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The 60km Race That Was 40 Miles

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As a teacher, there are times when all sanity leaves your body and replaces it with an empty shell-puppet going through the motions of life. One of these times inevitably occurs during the horrible, no-good, very bad testing days. The only thing worse than taking standardized tests is watching others take standardized tests. Boredom exceeds breathing. You begin to play games. Harmless little games that help pass the time. Breath count- Make your breathing match the rhythm of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody Eye Contact- Stare at a single student to see how long it takes for them to look up The Weave- Make intricate patterns between desks as you oversee each bubble filled in completely Spy Alert- Pretend you are undercover and looking for spy gadgets in an evil meeting of mindless drones Blink 182- Count the times you blink in a minute and try to reduce it by half for the next consecutive 10 minutes Needless to say, I might hate standardized tests more emphatically than my...
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St. Kate and the Dragon Boat

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Story Butchered from  The Golden Legend; or, Lives of the Saints , compiled by Jacobus de Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, 1275. First edition published in 1470. Translated into English by William Caxton, first edition 1483. Saint Kate was a knight and born in Talahassee. One time she came to the city of Naha in the province of Okinawa. Near this city was a port, wherein there was a dragon which was running rampant throughout all the country. Whenever he approached the docks he bellowed great menacing noises, and therefore the people of the city gave to him every twenty minutes thirty two people to satisfy his hunger, so that he would do no harm to the bystanders. An ordinance was made that the children and young people of the town should be chosen by lottery to feed the dragon. Whoever the lot fell upon, wealthy or poor, he or she was delivered to the dragon. One time the lot fell upon the staff of OCSI, and the exuberant principal said to his people, "For the thrill ...
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It's A Meme Life

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Sorry Sherlock, I could list a plethora of excuses compounded by time and imagination; however, I don't have the mental energy. You can deduce that I became lazy and gave the excuse of limited time. My Year in Meme: My Job Also My Job My Coaching Job My XC and Track Runners My Free Time Free Time After Coaching The Remaining Free Time *As the above does not count as writing, see secondary posts for more complete information regarding time not spent teaching, running, eating or sleeping. *
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Forever and a Day

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There is no excuse. I was lazy and preferred to remain that way for as long as possible. School has begun again; however, many milestones have passed with nary a word since my last blog encounter: My first MARATHON was completed with smiles in June. To escape the horrid heat of Okinawa, Jess and I flew to Perth, Australia for four days; one of which I spent running. The other three were spent riding four wheelers through bush, driving along a vinyard valley with samples, and touring the greatly missed destinations of Target and Ikea. Jess was the ultimate cheerleader and sideline friendmaker, which ultimately led to the following video. Pay special attention to the insanely happy slow chick who shows up three times because she was too excited to quit smiling (2:04, 2:51, and 3:25).  Yoga is better at a castle: Bridge Jumping is fun even when you don't have a friend to write about it. Here's a friend's take with pics in the logal magazine. So there you h...
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The Power of Pine

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We all know the power of Pine-sol. It's wonderful, strong, and theoretically made of pine. Pine? Yes. Pine. As in trees. This is what I think when people say "pine."  ... That said, stated, and viewed, when I saw a donut with mysterious "cream cheese & pine" filling, I became intensely curious.  Anyone else?  I knew I had to try one.  Just once. I mean, it's a cream cheese and pine donut! Who doesn't want one of these? ... Needless to say, I ordered a donut. Admittedly, I was nervous. It could be awful or fantastic, and honestly, I was afraid it would be the former. I carefully unwrapped the donut from its protective sheet of paper. It fit nicely in my hand. I stared it down like a misbehaving student you don't know if you want to laugh at or break the book upon. It seemed harmless enough. In the seconds it took for my hand to bring the donut to my face, I had not second thoughts but seventeenth thoughts bickering...
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Since our last chat...

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The weekend before last, the roommates and I went ziplining through the forest with wonderful ocean views. At some points, we felt like small and fragile imitations of spiderman. The "Tarzan Swing" was the best part! You hook yourself on a line and jump from a platform into air. No safety tug of the harness on your legs. No reasurance of the people in front of you makes it feel safe. For a split second before the rope catches your weight, you fly.   Last weekend, I finally felt completely at my ease in Japan. I ran 12 miles to finish at a coffee shop where I successfully ordered coffee politely in Japanese. They even filled up my running water bottle so I would have water on the way home. SOOOO NICE! Anyway, on the run, a Japanese grandma laughed at my red face, patted the bench beside her and told me to sit beside her. I could only smile back and shake my head for the negative. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. This weekend, I was lazy. A phrase has been churni...
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The Inevitable Food Post

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You have a pattern; you may not know it, but you do. When a friend or family member takes a trip or moves overseas, they infallibly get the food question. What food question? I'm glad you asked. Have you eaten anything weird? Hmm. Complicated question... The answer is both yes and no. Most of the foods I find in Okinawa are extremely similar to foods in the US. To be frank, I was a little disappointed at how similar the foods were. For example, Okinawa boasts a Starbucks, KFC, A&W, Subway, and Pizza Hut among many other American options. There are some AWESOME foods that are either Japanese or Okinawan in origin. Here are the highlights so far; pardon the pictures since they taste OH SO MUCH BETTER THAN THEY LOOK.  These little puppies are called "dango." They are mushed and squashed balls of rice with a sweet sauce on top. We only get dango about once a month, but when we do, they are gone within the hour. They look nasty while being truly addicti...
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