Yoron Island

Below are excerpts from Jessica's journal about her experience at 6th grade camp.

Getting ready to leave for Yoron Island!

Our "Cruise Ship"

"Friday - After a four hour boat ride (I  only puked once) we arrived at the island. Once we checked in to our minchiku (host house) we got on our swimsuits and headed for the beach to build rafts out of bamboo. When we were done we went back to our minchiku and took showers. It was disgusting because only the Americans would wear swimsuits and the Japanese would go in naked - but we got used to it. After dinner we went outside and did evening exercises. Then our host family gave us a welcoming party, and we finally went to bed about 1:00 am!"

"Saturday - The leaders would come and wake us up by slapping our bootees. They would wake us up promptly at 6:00 am.  After breakfast and morning exercises we went down to the beach and rode in the rafts that we made the day before. After a long day of racing rafts we finally went back to the minchiku, and took showers and got on our pj's, ate dinner, did evening exercises, and went straight to bed we were so tired."

"Sunday - We went to a sugarcane field and got to make cane juice. . . We took a small hike up to a shrine and hung out with our friends from other groups. We also got to go shopping at a souvenir shop and bought a few things for my family.  After going back to the minchiku for dinner, showers and evening exercises, we played a prank on the boys.  Once all the boy's went to sleep we snuck into their room, stole their underwear and hid it in the girls bathroom.  It was so fun but all the japanese thought we were crazy!! That was the most un-sunday I have had in my whole life!!"

"Monday - As always we woke up bright and early, then went to the beach and raced hare boats. In the afternoon we built two huge fires and all the Japanese and Americans stood around them trying to get warm after being in the water all day.  There were 408 students trying to get warm by the fire!!  Later that night, two girls went in the attic and tried to walk around. There was so much weight that the ceiling collapsed.  It was right over my bed so my bed had a bunch of stuff all over it."


"Tuesday - After breakfast we went straight back upstairs to start cleaning. We had to clean everything! Then we got all our bags and went down to the port to wait for the boat - and compare "body art." We FINALLY got on the boat and started our journey back home to the main island of Okinawa.  Because of delays we didn't get back to the school until almost 8pm.  My dad took me out to get dinner because I had not eaten since breakfast."

Spring Break

We spent a good part of spring break last week at Tokashiki Island.  What an amazing experience!!  It's about a 70 minute ferry ride from Naha (at Tomari Wharf).  We stayed at the Okinawan Youth Friendship Center. That was very interesting. It's kind of like a dormitory, except each family had their own room. The rooms were bare, except for a tatami mat on the floor. The closet was full of futons and pillows that we'd put away each day. I started out with one futon, and ended up with three by the last night. Each morning and evening we were required to attend the flag raising ceremony, as well as the morning exercise. The kids got to help out with the flag raising and had a ball. The exercising was hilarious, but felt really good after basically sleeping on the floor all night. For meals (we ate breakfast and dinner there), they had cafeteria trays with the food already on them waiting for us. Along whatever they had cooked, there was plenty of rice and miso soup to go along with each meal. Mmmm. . . We also had access to their gym (the kids had a great time playing in there one night), and tennis courts. We went with 5 other families and were the only ones using the facility. However they had a group of 300 arriving on the day we left. The water there is, as usual in Okinawa, stunning. Pictures just can't capture the beauty. The Friendship Center where we stayed owns one of the beaches and let us use their kayaks, snorkeling floats, and their dragon boat. That was very fun to paddle around in. It took 15 of us to do it, but was a fun experience. We had fabulous weather and made many lasting memories. Take a look at some of the pictures we took . . .

After a day at home, doing laundry and getting settled again, we decided we had time for one more adventure before spring break ended. We'd been wanting to make a fire at the beach and roast marshmallows, so I called Torii beach (a marine base north of us), to see if they had any cabins available. That way we could play at the beach, have a fire, and then just stay the night and be able to walk out to the beach again first thing in the morning. Finding an available cabin on such short notice, especially during the break, was a huge surprise and a great blessing. We had a great time! The perfect ending to a fabulous spring break!! As you can see in the pictures, the cabins appear to be very small, but the space is well utilized. There is a double futon, two bunk beds, and a loft with a double mattress, with room for some sleeping bags. There is also a refrigerator, microwave and a TV/DVD player.

Easter & Okuma

A few highlights of our busy, fun-filled week.

We had a great Easter weekend! We had a neighborhood egg hunt (with over 20 kids) Saturday morning, and went to a surprise 40th b-day party for our friend (and Chad's boss), Jeff Arrington.  On Sunday, we decorated eggs and enjoyed the sabbath.

Amie and I had fun hiding the eggs in the backyard of one of the duplexes. Her husband, Zach, hid the teen eggs - they were a bit harder to find. Tanner tried hanging from the stringy moss on this tree just before the egg hunt started, scraping up his back on the gnarly roots you can see.  Ouch!

Jessica - using a little ingenuity to get an egg down.

Checking out the loot

Reed surveying the scene; making sure all of the eggs had been found.

On Monday, we, and one of our neighbor's, began hosting Japanese exchange students for three days. They were the youngest students we've ever had - almost too young I'd say. Here is a picture of everyone at our "farewell" party. The girl on my lap, Savannah, and the two blonde boys, Dylan and Logan, are the children of some friends of ours who stayed with us for the week while their parents were in the states. It made for a full house, but the kids had a ball!!


Here is Chad's beloved car - the one he wanted so badly to bring home to the states . . . until it quite working; stranding him a few times on base. We finally got the car to the shop on Wed., and the love affair is now over.


On Friday, we left for Okuma.  Okuma is a military resort on the northern part of the island where we went for the weekend - to relax.   This is looking from a jetty off of the beach towards the buildings where we stayed.  As I have said many times and will continue to say - the water here is incredible.  The colors are indescribable.

Here's Tanner - full speed ahead as usual . . .

. . . and enjoying the waves

And the kids and I hunting for shells and sea glass - a favorite past time

It has been a fun and busy week.  However, the older I get, the more I realize that "mundane" is often nice.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day!! In keeping with the green theme, we had yummy green eggs and ham this morning, while quoting the Dr. Seuss book of the same name. Everyone loved them, except Chad - he opted for a bowl of Life. I think the green eggs were a little more than he could stomach. In addition to that, we are all wearing green, at the store we are spending something green, Tanner made a St. Patrick's Day word search, and, we're having Irish potatoes, broccoli and lime jello for dinner, with green rice crispie treats for dessert. We are even recycling, which definitely qualifies us to be "green" today. When Rachel asked what was for dinner and found out we already had the menu planned, she was very relieved. She was afraid I was going to make my "infamous" cream of broccoli soup via the vita-mix. For those who have never heard this story, it was truly my biggest cooking blunder to date, and one we laugh about quite often! Let me just say, foaming, neon green soup does little to appease the appetite :0)

MUN and Yokosuka

Chad and I had an opportunity to accompany 10 of his high school students to Yokosuka Naval Base for this years Far East MUN (Model United Nations) Conference. It was a fascinating conference, and a great experience for the students. Chad is hoping to get MUN going at Riverside when we return. We had a great time, got to see more of mainland Japan, and are very thankful for the friends who helped watch our children while we were away!!

The conference lasted 4 days and we were typically done by 3:30pm. We spent our first full afternoon in Yokohama at a fun beachside amusement park. Yokohama is a beautiful city, with amazing architecture. It is also the home of the largest ferris wheel in Japan. It takes 15 minutes to go all the way around, and is a bit un-nerving to be so high up - especially when you are hundreds of feet in the sky, in a small glass compartment and the wind starts to blow. Here are a few pictures of Yokohama . . .

Here is a picture of the ferris wheel from across the bay. . .


. . . from right underneath it.


And, Yokohama with Mt. Fuji in the background


We stayed at the TPU (Transient Personnel Units), that are used for sailors to stay in when they are between ships. It was fun to stay on Naval base, however just as were beginning to get used to the Air Force acronyms and lingo, we were faced with the language of the Navy. When we had our debriefing, before we could check-in, the man in charge introduced himself as the LPO of the TPU - huh??? We shopped at the NEX (as opposed to the BX or PX), and had to check in at the "quarter-deck" whenever we entered the building. We slept in a "rack," and our rooms were inspected each day. We received a TPU Room Inspection Report each day which let us know if our "quarters" were up to par or not. They have a great little check-list of things that need to be done, for example:

1. Floor needs swabbed/waxed
2. Rack not made
3. Locker not locked
4. Walls need scrubbed
5. No name tag on locker
6. Gear adrift

etc., etc., etc. We brought home copies of the report to show the kids and told them we were going to be making up a stack of Room Inspection Reports, and that they would be used each day to let them know what needed to be done. Needless to say they were less than thrilled :0)

We took a picture of the barber shop, because it made us laugh. They certainly don't make it easy to get a haircut in the Navy - look at the hours . . .

Japanese Parks

Japanese parks are the best! Our last excursion off-base before being grounded was on President's Day when we went to Nishizaki Athletic Park just south of Naha. It has a HUGE roller slide that spans half the park and goes over a moat - landing on an island inside the moat. You can see the beginning of the slide as it juts out of the "mountain." To get to the top of the mountain you can either take the stairs, climb up the side of it with foot & hand holds, or climb up the inside which is filled with fake stalactites and dinosaur eggs - very cool. For those of you that don't know what roller slides are, they are a little like rollercoasters in that they twist and turn and are pretty long. The slide is made up of rollers, kind of like a conveyor belt. When going on long slides, or slides with larger rollers, it's best to take some cardboard to sit on - you go faster and it's not so hard to sit down afterwards.




You can see the rollers in the picture with Rachel. You can also see part of the moat off to the right, along with part of a dock. During the summer there is a Tom Sawyer type raft which you can use to get on and off the island. Then there's Chad - just one of the kids. This park, as well as most of them in Okinawa, has a zip line. Those are very fun - I just couldn't resist! In case you can't tell, I'm zipping across the water - woo hoo.



Many parks here are very unique. Here is a picture of the Treehouse Park. It's for younger children, but still fun - and very different from most parks found in the U.S. The kids also love to go to Araha Beach Park. There is a Pirate Ship which the kids love to play on, as well as a zip line which goes from the pirate ship to the beach. Just out gate 2 of the Kadena base is the Drop-slide Park. That has lots of fun things to climb, slide and jump on, including a drop slide. I will try to get a picture of it next time we go - although who knows how long before we're able to do that again. The kids love it, but I haven't had the nerve to go on it. You climb to the top, hang on to a bar, and just drop about 8 feet before hitting the slide and slipping the rest of the way down.

We've Been Grounded!

We have been in, what the military calls it, a "Period of Reflection" for about a week now. However, most people refer to it as being grounded. We are not allowed to leave the base unless it is for an "essential" reason, ie. religion (which I'm thankful for), education (a lot of people take their children to Japanese pre-schools), employment, medical, and a few other things. We can also go to other military bases, but are not allowed to go anywhere else on the island. If we do have to leave the base, we are to drive straight to our destination and back - no detours. We have been told to use this time to "reflect" upon our privilege of being able to live in Japan, because we are here as guests. I agree with that, and I am very thankful for that opportunity. For the most part, so is everyone else here. However, as is typically the case, it only takes a few bad apples to spoil it for everyone else. In case you haven't heard on the news, a few Marines have really been messing up over here. With several instances of rape (one of a minor), drunken disorderly conduct, theft and drunk driving incidents - all occurring in about a two week period - the Japanese have had enough of us "Ugly Americans." We even had officials come down from Mainland Japan to express their disdain for the actions of the U.S. Military. Although I can totally empathize with them, it's frustrating that the actions of a few can affect so many. So, until further notice, we are restricted. Chad said he hadn't been grounded since Jr. High :0). We were hoping to be done with it yesterday, but I guess there were several instances of enlisted men violating orders and going off base this past weekend, so . . it sounds like we're in for the long haul. Rumor has it we'll be in "lockdown" for three more weeks. Ugghhh!! I hope they are false rumors! Fortunately Chad and I are going to Tokyo for five days. We are leaving this weekend for the Far East Model U.N. conference which is being held at the Yokosuka Naval Base. I am actually leaving two days earlier to be the chaperone for one for the MUN students who also happens to be receiving a scholarship in Tokyo this weekend, so that will be fun. Since we (Chad) are going TDY we're allowed off base to get to the airport - yea!