Halfway Through July!!!

Lots of things have been going on since I last updated the blog, as it has been a few months...!  I made my trip back home to good ole Greensboro, North Carolina on June 3rd.  It was a huge culture shock when I made my first United States landing in Newark, New Jersey.  The biggest shock to me was the un-cleanliness of the airport.  Things in Japan are SO clean, and the people take pride in that, but things aren't like that in the states.  It was also just a lot louder in the airport, once again, people in Japan are very quiet people, they don't like to make big scenes or anything of the sort, Americans on the other hand, don't care much about that!  The plane ride itself wasn't terrible.  I began in Okinawa, then flew to Tokyo.  Then I had a long 13 hour ride to NJ, then on the Greensboro!  It seems like nothing looking back on it because I was so excited about seeing my family again after 9 months!
I had such an awesome time at home spending quality time with my family and a few close friends.  Andy and Ivy's wedding was very fun to attend, and I am super proud of Jessica for graduating high school!  The family packed up and went to Topsail Island for a week.  It was a nice get away, even though I was already on a get away!! The beaches here in Japan are very different than in the states, in fact it is more like going to the lake than the beach here.  So it was nice going to TI because there were waves, and I just love the sound of waves crashing.  After the beach, we traveled a few minutes south to Wilmington to get ready for Jessica's college orientation.  We got to do some sight seeing and fun things around Wilmington over the weekend, then Mom and Dad took turns on attending the orientation with Jessica.  I was the lucky one, I got to go to the beach both days with one parent or the other and relax a bit more.  I was glad to be able to go to the orientation, or rather be in town for it because I got to see Jessica's orientation dorm room.  It made me feel special since I won't be able to see her actual dorm room, for a couple more years anyways!  After orientation was over we zoomed back to Greensboro and a day later, I was back on a plane again.  It seems like a snap of a finger as I am describing the trip, and it did go by quickly.  My next trip home, I am planning on staying just a little bit longer.
The most exciting news I have to share came to me the day I left Greensboro to come back to Okinawa.  I got an offer for a Kindergarten position at the school I substituted at mainly! I was very, very excited to get that email.  Currently, I am still waiting on the paper work to be completed, and then I should be good to start setting my classroom up for the school year!  I can't wait for the adventures it will bring!
Since I have gotten back to Okinawa, Brian and I have been doing more exploring around the island.  My first weekend back, we went on a trip south of the island to the Peace Memorial Park.  This has memorials and a museum all about Okinawa, and focusing on WWII.  We did feel a bit strange about walking in there and reading about the history and the things the US Military did over here, but it was a really neat place to check out, and the view at the end was totally worth it.  Once you are finished touring the museum, you get an amazing view of the ocean!  That same weekend, we also found what we think will be our favorite Mexican restaurant over here.  It is very delicious Mexican food and we have already been back a second time!!  The other two weekends have mainly been spent checking out some stores close by our base.  It seems as though the Japanese are very interested in American culture and items.  They have US License plates for sale at many stores, old signs, Coca-Cola collection, barrels full of fast food restaurant toys, and much more.  It is fun to check out the stores and see what all they have.  This weekend we are planning to go about an hour up north to the Orion Beer Factory, and I want to check out a Pineapple Village while we are up that way as well.  The Beer Factory is self explanatory, and the Pineapple Village has all things pineapple as well as lots of souvenirs!
Piston is still a growing puppy! He is now 9 months old and just as crazy as ever. He loves sleeping and being lazy, but at night when it gets cooler outside, he loves playing in his big backyard fence! Brian and I have been in Okinawa for 10 months now, and just can't believe how close we are to our one year mark over here!! As neat as it is to be in a foreign country, we still can't wait to come back to the states!!!

Mom, me, and Dad at the airport!

Jessica and I at the wedding

With the newlyweds! 

After Jessica's Graduation

Mom and me in Wilmington

Me and Dad at the beach on Father's Day

I'm pretty sure this is the actual Peace Memorial

This "piece" was not marked, so we aren't sure what it is or the significance

The awesome view at the end of the museum!

Behind Brian is one of the cliffs where many Japanese jumped off during WWII.

February-Beginning of April

I will try to fill in on the last few months of our lives over here....
Brian was gone most of February on a training exercise.  During this time, I finished my "Culture Substitute Teacher" position because they hired someone full time.  My last couple of days, the new lady came in to observe and get her things together.  It was a lot of fun talking to her because she is a native of Okinawa.  She was extremely nice, and even made Brian and I Kanji signs with our names on them.
After finishing this position, I am just a "normal" substitute now, so I just get called in for odd jobs here and there.  I have been able to work a couple of longer jobs rather than just the day jobs.  One was for about a week, and another was for two weeks. I like working in the longer term because you can connect more with the kids, and it gives me ideas for my own classroom in the future!  During my week long job, I got to experience my first earthquake.  I was sitting grading papers while the students were working and I noticed that I was rocking back and forth gently, like I was sitting in a rocking chair. I looked up at the students, and they just shrugged it off saying, "It's just an earthquake Mrs. Clark!" I found that quite amusing that it is just second nature for the students.
I have been able to get out and see a lot more things near to us on the island with one of my friends.  She has taken me to different restaurants and stores, all of which have been very enjoyable.  I have tried Indian food for the first time, and it's quite delicious!  Another one of my new favorites is the 100 Yen Store, aka, the Dollar Store.  They literally have EVERYTHING there, it's a little overwhelming, but I can't wait to go back again!
Another thing that has happened that I'm not so proud of is getting my first ticket, ever.  The rule over here (and I think on any military base) is that you can not talk on your cell phone, and we also can't off base in Okinawa.  There aren't many MP's (Military Police) on the bases since they are pretty small, and usually you don't see then when you are driving around.  Well, they caught me by surprise.  I got a ticket for talking on my cell phone, and it is yet to be decided what my fate will be for that.
The weather has gotten extremely nice within the past week here. Lots of sun and 70 degree weather! I can finally work on my tan now!!!  We have been trying to put a fence up in our backyard for Piston for close to a month now.  The ground here is very tricky though because it is mostly made of red clay.  We have finally given up the battle and are having someone come to put it up for us at the end of this next week.  Piston will be very happy to have a fence to play in once it is all said and done.
Piston is still growing at a rapid pace and is a lot of fun for Brian and I both.  He will be 6 months old in just a couple of days, and we have had him for 4 months now.  It seems like we have had him for a lot longer than that though!!! Brian used to say that I spoiled him to death, but now Brian does the spoiling, Piston gets a new toy almost every week because we just can't resist it! Piston now knows a total of 6 tricks including: sit, shake, jump, lay down, high-five, and crawl.  We are still working on the crawling, but if he is focused, he can do it pretty well. 
Brian and I are celebrating our One Year Anniversary today, we can't believe it's been a year already.  We have been through a lot so far, and we've made it!
I am officially coming home in June for Andy and Ivy's wedding, as well as for Jessica's High School Graduation.  I am very excited about coming home to see family and friends.  I know I will miss my new home too though.
Last month, as everyone knows, there was a huge earthquake and large tsunami's in Mainland Japan.  Brian and I are very appreciative of all the thoughts and prayers we got from the natural disasters.  We were extremely fortunate to be so far away from all of the things going on, but are still thinking about all those up in those situations now.  It has still affected us in some small ways.  Brian was supposed to go to help with the relief efforts, but that was cancelled for some reason or another.  Also, DoDDs schools have a transfer program where teachers can request to transfer to a different school or location.  This program is supposed to announce transfers for the next school year around this time, but because of the issues in Japan, this process has been frozen for the time being.  They are not sure what the situation will be for the schools or bases up there in the next school year.  Many of the classrooms up there now are operating with only a handful of students coming to class as it is.  This is affecting me getting a job for now.  Until the transfer situation is under control, I will have to continue being patient to hear about whether I will get a full time teaching position next year or not.
Last week, I went with some of my friends to get a pedicure.  There is a place here called  Cocoks that is famous for their pedicures.  I would say they definitely lived up to those expectations.  We all sat in nice leather recliners and were brought buckets of water for our feet to soak in.  Once that was done, the rest of the pedicure was done with our feet up and leaning back in the recliner.  We each got a glass of Jasmine Tea to sip on that they refilled throughout the two hour process.  They do awesome artwork on pedicures too.  Everything is done to perfection, it is really amazing.  It was an awesome experience, and I can't wait to go again!!
Close to a month ago, we went out to White Beach for a function with Brian's work.  This beach has campers and cabins to rent out.  The campers sit right in front of the ocean with an amazing view.  We had a great time and plan to go back many more times.
I'm not quite sure if I have covered everything that has been happening here, but I did cover a lot of it!! Enjoy, and I'll try to update again before I head back to the states!!!

Above: Araha Beach

Above: White Beach

Above: Kanji from Friend

Piston with his monkey...

Family :)

January

As of the last month.....
Well, we got through our first holiday season over here and survived.  I think it was harder than either of us wanted to admit.  Only 2 more to go though!  Things definitely aren't very exciting at the moment over here as they were in the beginning.  We both have been working throughout the whole month, with a few long weekends because of holidays.  I had another job interview a couple of weeks ago.  I didn't get the position, which was fine with me, it just didn't feel right.  I have still been substituting as the Japanese Culture teacher though.  They finally hired someone new for the job and she will be starting at the beginning of February, so I will only be working in that class for 3 more school days.  I am both excited about that and a little sad.  I have been in there for almost 2 months now, and now I'm just leaving it.  I am hoping to be working most days once this job is up though.  I am also trying to scout out for a job next year.  I would like to stay at the school I am subbing at now because I like the atmosphere and the people there, but there is also a school 5 minutes away from our house that I would like to check out. 
The weather here has been "cold" for Okinawa.  Sometimes it dips into the 40's at night, and during the day it is in the 50's or 60's.  I was quite jealous hearing about all the snow back home, but the only consolation I have is that I will have a full spring break!!  We found out at the beginning of January that they don't turn the heat on in base housing over here.  That was a rude and cold awakening.  And the store was all sold out of heaters, so we ordered one from Lowe's at the beginning of the month and have yet to receive it.  So on really cold nights, I just turn on the oven and stay in the kitchen till I am warm again.  I keep saying that I am sure our heater will finally show up with the weather starts getting warmer, which I have heard that around now the temperatures start climbing back up again.  And apparently the rainy season is in the early months of the year as well.  That, I am not looking forward to.  Who likes rain that much??
Another thing I always mean to blog about is the driving here.  I think I am used to it, and it is basically second nature to me now.  It is very different though.  The highest speed limit here is 80 km, and that is on the expressway which I have only been on a couple of times.  On the other roads, the speed limit usually is around 50-60 km.  KM's of course are "slower" than mph, so I might be driving really slow when I get back to the states.  There is always traffic out here too.  Since there are so many people in such a small space, there are tons of people it seems always driving.  A popular vehicle to ride here is a moped.  Mopeds do a thing called "white lining" which is like it says, riding the white line.  They squeeze in between cars, and when we are all stopped up, they can just keep on trucking.  So while in the states, they are a silly and slow thing to drive, they are very popular and sensible here.  When driving, you have to learn how to weave in and out pretty well....or I did anyways :)  I have also found that it doesn't matter if you get stuck behind a regular car or a dump truck, both lanes will get you there in the same amount of time.  I think I mentioned this in one of my first blogs, but when it is raining, it is the worst time to be out driving.  The roads are made of coral partially, therefore when it rains, they get extremely slippery and you have to be extra careful when driving.
Another thing that keeps me very busy over here is Piston.  He is now about 3.5 months old and crazy as ever.  He is a jealous dog, he doesn't like it when I am on the computer, he comes to push my arm off the mouse and he doesn't like it when me and Brian are talking and not paying attention to him. I have taught him a few tricks, such as sitting, shaking his paw, and my newest trick is for him to jump or stand up.  He basically has the potty training down, unless we don't pay attention to his "signs."
I believe I have covered all that needs to be covered for now....enjoy!!