Making Progress

I'm so excited Logan and I get to move in this week! We pick up our keys tomorrow afternoon (Tues) and then the movers will be there sometime between 8-noon on Wednesday. That means Wednesday night we will be sleeping in our own bed!!

Today, we also finally got a second car for Logan (pictures to come soon) so now I have my own car!! First time in three years! It will be so helpful for moving in when Logan is at work and I need to get stuff for the new house. It will also be great for the rest of our time here to be able to get out and explore while Logan slaves away at work. Poor guy.

I'm so happy too that we get to move into our place before Logan leaves. I would hate to be in this hotel without him or have to make the transition completely on my own (he is so good at carrying the heavy stuff). I am sad though that he flies back to the states at the end of this week. I know I got to have him a whole month longer then I expected but it is never fun saying goodbye to your husband. He will be back just in time for Thanksgiving and my birthday!

Shuri Castle Outtakes

It was a pretty windy day when we went to visit Shuri Castle. Here are some of the fantastic outtakes of my hair going crazy. I think the last one is my favorite!

Shuri Castle

This last Saturday, Logan and I visited Shuri Castle. It was originally constructed at the end of the 14th century and stood until the battles in Okinawa in 1945 when it burned down. They started restoring it in 1957 and it was fully restored by 1992 and opened to the public. It sits on a hill with several gates and steps that lead up to the main structure. 

This is where the Kings of the Ryukyu Kingdom (pronounced re-you-ku) conducted their politics, foreign affairs and ceremonies. Just in case, I haven't really explained it well, Okinawans do not consider themselves Japanese (or Chinese). The Ryukyu Kingdom was ruled by it's own government and were a important hub for trade between many countries here in Asia because of their centralized location (Geography!). China and Japan at different times have claimed them but it wasn't until 1879 that they were officially taken over by the Japanese. 

I loved walking though the castle and the grounds. It was too bad that we were not able to take pictures of the most beautiful part. Inside Shoin, or King's study, the floors were covered in tatami mats and the most beautiful natural wood. I loved that all the doors were my size and it was so clean (we had to take our shoes off too). As we walked through the rooms, there were little porches that looked out over the beautiful landscaping.

After walking through the castle, we heard music going on and found a little performance. They were fun to watch with their upbeat music and drums. We were still not sure why they were performing though. 

After that, we found a little festival near by and went to try out some food! Ice Cream is always good! It turned out to be a raspberry sorbet, mango and beni-imo (purple sweet potato). We also tried the brown thing that turned out to be bacon wrapped rice with a type of teriyaki sauce - also good - and a pancake that had some purple beni-imo paste in the middle making it pleasantly sweet. 

The dumpling looking things in the container were the only thing we didn't like while trying some new foods. They were called octopus balls and Logan thought they would be fun to try. He ate one and was like "they're not that bad just a little chewy in the middle" so I decided to try one too. Big mistake! It was the worst ever! First off, they are a little big for my mouth and I expected to be like a fried dough with a piece of octopus in the middle. It was more like eating a ball of Elmer's glue with a chew toy in the middle and it tasted like Lysol. I was actually surprised I didn't throw it up but my eyes started to water and had to pretty much swallow it whole and eat the rest of my ice cream to get the flavor out of my mouth. Thinking about them now still makes me feel sick. Logan ended up eating all of them! So when I say that Logan is not a picky eater, this really proves it! 

Shopping Kokusai Street

We went to Kokusai street the other weekend when we did the hug tug-of-war but didn't get to do any shopping. So, last weekend Logan and me went back to shop and explore. 

This street is a mile long shopping fest with tons of stores and little shops and food places. Most of the stores had key chains, Shisa dogs (little clay figures they put outside for good luck) and packaged snacks. It was interesting that all the souvenir places sold lots of strange little cookies and chips and alcohol. Some places that is all they had or it was at least more then half of what they sold.

The store below was my favorite of all the shops. It was also one of the most expensive. I didn't get anything but I wanted to get everything!

Off the main road, there are also lots and lots of little markets. I thought they were even more fun to go in and find little treasures in the little vendors. 

Next time we go, I think I want to spend more time in the little side streets. After a while all the bigger stores had mostly all the same things but the little ones were way more unique. 

Toguchi Beach

For our Friday night date, Logan and me went out to Toguchi Beach at sunset. Here are some pretty pictures!

Okinawa Adventure Seekers

I recently found out about a LDS Facebook group called Okinawa Adventure Seekers. This is a group of ladies that wanted to see more of the island during the day so they get together once a week and go somewhere new. 

They had their first adventure this Thursday and my friend Claire texted me about a half hour before picking me up - and when I say I found out about it recently - that was when I learned about the group! lol. I got ready real fast and we headed up to a sister's house that lives off base. 

We went and visited her neighbor named Kinjo. He is a famous sculptor that sells his work for hundred of thousands of dollars on the mainland! 

Here is a little of his personal history: 

He and his family were forced out of their home by the Japanese military when he was 7 years old. He had to live in a cave with his mother while his father went and fought for the Japanese. 

He was forced to give up his language and speak Japanese. The Japanese really were horrible to the people of Okinawa. After America 'gave' Okinawa back to Japan, the Okinawan's, or Hamahigan's (those from Hamahiga island, Kinjo's home) felt very bitter towards both countries. 

You can see that his past has influenced a lot of his work but he is a very sweet old man and was cute asking to take pictures with all the little kids. When we asked him a few questions, I found out that he started doing art 40 years ago around when he was about 30 years old. He has had no formal art training but his pieces were very good. Some were a little weird or gruesome (depicting the Japanese killing the people in his village) but all were interesting and well made. 

I think these are really good pics of me! In the first picture, the boy on the horse is supposed to be Kinjo when the Japanese came to his little village.

After visiting Kinjo, we went down to the beach that was close by and searched for seashells. It was low tide and there were lots of crabs and little critters. In the last pic, the black line in the middle is actually a really bad picture of a sea cucumber. 

I found some nice seashells. Unfortunately, when I got home, I found some were still alive!! Oh no! I even checked all of them so carefully. It is okay though, because I took them back to the beach today and they were ok. The coolest one was actually the smallest hermit crab I have ever seen! I seriously didn't know they even started out that small! 

Before coming back, Claire and I went to the cookie factory near by to try some samples. Okinawan cookies I found out, all taste about the same and most of them are made with the purple sweet potato. Oh and they don't look like cookies. The do look very cute though. My favorite were actually lime and mango flavored. The have some amazing looking desserts too. 

There were nice ladies helping give out the samples and when I left, one was saying "good bye" in English and put her hand on my shoulder discreetly to touch my hair. I have actually been surprised not many people have thought much of my hair here - not that I think they should but I know it is unique. I did notice that a little girl in the parade last week couldn't stop looking at me and waved until I waved back (so cute!). But Claire said that most Okinawans are very accustomed to Americans because there are so many of us. She said it would be very different in the mainland. 

Cape Hedo

On Monday, Logan's day off, we drove up to Cape Hedo. This is the most northern part of the island. 

This is where the East China Sea and the Pacific oceans meet next to the rocky cliffs of the island. 

It was a really windy day and kinda overcast because of a typhoon that was to our East. But it was still beautiful. 

When we got there, I thought it was sprinkling but it was actually ocean spray that was coming off the rocks from way below! The cliffs are at least 50 feet tall but that didn't stop the huge waves! 

From Cape Hedo, you can see this viewing observatory. Logan and I drove over to it and it is a giant copy of this endangered flightless bird that only lives in northern Okinawa. It was pretty funny looking! 

I loved this cove where the Pacific ocean was crashing into the cliffs.

I know I have said it before, but I love the color of the water here! My favorite part was right at the top of the waves where the water was bright blue. 

After going to Naha and then driving up to Cape Hedo, we almost drove the whole length of the island in one weekend and it only took a half a tank of gas for the entire trip! Okinawa really is a small island but it is so beautiful and it will take a while before we can see all the beaches and castles and other sights before we will get bored!