News Update!

I wanted to update my blog before we headed home. Since my last update, we haven’t really done much but we did get some exciting news. Chad got put in for Below The Zone (BTZ), which is a competitive early promotion program in the Air Force. He had to go in front of a board early December, where he answered questions about Air Force history, current events, and his career so far. Being nominated for BTZ is a huge accomplishment in itself. Not all Airmen get that opportunity! For two weeks after the board, we waited anxiously for the results. He found out last Friday that he got it! This means that he will sew on Senior Airman 6 months early. Come mid-February, Chad will be a Senior Airman and he will hit his 2 year mark in the Air Force! I am so proud of him. He is a hard worker and I’m glad that doesn’t go unnoticed.

In my last post, I noted that Myah had a case of ringworm. We had been going to an off base vet since July and it still was not going away. In November, we took Myah to see the vet on base. At first glance, the American vet said it most definitely wasn’t ringworm. We had been taking Myah on an almost bi-weekly basis to see the off base vet for 4 months to treat her “ringworm”, and it’s not even ringworm, WHAT?! The bad news is that the on base vet doesn’t even really have an idea what this spot on her skin is. She put Myah on oral steroids for 4 weeks and those actually seemed to help a lot! Her bump was still there but it had decreased in size so much and she didn’t even itch at it anymore. But as soon as she stopped taking the steroids, not even 2 days later, the bump had grown in size again and additional smaller bumps had appeared. UGH! We took her back to the vet and she said the next step would be to sedate her to take a biopsy of it and potentially remove her skin from that area. Since we were getting ready to go on vacation, she gave Myah steroids to stop the itching in the mean time. When we get back from our visit to the states, we will have to schedule Myah’s appointment to get a biopsy. I feel so bad for her!

If that wasn’t bad enough, Myah also tested heartworm positive. We’ve had her on Heart Guard ever since we adopted her, but the vet says she may have had it when we first got her and the first test they did just came back negative at the time. We have opted to do the adult heartworm treatment on her, which will also have to be scheduled when we get back from vacation. She will have to have 2-3 procedures and for 30 days after each procedure she is basically on bed rest. She will not be allowed to exercise at all, which means no more of her nightly walks that she so much enjoys. My poor baby!

Enough of the bad news… the good news is that we are leaving this week to visit our families for a whole month! We are beyond ready to get off this island! We feel like we’ve done and seen everything on this island and are ready for a change! Myah will be staying in our house with a friend while we’re gone. We’re going to miss her so much! She will probably be the only reason I look forward to coming back to Okinawa. That… and the warm weather

Typhoons Fitow & Danas

Last summer, we arrived in Okinawa in late July. A few weeks into our time here, we experienced our first typhoon. We would go on to experience 3 more typhoons all before the end of September. This year was quite different! Typhoon season in Okinawa officially runs from June 1 to November 30. We finally got out first typhoon of the season on Saturday, October 5th. I felt better this year knowing what we were in for and even excited to have our first typhoon hit the island! This island was built to withstand the fierce winds and rain that typhoons bring so they don't even worry us at all! Typhoon Fitow had us locked up in our house all day Saturday. We don't have cable, so we rely on Netflix for our main source of entertainment. Well with everyone and their brother using the internet, Netflix wasn't working out too well for us. It would have to buffer every like 3 minutes. We gave up on that pretty quickly. We started watching DVDs that we own. I'm not a big fan of watching movies that I have already seen, so it got boring pretty quickly! We had gone to the video store to rent some movies before the storm hit but they were sold out of all the good ones, of course! Typhoon Fitow didn't hit us very hard, it just brought a lot of rain. The winds weren't even that strong at our house. There was a flattened cardboard box that had blown into our yard before the storm hit, and it was still there afterward. Considering one of the typhoons last year was flipping cars over, this one was pretty weak!

Since the storm had passed by the time we woke up on Sunday morning, we were able to leave the house. After one day of staying inside, we already had cabin fever! I think the worst was knowing they were reporting another typhoon was approaching the island and predicted to hit us on Monday afternoon. The first thing we did was go to the commissary to get some extra groceries. Of course everyone and their brother had the same idea. One must avoid the commissary at all costs before and after typhoons, it's always a mad house! We had enough food to last us through Monday, but you never know with these typhoons how long you'll be stuck inside! We got in and out of there with the essentials pretty quickly. We spent the day out of the house as much as we could since we knew we'd be cooped up inside the following day.

By Sunday night, we were already in TCCOR 2 again, which means destructive winds of 50 knots or greater are anticipated within 24 hours. Typhoon Danas was quickly approaching Okinawa! The different sites I follow on Facebook were all reporting that Danas was going to be more of a direct hit than the last typhoon and some even calling it a Super or Severe Typhoon. Monday morning we were in TCCOR 1 and still able to be out and about. We took Myah for a walk to try to get as much crap out of her as we could so she didn't have to go out during the "Super Typhoon". By 11:00AM we were in TCCOR 1C which means you have to stay in your house because the storm is here. What a joke! It barely rained today and I don't think our trees barely moved. It was weaker than Fitow in my opinion. I waited all day to see this typhoon and nothing even happened. It was another boring day at home but at least this typhoon hit on Monday so we didn't have to go to work :) That's always a plus! We went into TCCOR Storm Watch about 7:00PM and shortly after Chad got called into work. He only has to work a few hours and then he'll have all day tomorrow off. So while he's gone, I'm sitting here bored out of my mind and that's why I'm updating my blog for once.

So that was our exciting long weekend full of typhoons. I didn't even take any pictures or videos of the storms, that's how unexciting they were. We didn't have Myah last year during any of the typhoons so I was kind of wondering how she would act during one. She acted like she didn't even know anything was happening and she kept wanting to go outside like she normally does. She didn't even care that it was raining and windy during the first typhoon. She had to do her business and that's all that mattered to her. I think she even wanted us to take her on a walk during it! lol

Speaking of Myah... she has had a case of ringworm since June. We've been to vet just about a dozen times now and it's still not going away. It's not getting any worse, but not getting any better! She's been on fungal meds and antibiotics for months now. This last visit, they finally gave us this shampoo to bathe her with 2-3 times a week. The kicker is we have to keep the shampoo on her for 10 minutes. Let me tell you how fun that is! I just hope it clears it up and I was finally happy the vet wanted to try something different. I just want it to go away!

On a good note... 71 days until we're America bound! We are so excited!!! :)

August Update

Chad and I haven't been up to a whole lot lately. The first weekend of August, we went to see the annual 10,000 Eisa Dancer parade on Kokusai Street. Eisa Dancing is a big part of the Okinawan Culture. Groups of people dress in traditional costumes and dance, chant, and beat drums to music. There were tons of groups lined up doing performances down Kokusai Street. It was HOT! I felt bad for all the dancers, dressed in long sleeves and pants, dancing on the hot black pavement. They were even throwing water on the black pavement to cool it down. Chad and I didn't stay very long because we couldn't stand being in the heat; however it was an awesome cultural experience!

When Chad's parents were here, we took them to Kokusai street because it has a lot of souvenir type shops. There is this one shop called, Fukugiya, that sells this delicious cake called Baumkuchen. It's heaven! Chad's Mom bought a couple cakes from them when we were there with them and they were so delicious, Chad and I went back for more this time! We got one that was purple sweet potato flavored. It is so soft and sponge like, it's delicious.

Another day, we were looking for something to do and I had saw someone on Facebook post about this 3D art museum in American Village. We decided to check it out. We were kind of disappointed, we thought it was going to be real art that someone drew in real time, but it was all like printed displays. I still thought it was pretty cool. We brought our camera and took pictures with each display.

Other than that, Chad and I haven't really been doing much. We are in the midst of typhoon season but we haven't had a typhoon yet this year, which is surprising! The weather still has been very hot. During the last week, there has been a tropical storm passing near our island and we're kind of getting the outer edge of it, so we're experiencing wind and a little rain. It's kind of a nice change from the hot and sunny heat everyday.

I did get a new job! I have been working at the Youth Center since November as a desk clerk and I was given the opportunity to transfer to the Teen Center. I will be doing the same thing I am doing now but just in a different atmosphere and it will be different since the Teen Center doesn't have all the instructional classes as the Youth Center. I am excited for the change!

Only 117 days until we're on an airplane home! Woohoo! 

Visitors!

Chad's parents came to visit us on June 29th for two whole weeks! We did a lot of sightseeing around the island and even did some things that Chad and I hadn't experienced yet. One of those being, going to the Tadake waterfall. It's about a 20 minute hike through water and rough terrain to get to the actual waterfall. Once you get to the waterfall, you can actually get in the water and swim. It was pretty cool and super pretty! While I was taking pictures and admiring the waterfall, Chad had started hiking up a huge hill. We decided to follow him, but he was so far ahead of us that we actually lost him for a second. This hill was so steep and rough that someone once upon a time had put ropes up to help people climb up it. Once we got to the top, we still didn't see Chad but there was a little trail to go down the other side of the hill, so we decided to hike down it. So after getting all the way down, it brought us to a little creek and we weren't sure which way to go. We thought if we went one way, it would bring us to the top of the waterfall. After calling for Chad a few times, we finally found him! He was out exploring the top of the waterfall. He had us hike back up the mountain and then hike up even more and then back down to get to the top. We did a lot of hiking, it was a lot of work but so worth it! We enjoyed our time at the waterfall. The only down fall was there was huge horse flies flying around our heads the whole time!

Another adventure that Chad and I hadn't done yet is go to one of the surrounding islands. We had heard that the Kerama Islands were surrounded by beautiful blue clear water and was a great place to snorkel! We figured out how to get reservations on a ferry to go there (not a very easy task when you're in a foreign country) so we were all set to sail on Tuesday! The Kerama Islands are about 20 miles southwest of Okinawa. Four of the islands are inhabited, but there are a total of 22 islands that make up the Keramas. We took a ferry to Zamani Island, which was about an hour ferry ride. I was pretty impressed by the ferry. Seating wise, it looked like an airplane on the inside. On the way there, we decided we would enjoy the scenery from the top of the boat, which was pretty neat! Even though we were just on a short boat ride, it was kind of cool to step off from the rock that we live on and go explore another island. So we get to the island and we start making the hike to the beach to go snorkeling. It was so hot outside, we didn't make it very far and were already starting to wonder how much farther the beach was. Lucky for us, a shuttle stopped and picked us up. If we were in any other country (say.. Mexico), I would have not stepped in a foot in a strange man's van who doesn't speak a lick of English. We realized how thankful we were for the shuttle because the walk there was very hilly and a lot farther than we imagined. So once we got to the beach, we geared up in our snorkel gear and headed into the beautiful blue water. The snorkeling there was amazing! The corral was so pretty and we so lots of neat fish as well. We even saw a reef shark! I was freaking out when we first saw it and then I wanted to chase it to take a picture of it. That thing is fast! It was pretty cool though! Chad and I just got an underwater camera so I've got lots of pictures of our snorkeling experience! Our time at Zamani Island was short during this trip. Chad and I would like to go back again and maybe rent scooters or something to actually explore the island or go to one of the other islands.

Other than that, we took his parents to see all of this beautiful island that we live on. We even had them try sushi for the first time! While I still don't think they are fans, they admitted it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. Here are some pictures just recapping their visit.

Today marks 1 year for us here in Okinawa. This time last year was probably one of the most stressful times in my life. Living in a hotel, not having a car for a month, not having any of our belongings for 2 months after we moved into housing... all of that was not fun! I'm glad we are now settled here in Okinawa. We love it here, the island is beautiful! We do miss a lot of the conveniences of home such as American malls/shopping, being able to order something online and not having to worry about it taking 2 months to get here, American food, etc. However, in 2 years, we will have all those conveniences again, so in the mean time we're just soaking up all the Japanese culture that we can!

Summer is Here!

I was told by my friends and family back home that I need to update my blog more often. I tell them that nothing exciting happens to write about, but they want to hear about my boring life anyways!

Last weekend we went to the Futenma Flight line Festival. Futenma is a marine base about 20 minutes away from us. They opened up their flight line to the public and loaded it with Marine and Air Force aircraft. They also had a little festival with a bunch of different food vendors and entertainment. Chad and I got to tour an AWAC and KC-135. It was pretty cool to see the inside of the planes that we frequently see flying over our base.

Yesterday, I went with a few girls from my work to get a pedicure! Ever since I got here, I've heard people talking about this nail salon called Cocoks but I had never been. After going, I can now see why people all rave about it. It was an amazing pedicure and the artwork is outstanding! They give you this book of nail designs to look at while they're doing the pedicure and it practically takes the whole time to choose which one you want. They also have this amazing complimentary tea that they give you to drink. I don't even like tea, but this was really good! I can't stop looking at my toes; I will be definitely going back :)

Chad and I have been looking in to getting scuba certified. We really want to do it, but it makes me nervous at the same time! I think it would be amazing to see a whole part of the world that not everyone gets to experience but at the same time, there are a lot of deadly creatures in the ocean! We will probably take the class to get certified after Chad's parents visit, but until then we've just been snorkeling. Yesterday, we bought wetsuits. We figured we would need them to go diving with and it'll be nice to have in the meantime to protect us against jellyfish! After purchasing them we went snorkeling at Madea Point, which is a very popular snorkeling spot here on Okinawa. The coolest thing about that snorkeling adventure is that we saw an octopus!

Chad's parents will be here in less than 2 weeks! We're pretty excited to have visitors again!

May Showers

It's crazy to me that it's been over a year since we found out that we'd be relocating to Okinawa. Here in the next couple months will mark our 1 year on the island! After that, we still have 2 more years here! To be honest, I'm ready to go home, at least to visit! Don't get me wrong, I like it here, but there's just something about being home. The weather is starting to warm up here and getting more and more humid. Rainy season actually started about a week ago. It will pretty much constantly rain for a month straight. I don't like it! Since we arrived in July last year, we know what's to come. I'm not ready to be soaking wet as soon as I walk out the door due to the humidity! I'm also not ready for typhoon season again!

Ok, enough complaining for now! For some good news... Chad and I will be flying home to stay for a whole month in December! We'll be home for Christmas! I'm so excited! I don't want to wish the summer away, but I can't wait until the end of the year! The plane tickets were far from cheap, but they'll be worth every single penny! I will never complain about domestic airline ticket prices again, anything under $1,000 will forever be "cheap" to me!

Nothing much has been going on. I'm going to end this post by adding some pictures from my phone that I have accumulated over the past month since my last post.

At the end of April, we went to see the Kaiensai Firework Display. They shot off fireworks at a beach over the ocean to the sound of music. We didn't want to pay $30 a person to go to the actual beach so we watched from a distance. There fireworks are a lot like the ones you see in America. There were a couple cool ones that we had never seen before.

 

A couple weekends ago, we went to watch the Naha Dragon Boat Races. It was a fun experience but it wasn't as cool as I thought it was going to be. They had several different boat race teams go every 15 minutes or so. 3 boats would race down to one end of the pier, make a turn and head back to the finish line. There were even some Americans who had put together teams for the races including those from the Army, Air Force, and Navy. I think it would be cool to be part of the team but at the same time it would be intense to paddle that boat! I'm sure lots of physical training is required!

Chad had a PT test in April and scored a 95.2% on it! Since he got such a high score, he was recognized by his squadron's Commander and receives a comp day. I'm proud of him!

At work, we had our Annual Air Force Inspection in April. The front desk staff was recognized as doing an outstanding job, so we all got awards. Even though it's something little, it's always great to be recognized for a job well done!

One night after work, Chad took me to Round 1, which is like a big sports complex. They have a ton of different things to do from a video arcade, batting cages, roller skating, darts, ping pong, tennis, boxing, soccer, basketball, etc. You just pay an admission price depending on how long you want to stay and then you get to do whatever you want for no extra charge! It's pretty neat, Chad and I talk about how we need to open a place like that up in America!

 All the rest of the pictures on my phone are of Myah. She is doing something daily that cracks me up, so I'm always snapping pictures of her!

Our First Visitors!

On Saturday, March 30th, Chad and I picked up our first visitors from the airport! My Mom and Greg arrived all the way from Michigan! They were suppose to fly in on Friday night but unfortunately they had a set back on their flight to Tokyo. They left Chicago, flew for an hour and half and then were told they had to turn around and fly back to Chicago because of maintenance issues. Ugh, how upsetting! Fortunately, they were still able to fly to Tokyo on Friday night, but they would have to wait until Saturday morning to catch their final flight to Okinawa.

We did so much sight seeing while they were here that this blog post would be a book if I described every day. I'm pretty sure they saw more stuff in the week that they were here than some people see in the 2-3 years they are stationed on this island. The weather wasn't the best when they were here. We didn't ever have one beautiful Okinawa day, but we made the best of what we were given.

My Mom wanted to go see the big Shisa dog

My Mom & Greg on one of the many beaches we visited

We spent the afternoon at Okinawa World, where we went to a snake museum and walked through a cave.

After watching a Snake Show, we got to hold a snake

My Mom and Greg at Cape Kyan, the southern most point of the Island

Chad & me at Cape Manzamo

My Mom at the aquarium in front of the huge fish tank

We went to the seawall to watch the sunset over the ocean one night

My Mom & Greg at Shuri Castle

My Mom & Greg at the Katsuren Castle

All of us on a beach we stopped at to check out the huge waves on Sunday

We went to check out the waves at Cape Zanpa on Sunday; they were huge!

There's just a short collection of pictures from throughout their trip. We took so many pictures, that if you want to see more, you'll have to check out my Facebook! It was a wonderful week. We got to spend Easter with family this year, which was one of my favorite things! I hate being so far away from home because we never get to spend holidays with family anymore! We also took them to so many different restaurants to try all the local food. I was sad to see them leave on Monday morning. It was hard going back to reality. Now, it's just waiting for July to get here for Chad's parents to visit!