Drivers license saga complete!

Thanks to Nate's time and diligence, I passed my driver test on the second try! It is actually really easy once you understand everything they are looking for. I might have passed my first time, but I was too nervous and drove too fast (43 km/hr instead of 40km/hr). Who knew?

The instructor was more surprised than I was and kept looking down at his paper, saying "One check, very good. Only 2nd challenge. One check!" It took him so long to tell me that I passed that Nate was sure he was explaining what I had done wrong and that I had failed.

In other belated news...we splurged on 200 grams of cream cheese for $4 and Nate made us a birthday cheesecake! Oishi des!!!



We also survived Typhoon Muifa. It was a very slow moving storm, so we had a lot of rain and a lot of wind, but everything was fine. See the video below...we took it before the really big winds started.

5th time's a charm!

One month and 30000 yen later, Nate has a Japanese driver license! He made it under par at five tries. The average for international students is six driving tests.


We celebrated at Masaru's house warming party. He just moved into a new apartment near campus. Carey brought juice boxes of wine...they were terrible.



"Son, you've got a panty on your head."





The festivities included this tug-o-war game we found at the hundred yen shop. It was well worth the purchase price.

Sayonara Yuka and Forest Adventure

We had a sayonara party for Yuka at the Reimer house. Yuka is a master student in our lab who is going to Hawaii for a one-year internship. We are all happy for her, but we will miss her! The chairs were a bit reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland for some of the shorter guests.
(Remember you can hit control and click on the photos to enlarge them!)



The next day we went on a Forest Adventure! Eight of us went to the zipline course in Onna. Some of us were scared and others couldn't wait to jump off the platforms. First, we all had to suit up into our harnesses. They were very flattering for most of us.



Next, we had our safety briefing. We all had to connect ourselves to the lines, so our safety was in our own hands. We didn't even have to fill out waivers. Our fearless leader, Jamie, went first.



Nate wore Sung-yin's glasses for her, so she could be comforted by blindness. She was always hugging the poles so she wouldn't fall off. Although we all had two lines clipped to something at all times. The ladders were perhaps the trickiest part! As the briefing instructor told us when explaining how to climb up them, "Danger!"



A photo of the zipline team, our best side, of course.



Near the end of the course, was the "adventure course." This was truly a test of endurance for most of us. The Tarzan swing was the scariest part of the day, I think I'm still shaking from it. See video below. We all did it and survived! After the Tarzan swing was a series of strategic bridges. The next photo shows Sung-yin starting the balance beam bridge, Bidur on the swinging bridge, Javier on the Chinese bridge, and Martin on the rings. Then, a close up of Kris on the rings...that was a tough one.



All in all, it was hot, humid (notice the sweat dripping off of us all), scary, and so much fun! Afterward, we all jumped in the ocean to cool off, clothes and all. Check out the videos below. Nate recording as he ziplines, Kris landing gracefully, and Kris doing the Tarzan swing. Make sure the sound is on. It really adds to the the video experience!

German fest on Okinawa

This weekend we went to German fest to celebrate the anniversary of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Germany and Japan in 1861. We were very curious about what a German fest would be like in Japan, and as we suspected...very different from any American German fest we had been to.

So, first things, first...where is the German beer? The advertisement boasted a traditional Biergarten that opened at 4pm. We got there at 5pm and they were down two two flavors of beer. Unfortunately, I missed the picture opportunity, but the beer girls were wearing vests over their shirts showing lots of cleavage, like a St. Pauli girl. You can almost see it in this picture of Nate and Takuma odering beer.



Below, Kris, Yukari, and Takuma are enjoying the tasty German beer. And what would a German fest be without a bit of martial arts? They were serving bratwurst, but ran out by the time we got there and all that was left was some chicken kebab, but they ran out of that as well. By the time we went for our second beer, they were nearly out. We got the last ones of the day. I guess the Japanese organizers should have been thinking a bit more German, but at least we got two German beers each!



We watched a film by a German film maker starring local market people and then a few short films that were part of a new film maker project on Okinawa. Our friend, Megumi, made a movie about her research in the ocean. It was a lot of fun!

Perhaps the funniest thing about the festival was the "German Chinsuko." Chinsuko is an Okinawa cookie often given as souvenir's after traveling. I'm not sure what makes these ones German, other than the label. They were tasty though!



Since we missed out on the bratwurst we all went to a Thai restaurant for dinner after the festival. Seemed like the perfect end to the German festival on Okinawa!

Parking wars

The parking wars continue...



(Be sure to read the fine print.) Kris' office is in the two year old Rising Star building, which doesn't have a parking lot. Unlike many universities, there are no parking permits at the University of the Ryukyus. This has caused some problems with parking, particularly when loading and unloading dive gear, samples, etc.

The engineering professors made their own committee to tell us not to park in the parking lot directly behind the building, even to drop things off and leave right away. We found the flyer above on the windshield of our car the other day. The hand written part threatens to lock our tires next time we park where we are not supposed to. Jamie is fighting for parking, but as of now, everywhere we park makes someone unhappy.




Above are Sung-yin and Martin in the Rising Star building. Hard at work as usual.



For those of you who are scared of using Skype...Anne demonstrates just how easy it is. This picture was taken during a live conversation between Asheville, NC and Okinawa! After the chat with Anne, we ate Nate's chocolate tofu cookies and maguro (tuna) sushi for dinner!

Life as usual

Hi all. It is life as usual here on Okinawa. Nothing too exciting to report and unfortunately, no new photos. Below is a wiener teeter totter we saw at a park near the diving shop.



We have started way too late, but it is time for us to get our Japanese driver licenses. We currently have international driver licenses, but those will expire on August 2, after we have been here one year! (Time flies when you are having fun.)

It is illegal to renew an international driver license, so to skip the possibility of being deported, we will attempt to get an official Japanese driver license. Make sure you are sitting down...this could take awhile.

First, you have to get your current U.S.A. driver license translated for 3000 yen. This is only possible if you were issued your license at least three months prior to coming to Japan. I renewed mine just before we came, so I can't even start the process. I am currently waiting for an official driver record from Mississippi to prove I had my license for three months and then I can go get a translation done.

Nate completed this first step and went for a 45 minute drive to the driver license center to apply for a Japanese license. This costs 2400 yen. Then you can take an eye test. This is the easy part. After you pass, you schedule your appointment for the written test. Nate had to go back one week later.

The written test costs 2650 yen (each time you have to take it) but is only 10 multiple choice questions and the test is available in English, so Nate passed! Then you go to another counter to schedule your driving test. This costs 2000 yen for the test and 1650 yen to rent a car for the test (again, each time you have to take the test). This photo shows the course for the test.



There are rumors of people passing on the first try, but it seems that the average is 6-7 times before you pass. Driving course, no big deal right? Well, the catch is you have to say everything out loud and if you miss anything you fail. The test starts as you walk to the car and you have to check in front, behind, and under the car for small children or people. You can imagine the rest of the things they are looking for. Nate failed test number 1, but no surprise there...test number two in on Wednesday!

Aloha

We just returned from our trip to the Aloha state, Hawaii. We spent the first five days in Honolulu for the annual Crustacean Society Meeting. Kris got to see some old friends, make some new friends, and Nate got to meet some of the infamous Crustacean researchers that Kris always talks about. The "t-shirt" for the meeting was actually a Hawaiian shirt that you can see three people wearing in the photo below. From left to right are Jim Lowry, Lauren Hughes, Jim Thomas, Les Watling, Kris (all amphipod workers) and Charles Franzen (a shrimp guy).



We managed to do a bit of sightseeing one afternoon. We ate shrimp from a truck on the North shore and got some photos of the mountains and a rainbow. We saw at least one rainbow everyday, but usually two or three.





After the meeting in Honolulu, we went to Maui to visit the infamous Jessie Brown and his family, Kim, Ellie-May, and Memphis. They live up in the mountains and Jessie has built a house and cabin. It was like staying in a first class resort. Below is a picture of the bathtub and the view from the bathtub.



Kim and Jessie took us "surfing!" It was our first time trying, so we mostly just tried to stand up on the boards and spent most of our time in the water and climbing back onto the boards. It was a lot of fun! Here are a couple of photos of us out on the water and one of the Browns playing patty-cake on the beach.




We got to see a lot of Maui, including some "painted eucalyptus" trees that are really colorful.



Jessie, Memphis, and Ellie-May took us on a hike through a bamboo forest with five waterfalls along the trail. We had to swim (cold water!) to get to the last waterfall, but it was worth it!


This is a fern leaf that we saw on the trail. I don't know what kind it is, but I thought it was pretty cool. I think those dots on the leaves are spores.



We brought Memphis and Ellie-May some Okinawan treats. Memphis especially liked the candy stamps and quickly covered himself with them. Ellie liked the dried squid the best.



Below is the view from Jessie's cabin that we stayed in while we were visiting. They have a cat, two ducks (seen below), a chihuahua, a 150 pound dog, a pig, and some chickens, so there was a lot of entertainment while we were there.



Memphis loves motorbikes and the video below shows him riding one with a leash! Somehow, Maui reminded us a lot of Tennessee! We had a great time in Hawaii but it is nice to be home. Back to work...lots of amphipods to sort, papers to write, and cable to install!