Adventure!

Kris returned from Moorea with Nate still throwing boxes in a wharehouse on base. We went diving on Nate's two days off. We didn't get any amphipods, but we had lot of fun. The cricket below appeared on the windshield as we left the divesite at Manza. We took advantage of "couples day" and rode the giant ferris wheel in American Village. The next picture is of the view from the ferris wheel.



Below are a couple of pictures Nate took on our dive at "Gorilla Chop" with Carey. We went there because it is one of the few places to dive when the weather is not cooperating. The anemone fish are guarding their anemone and even bit Nate's finger to scare him away! The video at the end of the blog shows how territorial they can be.



To celebrate our third anniversary, which happened to fall on a national holiday (Labor Thanksgiving Day), we took a taxi to Sam's by the Sea, a delicious steak and seafood restaurant. The taxi ride there was awesome! The driver spoke very little English and we spoke very little Japanese, so the next taxi driver in line at the taxi stop came and helped out. Luckily we had a coupon so they could read the Japanese and figured out how to get to the restaurant. A third taxi driver generously gave us two Okinawan oranges for the ride. We got very lost on the way and finally had to stop and ask for directions. We were close to an American base so Nate was able to get directions. The meal and the Awamori-ritas were delicious and the taxi ride home was much less exciting. I told the driver our address in Japanese and when we got close I tried to explain where to go and he said, in English, "Please just show me." Who knew he spoke English the whole time?!

Halloween on Okinawa!

We had our first Halloween party on Okinawa as Hawaiian Elvis and a Hawaiian girl. Our inspiration was that Nate's chops apparently make him look like Elvis to several people in the lab.


We had a lot of fun with American style snacks, including Nate's hot wings, key lime pie, and deviled eggs...all a bit Okinawan style. Nate nearly scared the next door neighbors away trying to give them trick or treat candy, but thanks to Mikah (Reimer-sensei's 3-year old daughter), he was able to share the Halloween spirit. Most people at the party have never celebrated Halloween and were very excited to participate in all of the traditional (and not so traditional) festivities. We had some pumpkins to clean and carve, which Sung-Yin from Taiwan, Bidur from Nepal, and Alok from India were especially excited about. They made some scary jack-o-lanterns! We got a lot of our supplies on the military base because we either couldn't find them in the supermarkets here or they were super expensive. Pumpkins are about $18 US here! So we got some small ones on base for only $2 each.



Next we played pin the tail on the donkey with added obstacles thanks to the Racoon and Pumpkin bowling (with plastic bottles this time).



And of course, we bobbed for apples. It was very entertaining and everyone who tried got an apple!



I think everyone had a great time and especially enjoyed the pumpkin seeds from those pumpkins they carved!