Follow Feet

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...

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...

 Tea on the roof sounds great! It was, in fact, brilliant. Some friends and I decided to celebrate the approaching typhoon buy a tea party on the roof of our apartment building, but we didn't have any tea. It sounds like a problem, but it was easily solved. All we had to do was borrow a guitar. One of the teachers conveniently left his guitar at school on Friday, and knowing he would miss it by Typhoon Monday, we decided to give it back to him... for tea. Kidnapping a guitar is not as easy as it sounds. Problem 1: They do not photograph well. With three hooded hooligans and dark lighting, it is difficult to see the outline of a guitar. Problem 2: Ransom notes start to sound a bit cheesy. "If you ever want to hear from it again, bring tea to the roof no later than midnight tonight!" Problem 3: Guitars are bulky and not easily carried to the roof of apartment buildings. Long story short, we watched the typhoon clouds roll in while sipping tea with a ransomed guita...

This week was teacher training and orientation which is a fanciful melody of meetings and preparing classrooms. For those of you who do not teach, preparing classrooms turns into trash piles taller than you, desks in 500 arrangements before you find the one you like, making posters, organizing bookshelves, rethinking everything you ever thought or did with teaching your class last year, and otherwise preparing for battle by building your defenses. Without fail, there is a crud-ton of junk leftover from years past that you consider paying people to get rid of. The massive piles of free unwantables began their growth outside the doors of classrooms Monday morning. If you wanted books, shelves, baskets, dominoes, shells, or a trashcan sporting Felix the Cat on the front, all you needed to do was put your name on it. By Tuesday, everything had a tag that read "Dozo." As I walked by everyday this week, I racked my brain to figure out who Dozo was and why they wanted piles cons...

My expectations of living on Okinawa have been shattered. Here I was thinking that living here would be difficult; not the case! Don't get me wrong, it has its challenges; however, I can only think of how incredibly blessed I am in my environment. Housing: I am on campus at OCSI (my new school) and have to walk less than 100 meters to my classroom. Laziness is knocking at my door, screaming that the alarm clock can be ignored, and wrapping the sheets more tightly around my legs, but I can't listen because I have to run. There is a .5 mile track just across the soccer field from my front door. It is GORGEOUS! Due to the .1 mile downhill and .4 mile uphill, my long runs are becoming easier and easier. Speaking of long runs, I can run to the beach in five different directions with five different mileage options ranging from 2 to 13 mile round-trips. Roommates: I have two wonderful ladies sharing the apartment. One is a built-in translator and the other is a laid-ba...

Flying by yourself to a foreign country that you have never visited before could seem rather daunting. I was expecting to fulfill the cliches of 'shaking in my boots', 'so nervous I could puke', or 'butterflies in my stomach' and many others; however, I survived with flying colors and even had the gumption of giving directions to other Americans who were lost and apparently couldn't read English (or were just too nervous to look at the signs). Today, I felt rather empowered. Yes. I can go though foreign airports without getting lost! Airports are the BEST places to sit down with your favorite cup of joe, prop your feet up on your suitcase, and watch the people go by. It is practically the olympics of people-watching. So without further ado, I present... THE PEOPLE-WATCHING OLYMPIC EVENTS! This year's events are as follows: the Impressive, the Wierd, the Gross, and the OMG. To save time on this broadcast, I will only be covering the gold medal winn...

Note: The Following is a Slight Exaggeration Me: YAY! I'm leaving the USA! Going on adventures! *High-pitched, embarrassing squeal of excitement* Government: NO! Not until you pass all my tests! Muahahaha! *evil laugh* You must have numerous tests to see if you be human. We withhold the right to tell you no even if all tests be 'normal'; we know not this 'normal' you speak of. You must also sell us your right to time, peace of mind, and ability to function for the next two months while we discuss your virtues. So DANCE PUPPET! DANCE! Me: Crudmonkeys! Darn you government. Note: The Following is NOT an Exaggeration This crudmonkery made me get a physical, blood test, urine test, TB test and paperwork galore. Ah the glories of target practice in a cup and needles stuck in my arm with the resulting bruise; give me paperwork any day! The trouble came with TB test check day. As you might know, a TB test is punched under your skin like a tiny blister fille...