On the Move to Valdosta
We are expecting a typhoon today, it will hit this evening/night.
This picture shows it becoming a category 3 typhoon after hitting Okinawa but I’m guessing that once it hits land it will get stronger, or that’s what everyone has said. It’s been about three years since the last one hit. Josh was on the range this weekend, so thank goodness he got to come home, or I would be rather afraid right about now!! It’s a good thing all of the building here are cement!! Good luck to us!!
So we went and bought a new camera the other day and I love it. I have since realized the pictures dont look as good once loaded as they do on the camera. I’m sure that I could fix this in some photo software, but I haven’t worried about that much. I’ll share some new pictures with you!
A really neat flowering bush found in our backyard. ^
below is a picture of one of the flowers Josh got me, and a view of Okinawa from the road
Lou =) and the view driving on base(yes that’s ocean in the background)
below are the moon on Saturday, came out early, and one of the buildings
A building which we believe is a barber shop and a random Charlie Chaplin cutout on the street.
Below was our Saturday night dinner at Marino’s cheese fondue, and one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had!
More pictures of Lou, she’s just too cute! And a picture of the moon last night, I’ll never get over the beautiful sky here!
So as all of you know in Okinawa you drive on the opposite side if the road (vs. in the states). Whenever we were coming here, I have to admit, I was slightly terrified about the driving situation. Whenever we got here and our sponsor Victor picked us up at the airport the car was the initial shock. It was pouring the rain and we were trying to load all of our luggage in this little car. I jumped in the car while the boys continued to load and WHOAH, the steering wheel is on the other side. I was so excited that I completely forgot. The drive from Kadena to Foster will always be an amazing memory to me. I had a grin from ear to ear, my face actually hurt because I was smiling so much. After we settled in for a bit we had our newcomers orientation, where I got my drivers license. Mind you I had still never driven on the other side of the road. You merely take a written test and your licensed, for SOFA personnel only, I’ve heard it’s more difficult if you are Okinawan. Several days pass and finally I get a car. I drove for my first time with Josh, the woman we bought the car from and her child, so to say I was nervous would definitely be an understatement. I drove, and of course I was scared but it definitely wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, at least not then. Later that night on the way back to our house we, of course, took a wrong turn. Ended up on some really curvy road with cars parked along it everywhere. Somehow we made it and since then I haven’t minded driving in Okinawa. I also had to be okay with it because I had to drive Josh to and from work everyday for a month+. Every trip out is wonderful though, you see something that maybe you didn’t notice before, get to look at the beautiful landscapes, and of course observe the people.
With all of this being said there is some more information I’ll share with you about driving in Okinawa. You don’t need to be a defensive driver in Okinawa! Most times people will let you over if you put on your turn signal. The culture here is definitely more polite and that shows in their driving also. Let someone over, who seemed to be having a hard time? They may flash their hazards at you once you let them over, just to say Thanks! I must say, I love getting a flashing thank you from someone! Busses and taxis have the right away. If a bus is pulled over to pick up passenger and they turn their turn signal on to get back into traffic,you STOP or change lanes. All speed limits are in kilometers per hour and they never exceed the equivalent of about 55 mph on the island, and that is on the expressway. While it may seem slow, this isn’t that large of an island, there is a lot of traffic and a lot of stop light(pretty much everywhere except the expressway).
On a lot of cars you will see two different magnets. One is for new driver, and one is for older people. They are there just to let you know to be patient! The one on the left represents new drivers and the one on the right is representative of an old driver.
This video was taken on an icky day on a ride from Camp Foster back to our house. My phone was dying and I didn’t start it automatically, so it’s not the full drive but you get the point. About 30 seconds in you see a red place called Eneos, that is one of the popular gas stations. There are attendants to pump your gas, clean your windshield, and I’m sure they offer many other services. At about 2:25 you’ll see a Lawson’s, those are convenience stores. They offer a little of everything and you even pay your bills at them. At about 3:15 you see a Family Mart, which is essentially the same thing as Lawson’s! The light that the video ends at is where you take a left to get to our house. There aren’t really businesses and everything like there are on the street I was filming on. Hopefully I can get a better video, and maybe remember to hold the camera more steady, and control my heinous accent! But as you can see, the vegetation is beautiful and green here, thanks in part to all of the rain. Hope you enjoyed the ride!
Wow! Didn’t realize it had been so long since our last blog update! We recently went to The Churaumi Aquarium and The butterfly garden so I have some pictures to share, and maybe a video or two if I can figure out how to put them on here. If not maybe next time.
Lunch before heading to the aquarium. Josh’s tempura set, and my soba set
map of Ocean Expo Park (I think that’s the name) and the complex the aquarium is in, only the gateway to it.
Take a ride down two escalators to get to the aquarium, and you get to look out over the beautiful waters of Okinawa! Also the first exhibit in the aquarium is the touch pool, shown with Josh
The touch pool, and a Lion fish, no he was NOT in the touch pool.
Not sure what the two top fish are but the bottom one are a puffer fish and some really neat sea snakes.
Moray Eels and the view of Kuroshio sea from the upper deck.
Most of these are self explanatory. The bottom right one is of the Kuroshio Sea tank from the floor. Amazing.
A lot of pictures from the butterfly garden. Don’t fear, that hat does not belong to Josh, it was in the butterfly place because they were supposed to be attracted to red. The last four butterfly pictures were actually on fake flower, which they seemed to be more interested in than the real flowers. The next to last is a spot at the butterfly garden to sit, it was really nice and overlooked the ocean. The last is the mountains on the drive home. We live in such a beautiful place dotted with mountains and surrounded by gorgeous oceans, we have the best of both worlds in my opinion. Who is ready for a visit?! =D
These are a little out of order, but just some more beautiful scenery. These were taken on the way to the aquarium, in the car. I’m pretty amazed at how decent they turned out since I took them on my phone. Hope you enjoyed!!
