Home Sweet Okinawa Home...

I think we've finally reached the point where our house and our neighborhood are feeling more like "home". Of course, it's not the good old USA, but we now know our way around the general area without having to carefully study those helpful phone book maps while driving ;) And although I still have a little bit more decorating to do, I think the house is looking pretty good. We were lucky to find a house that was very American-ish, aside from the fact that we don't really have a "dining room" area. Yeah, we could have squeezed our table behind the couch, but it would have been too cramped. So we ordered a couple of nice bar stools online and have been using those for seats next to the breakfast bar and it works great for us! Schan and I are both glad that we decided not to live in on-base housing. While some are nice, it's just not that same feeling of having your own place. Most on-base housing is set up like duplexes or small apartment complexes and you're very close to your neighbors, so you had better get along! No really, I do think that it's a good choice for people with children because the schools are nearby and it would be easier for school age kids to make friends in their base neighborhood. And those living on base are able to paint their walls... definitely a bonus there, sighhh. Someday I'll finally be able to paint my walls and be able to look at something other than plain white. I don't think we'll regret our decision though. We are experiencing more of Okinawa's culture by living right in the middle of it!

Here are some updated pictures of our house and my car...

Shuri Castle

This was such an interesting place to visit! Some history below...

Shuri Castle (in Japanese 首里城 Shurijō) is a gusuku (Ryūkyūan castle) in Shuri, Okinawa. It was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroyed, with only a few walls standing not even one meter high. In 1992, it was reconstructed on the original site based on photographs, historical records, and memory. For 450 years from the beginning of the 15th century, it was the royal court and administrative center of the Ryūkyūan Kingdom. It was the focal point of foreign trade, as well as the political, economical and cultural heart of the Ryūkyūs.



According to records, Shuri Castle burned several times, and was reconstructed each time. Before the war, it was designated a National Treasure, but during the war, the Japanese military set up its headquarters underground at the castle, and beginning on May 25, 1945, the American battleship Missouri and others shelled it for three days. On May 27 it burned.


After the war, the University of the Ryūkyūs moved to the castle site. In 1958, the Shureimon gate was rebuilt, and in 1992, the main building of the castle was reconstructed. At present, the entire area around the castle has been established as Shuri Castle Park.

P.S. For you Lindsborg people... yep, that's the Lindsborg News Record I'm holding... this same pic may be in the paper in late September :)

Neo Park

A week or so ago I went with some friends to Neo Park Okinawa, a nature park/zoo sort of place. They did have a big variety of plants and birds there and also some lemurs and monkeys. Like most parks, it was divided into different areas like the Amazon jungle, the African Savanna (they spelled it Afurican, haha), Flamingo lake, Spider Monkey island, Lemur islands, Tortoise farm, and petting zoo.


Ahhhh the petting zoo!! Sigh. This little zoo had the usual goats, llama, and rabbits, but they also had dogs there tied to little posts. They even had a little tiny picnic basket with a chihuahua in it, wearing a pink shirt. All of our American celebrities carrying around dogs in their purses must have inspired the Okinawans. I am a huge animal lover, so I all but broke down in tears looking at the poor dogs. They looked healthy enough, but I wanted to see all of them go to good homes! I almost tried to adopt the little long-haired dachshund they had wandering around in the fenced in area, but Schan (and our 2 cats) wouldn't have appreciated that very much.


I did love feeding the lemurs though :) They were so adorable and would just take the food out of your hand like a little person. The spider monkeys were cute too. I really wasn't supposed to feed those, but I had an extra Kashi granola bar in my purse. That's natural enough for them, ha!

At the end of the day, we stopped by their little photo shop to take a group photo in Okinawan garments. They even had props for us... instruments, umbrellas, etc. I think we looked pretty good! :)

Obon Eisa Dancers

Just before going to bed tonight, I heard the beating of drums and singing outside my window... not the normal occurrence, hehe. I hadn't heard anything earlier while downstairs because the TV was up pretty loud with Olympic coverage on. Well, there is an annual event in Okinawa called Obon and it is being celebrated this week. If I wouldn't have noticed it so late, we may have walked down the street to check it out, but Americans have a curfew off-base after midnight and I wasn't really in the mood to stir up trouble with the local police (worst case scenario) or get those "you're not welcome here" looks from our Okinawan neighbors.



Obon was first celebrated during the Middle Ages and on Okinawa, it is celebrated according to the lunar calendar. Ever since those times, Okinawans have followed tradition and prayed, eaten, sung and danced with the spirits of their ancestors during this annual event. The spirits are alerted of the arrival of Obon by the cleaning of tombs several days before the event begins. Family members get together at their family tomb to clean it which lets the ancestors know they will soon be called forth to rejoin their family for a short visit. Eisa dancing is performed to please and console the ancestors and dispel any bad spirits.

Driving around the island, you will see these Okinawa family tombs alongside the road everywhere. Some date back hundreds of years and are shaped like the backs of turtles, which resemble a mother's womb, and to them it symbolizes from where everyone is born and from there everyone returns (something like that). Inside are the bones of generations of their ancestors. Families gather there during this time and also during "shimi" in April and offer food and drinks to their ancestors while entertaining themselves and honoring their lost loved ones. Very different from our American culture, but it is an interesting tradition. You can't see the Eisa dancers in the video I took, but you can hear them very well!



The 2 photos were taken by another American resident who saw these dancers by his home a few nights ago.

AFN...

Ahhh AFN... the good old Armed Forces Network providing entertainment for military audiences around the world. Woohoo!! Of course, the sports channel is our favorite, even though you can get updates on games from ESPN.com before they are shown here, but oh well. The time difference is only 1 hour from here to Beijing and we're still seeing the Olympics late, so don't think we're lucky :) If we really want to catch a favorite show from the states, we do have a Slingbox (much thanks to Schan's parents) that allows us to watch US television through our computer, so I DVR the shows that I don't want to miss. Isn't technology great??

Anyway, that being said, I doubt that I will ever get through even 30 minutes of AFN viewing time without bursting out laughing. Why?? Well, instead of the commercials that you see stateside, AFN inserts public service announcements on various subjects, usually dealing with public health, safety, anti-terrorism, pride in military service, sexual harassment "no-no's" and other messages to the troops. Yeah, this all sounds okay, but you just have to experience some of these ads to see what I mean, haha. Here are a few of my favorites....





I'm a styrofoam cup yo... :)




Don't forget to wash those hands!


This is an old one, but they have several updated GI Jerome ads that air several times a day here. He has a lot to say about camping and hiking safety in the newest one! ;)