedly cold air. Oh, the simple delights when you live in a tropical paradise.

You are required to wear gloves while on the ice- and we didn't mind since it was cold. We even kept our jackets on for most of the time.

Even though Matt had never ice skated before, he picked it right up.


David took a bit longer, but he was the one we had to drag out- he didn't want to leave.



They had one break while we were there- a short time out while they ran the Zamboni over the ice. It was neat to watch the ice go from all cut up, to smooth and shiny!







I had not ice skated since...oh, I think I was about 7 years old. I went with my sister and the family across the street (Kim and Nina- Lauri's best friend)...and all I really remember about the trip was that my fingers got slammed in the door as we were leaving to go skate. Ouch!
This time went much better! Although my guys spent a lot of time laughing at me. I decided to teach myself to skate backwards...every time Matt skated by me he would just shake his head "Mom, just give it up!". However, by the time we left, I did manage to skate all the way around the rink backwards...it wasn't fast and it certainly wasn't pretty....but I did it! (and had a few good laughs at myself along the way)

The boys discovered "Green Fanta" in the soda machines- they loved that! The soda machines in the rink were a bit different than the other machines here. They dispense the cup, dump in ice, then fill with soda. Small cup for 100 Yen- but fun to watch the process!

This building (church?) sits across the street and above the skating rink. I liked the look of it- especially the retaining wall, which looks like it has melted and buckled.


Not sure what to think of this cigarette "butt can"...."Good smoking?"- what is THAT supposed to mean? There were three of four of these right outside the doors to go in.

Come June or July, when the heat has become just too much for us, we plan on escaping back to the ice skating rink- even if we just pay the 200 Yen spectator fee and sit in the cold. Humm...wonder if you can buy a season pass???

December 28, 2008

Yaejima Park
Yesterday we had so much fun finding different parks, that the boys and I went out again today. Mike had to work so we were on our own. We stopped by a park just outside Kadena- Rebecca and Angie had both told us about the park and the fun roller slide and drop slide.
This statue is along the street edging the park- I have no idea what it says, I just liked the style!
Posted along the fence to the park was this sign. I puzzled over it for quite a while.... I have to wonder about it- what exactly is the sign saying?? Does this mean you can't walk your dog here, under penalty of being shot?? Nothing written on the sign seems to match the picture, and the red X is next to the man walking the dog...not the shooter. Hummm....don't think I will take Ty to this park!

Here is the play structure you climb to go down the roller slide. This roller slide was great- long and fast! Most of the kids were using cardboard to sit on- I think it helped them go faster. This roller slide had smaller rollers than the slide at Wakamatsu Park- think that helped it be a faster slide too. One little girl had a plastic disk she was using- it looked like it was designed just for these types of slides. It was just big enough for her bottom and had a small handle in front to hold onto. Almost like a mini snow disk.

Here is the slide from the top- I'm ready to head down!You can barely see David in this picture- he is just coming around the curve on the left.
Matt had to try it head first.

Next stop at the park- the Drop Slide. I have to admit, I did not try this one! The boys were not impressed...I guess they were expecting more. David ended up twisting his ankle on his last try- but he did in the lower part, not the drop part.







After the Drop Slide Matt and I walked up to the top of the park (David opted out of this since his ankle hurt). There was a mini shrine up near the top.


A final set of stairs led to a little spot with a nice view of the city.

December 27, 2008

Comprehensive Park in Okinawa City

The second park we went to today was awesome! Definitely a park we will be heading back to soon. In the few hours we were there, we just saw a fraction of the park- it is huge.
There are miles of running and biking trails (including marked 3K, 4K & 5K courses), a track, a stadium, a carp pond, water slides& water park, paddle boats, miniature golf playgrounds, tennis courts, picnic areas....so much!

Our first stop was eating our picnic lunch. We felt like giants- all the tables (and other seating too) were LOW to the ground.

After playing football and Frisbee in the big open field we went through this torii gate

and checked out the carp. We didn't see any of the turtles, but LOTS and lots of carp! There were a couple of families feeding the carp so we hung around and watched.

They come right up- David was even able to touch one. They were almost cute as they begged...

but at the same time they are a bit freaky- they open their mouths really wide and make weird sucking noises...a little eerie sounding! I am hoping I don't have nightmares from that sound...




Next time we are going prepared with popcorn or bread to feed the fish (apparently you can also buy food from machines there too).

We followed the trail up over two bridges and found this in the middle of the tail. Looks like a sundial and compass.



This playground was wonderful- we had a great time climbing on this rope jungle gym. It was huge!








the trail we were on T'ed into a trail following along the coast line. These benches were sheltered by huge "oyster shells"- pretty wild looking.

By now the sun was setting and we called it a day. Heading back to the car we stopped by some soda machines to check out some of the different sodas- there were several we had not seen before. You just can't believe all the choices you have here for drinks out of vending machines! As I said before, the boys claim this is their favorite thing about Okinawa. We loved the look of these three...unfortunately we couldn't try them as we only had 90 Yen and a 500 Yen coin, and the machine would not take the 500 yen coin for some reason.