Blog Challenge

Lucy over at Dixie Pieces issued a Blog challenge today to post 6 random facts about ourselves on our blog. So here's mine! (And if you haven't checked out Dixie Pieces Scrapbooking kits, you should do so.........they are awesome!!)

1. I have lived in Okinawa, Japan for six years and truly love everything Okinawan...especially the people. I feel a special connection with them and am Okinawan at heart.

2. I can't resist good dollar store (100 Yen here)

3. I have recently started gardening and planting everything from flowers to fruits and veggies to trees. I am addicted!

4. I am a Breast Cancer survivor (Get your mammograms!!)

5. I love fruits of any kind.

6. I am 3 years older than my husband of 24 years.

Connor

Ok Denise, this is for you!! These photos were taken only a few days ago. It's killing me to be here and not watch him grow up! Angie is good about keeping me updated with photos though.

Pizza & Sky

This past weekend we took some of the people John works with on a tour of the Northern end of Okinawa. The northern end is not as inhabited as the southern, and there is much jungle and great views. We went to a place called Pizza and Sky for lunch. It is a small pizza place up in the mountains on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It is very unique and a great place to visit. Most of the tables are picnic tables outside and if it is windy it can get very chilly. So there are baskets of blankets for you to use to keep warm. There is only one kind of pizza. It has sausage, garlic, peppers, and corn. And LOTS of cheese! They serve fresh juices and tea in unique glasses on cloth napkins and plates. Each drink has its own type of glass. The pizza is awesome and the view spectacular. A place that you would not want to miss when visiting Okinawa. You can see more photos of the drinks as they were served and the restaurant and view on my photobucket here:
http://s225.photobucket.com/albums/dd126/okidoki2181/Pizza/

Blue Angels

I made this scrapbook page for the we kit u not monthly challenge. I used the Dixie Pieces December and June kits.

Proud Grandma!!

So...here's my new favorite photo of my grandson Connor. Yep, Proud Grandma!!

Obon and Eisa

I promised in late August photos and descriptions of Obon and the Eisa Festival on Okinawa. Life has taken over a bit and I got distracted. Here's the photos and hopefully I'll get a description of the Obon celebration soon!!! It's my favorite festival and tradition on Okinawa.

Hahri (Dragonboat) Races

We have been to the Dragonboat races in the capital city of Naha before, but I kept reading about the celebrations in the smaller fishing villages, the ones not so advertised and commercialized and had been wanting to go to one of those. The Naha ones are fun, and the military branches each have teams that compete, but I wanted to see a more traditional celebration. Then I saw this article in a newspaper called "Japan Update" It talked about this village called Tomigusuku and how they were trying to recreate a Hahri festival in the life of a King who ruled over 600 years ago. The King, King Wanouso got his title and crown from the Chinese emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He loved wearing costumes and playing with Hahri boats. Tomigusuku City had costumes made in China and sent over that were the same sort of costumes that were worn in Wanouso's day. The festival began with a traditional launching ceremony which was really cool, I just wish I understood Japanese better so I could have followed along more. I am working on my Japanese though!! The Hahri boats were so different than the ones used in Naha, and were more traditional. They were smaller, and much more elaborately decorated heads and tails. Tomigusuku is on the southern end of the Island of Okinawa, and most of the military bases are in Central Okinawa so we only actually saw one other American at the festival. The kids there weren't as used to seeing Americans as those in Central Okinawa and kept coming up to us and saying "Hello" to practice their English. Some used other phrases such as "How are you" and "What is your name." Then they would get embarrased and run off. We were welcomed by the Okinawan Men and Women as well, and as we hadn't brought umbrella's and it was raining off and on, several of them shared their umbrella's with us. We were soaked to the bone when we finally left, but had a great day!! I picked out a few pictures to share with you.