The Biggest Tug-Of-War in the World!

So the coolest thing we did all weekend was go to the biggest tug-of-war in the world (It is even recorded in Guinness World Records)! It was awesome! Get ready for a million pictures! 

The festival was down in Naha on Kokusai Street - famous street in Naha with over a mile of shopping (I can't wait to go back) and one of the main highways in Okinawa. The first part was a big parade where all the different cities, or counties or whatever they call themselves brought their huge pole banners down the street. 

Here is a pic of what they looked like holding the huge poles. One guy would take his turn holding it at a time. It was really impressive! It was about 25 feet tall and made out of bamboo and rope. The whole time they were doing this, half would yell "Saaa Saaa Saaa SA!" and then the other half would repeat this back, over and over. 

Some guys would even do "tricks". You can see below that he is holding it with just his grip on the bottom. Some would spin it or see how long they could hold it out. The coolest guy we saw would bounce down until his bottom touched the ground and then pop back up (like a Russian dancer) while still keeping the pole balanced. I don't think I could squat that low even if I wasn't holding a huge banner! 

The main point I think was to show your strength and how you could balance this really heavy pole but every once in a while it would start to fall and the other guys would help keep it up with these other poles that had a fork at the end to help the man balance it. Each one of the tops of the poles were beautiful and different. Here are a few examples. 

In between the pole holders (there were about 14 different poles and at least 30-40 guys taking turns) there were lots of other entertainers. Some held little mini banners themselves, others blew on these huge seashells in time with the drums. 

I liked the little kids that did Karate demonstrations the best. Some of the kids looked as young as 3 or 4. The kids that were a little older showed moves with nun-chucks and fake swords. 

After the parade it was time to start the tug-of-war! The rope was huge! Below is one of the sides before we had to pull the ropes together. 

One thing that we learned is that the Japanese don't do anything quickly. I thought as soon as we got on the ropes it would be time to pull but first they had the pole holders show how strong they were and then we had to pull the ropes together across the intersection they sat on. After that, they brought out the king of the East and the king of the West to "duel" it out. They were on these large platforms that about 20 men carried over the ropes. They met in the middle and showed how strong they were, then they were carried back over the way they came. 

A few hours later, they finished all the opening ceremonies and we could start the war! I think the beginning part would have been more fun but we couldn't really see what was going on and couldn't understand a word they said so that took out some of the excitement. 

When the two kings were done they opened up this huge gold ball that had balloons and confetti come out kinda like a pinata. There was one main rope and ten they tied I think about 140 smaller ropes to the top that were the ones we actually pulled on. While they were passing out all the smaller ropes, I was able to jump up on the main rope and get some cool pics! 

Now it was time to pull!!!! Japanese guys used whistles and gongs to help us all pull together. It didn't seem to go anywhere for a while and then all of the sudden our side started to move back. We all cheered and kept pulling harder. We were told that they usually only pull for a half hour and then call it a tie or name a winner. It was a good thing too because after about 20 minutes I think people were getting tired. 

So after about 25 minutes of pulling, they stopped us all and announced that they had a winner! Someone told me that most years end up in a tie but this year there was a winner. I'm pretty sure it was our side that won too because all the Japanese people were cheering on our side and not the other! Yay, East side! Logan said it was because he was there this time. 

Then when it is all done, they let people cut off parts of the rope and take them home as a souvenir. It was a lot of fun and great to be able to say that we were a part of it! 

My Disney Double

So I don't know if you have heard about it yet but the next Disney movie coming out is called Frozen. I am not usually a fanatical Disney fan but I can't help but think that they based the newest Disney princess off of me!!!

First off her name is Anna!!

On the site http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Anna it describes her physical appearance: "Anna is a beautiful young girl with a slender figure and fair complexion. She has blue eyes, strawberry-blonde hair tied in two pigtail braids, and has a light dusting of freckles. She also has a platinum blonde streak on the right side of her hair..."

Isn't that crazy! We could be twins all except the blond streak. Mine is under my hair at the nape of my neck (but I even have that too!). Our face shapes are probably where we look the most different but I bet if I cut some bangs we would look more similar there. 

Blue eyes and freckles 

Now guess what date it comes out on!! Seriously I dare you to guess!! da da DA! According to IMBD it comes out in theaters on November 27th!! My birthday! Do you think this is just a little crazy! 

For more information and to check out the trailer you can go to http://movies.disney.com/frozen/. 

Colorful Monday

Typhoon Danas passed by us yesterday. When it did it was a categorized as 4 super typhoon!! We were really excited to see how much worse this one would be compared to the first but we were severely disappointed! It passed us in about 8 hours and it hardly rained or did anything most of the time. We were a lot closer to is as well. On the image below we are right in between Naha and Nago. Every once in a while we could tell that "yeah, it looks windy" but that was about it. 

Probably the coolest part of the typhoon happened right at sunset. Outside our window whole sky had turned pink! The pics below are not edited in anyway! It really was that pink outside!

To go along with our colorful typhoon we tried some of the fresh produce we got at the farmer's market a few days ago. I loved how colorful they all were! The purple sweet potato is called Satsumaimo and is very big deal, especially here in Okinawa. It is even a popular ice cream flavor! The carrot is called Ninjin and it tasted just like a carrot!

The Kiwi was also normal but the other fruit that is green/yellow on the outside and orange inside was our favorite! It is called a Mikan and is very similar to an Orange or Mandarin Orange. It has no seeds and tastes very much like them but we decided we liked these better.

Today we were happy to get out a bit and went to one of our favorite places we have eaten at so far and got some Taco Rice. We really love this shopping/dining area called American Village. It looks very unique and has so many things to see!

One thing that has surprised me when we get out is how many Halloween decorations we see. All the stores and restaurants are decorated. I suppose I didn't realize that Halloween was more of an international holiday and not just something we do in the Americas.

Some more typhoon stuff

So Typhoon Fitow has passed and headed out towards China. The newest typhoon they are talking about is Danas. Below you can see it's projected path. 

Right now the newest update is that by tonight we might be back into storm mode again but Danas will really start hitting us Monday evening around 6pm.

What is also interesting is that there is talk of maybe a third typhoon (????) and you can even see it in the radar above! Very exciting! If you want to keep up-to-date on our weather you can go to http://weather.kadenaforcesupport.com/ and click on "Typhoon Data" on the right.

Click to see short video clip.

So we spent all of yesterday here at our hotel. We watched some movies we borrowed (we only have 2 TV stations right now) and started a TV show called Heroes because it was cheap to buy the first season at the BX. We went to the gym, walked around and watched out the window.

It was nice having a big place to walk around but I would have preferred to be in our own house. Then I could have cooked meals and dessert, we would have all our movies and games and we wouldn't have to deal with the jerk that thought it was okay to smoke in his room just down the hallway.

It really wasn't that bad but I hope we can get out a little before the next typhoon hits!

Typhoon Fitow

Our first typhoon is here! We are now at Typhoon Condition of Readiness 1C! What does that mean? Check out this link that tells our current condition and what happens at each or here is a Facebook page that publishes up-to-date information. Here is a look at the weather we have to look forward to the next few days! (http://weather.kadenaforcesupport.com/)

So far, it is mostly just windy and rainy. The wind actually started this afternoon way before the rain. Check out this video clip of me being blown away (click on the link). Don't bother trying to hear what I am saying. It is way too windy. 

What I was saying is "Hi, were here in Okinawa and are about 24 hours out from being hit by typhoon Fitow - but as you can see it is already very windy!"

But don't worry! We are prepared! We went to the commissary and got us some water, canned soup, ramen, and lots and lots of snacks.

We also got some candles, matches, a flashlight and lots of movies (thanks to some new friends) to keep us entertained while we are stuck inside.

I got another video of the rain tonight but I'm not sure you can really tell what is happening because it is so dark. Here is the clip if you would still like to see it.

People say that we will likely not loose power and all the buildings are made out of cement so we should be just fine. We are also lucky that we are stuck in a huge building and it has a small gym if we get too restless.

Here is a projection of the typhoon's track.

As you can see, it is not even hitting us directly. We are that little dot that says Kadena. Oh but we just found out yesterday that there is another typhoon coming right at us that will hit Monday night! Hopefully we have enough supplies (There is a possibility that they keep us at TCCOR1C until after the second typhoon if they are too close together)! I will try and keep posting, as long as we have power! 

Farmer's Market

One thing I have been kinda disappointed with is quality of produce at the commissary. It is not very fresh and kinda expensive. So one of the ladies from my ward took me to a local farmers market.

I was actually pretty proud of myself for knowing what most of them were even though I couldn't read the names. 

They had some beautiful fruit too! I was especially intrigued by the Dragon Fruit! It is so pretty. 

I can't wait to go back and get more produce once I have a kitchen to cook it in!

Typhoons and the Big Dollar Store

This morning when I woke up, Logan was so excited to show me that our first Typhoon was headed toward us! We have had several others in the region but all passed us by without even coming close. 

Neither of us have ever been through a hurricane/typhoon so we are curious to see what it will be like. I know that the damage is not good and I don't wish that upon anyone just for my enjoyment but there is a excitement that comes when it is storming outside. Maybe I feel that way just because I grew up in Kansas and I love a good storm. 

It can still completely miss us but it might also mess up Logan's flight back to the states for training. So it might be bad timing but then again he might not be going back anyway because of the government shutdown so no funding for his training back there. 

I went to a little 100 yen store the other day but this afternoon, my friend Abby took me to a HUGE one! I don't know why I like them so much but they have so many funny things and they all cost only 100 yen ($1)!! 

One thing they have a lot of here are dehumidifiers. You can tell we live in a humid place! Most people have a large one for their house but these are for closets and drawers and stuff. I had no clue stuff like this existed. The store has so many fun things like dishes and even an isle that was completely dedicated to clothes pins (they must have a real demand for them!). 

It is amazing the random little places that you find all over the place, like this Indian Store. We walked in and it is owned by an Indian man that gets all his stuff from...guess where...India! He had some beautiful textiles and wood furniture.  

On our way back to the car, I spotted a photographic opportunity! I loved the stick broom and old rustic trash scoop. 

On our way back we also passed this gem. It was a huge truck with a bunny and turtle on it. So funny to see something like this on a huge worker truck.  

After our outing, Logan and me went over to another friends house for dinner. They have an amazing apartment off base. It is right up to the sea wall and looks out over the East China Sea (amazing view!). I love the people we have meet here! They are all so nice an we had a great dinner! 

American Village

Today I went out with my friends Grace and Abby to a shopping center called American Village. It is recognizable by the giant ferris wheel. They took me to lunch at a place called Sushi Bar and it was so good! It was probably the best I have ever had. 

It was so cute, after we finished eating they gave us this little itty bitty scoop of orange sorbet with a baby spoon for free! Yay!

One of the stores there has a huge SEGA sign on the side of it! I haven't been in it yet but every time we drive by I think of the old Sega we used to play on as kids. 

After lunch they took us to a ¥100 yen store ($1 store)! They are all over and we went to a little one that was inside another store called Makeman. I could have outfitted a whole house with the variety of stuff they sold there. They have tons of great stuff (way better then a family dollar or anything like that) and I wanted to get everything!

One of my favorite finds is pictured above. Do you know what it is?! I do! It is a ongiri maker (for making rice balls). You put cooked rice in each side and then press it down in the mold with the press. I needed this so bad a few weeks ago and now I have one! So happy. I can't wait to make more Japanese food now that I am here (and once I get into our house that actually has a kitchen)!

Shells

So on our short walks on the beaches so far we have picked up several shells. Here are just a few:

We found these on busy beaches in the middle of the day so they must be nothing fancy but they have them everywhere along with lots of bits of coral.

There is also a ton of sea glass. That's all over too!

Mom, I hope your ready to start picking up tons of sea shells! 

I can't believe I live here!

People are so nice here! Today my friend Grace took Logan and me out to see some of the beaches and then to dinner! The pic above was actually from the other night but the one below was at the Kadena Marina. 

Then we went to a private military beach that i can tell we will be visiting a lot while we are here. 

You can camp and snorkel here and just walking around we found lots of pretty shells. 

Then Grace took us out to dinner. At this place you put your money in a machine and poke the button for what you want and it spits out a receipt with lots of Japanese writing that tells the waiter what you want. I assume it says something like "garlic rice, please". After you sit down, the waiter takes it and comes back with amazing deliciousness. 

It comes out it had the rice in the middle with eggs still cooking around the outside. They pour the soy sauce over right after they put it in front of you and then you get to mix it up and eat it! 

It was so good and filling! I could only eat half but Logan enjoyed his and the rest of mine. The miso soup was also probably the best I have ever tried!