The Next Episode - Part II

Kombanwa (that's good evening in Japanese), once again! I know I have been delinquent in getting this blog updated and as a result, now have lots to tell you about again. A lot has been happening since my last post. What else is new? Such is life. Since then, I mentioned that one of my new hobbies is photography. Jabbar even got me a new 'real' camera, a Nikon D90 and if you thought I took lots of pics before, there are even more now! As always, Snapfish pics to come. But now, I have to break up all the pics since Snapfish ONLY allows 500 photos per album. Yes, I have more than 500 pics to share. What can I say? I want to share it all! Whether or not you look at them all, however, is of course, completely up to you.

So, where to begin?!? From February to now, dinners/picnics/lunches were had, taxes were due, wives coffees/Easter events/volunteer appreciation events/and a traditional Japanese tea ceremony were attended, more photo contests were entered, and Japanese III was taken. Jabbar had a change of command ceremony in March and shortly thereafter, attached to his new unit while I, along with my friend, Matilda, attached ourselves to Club Med for a weekend. Club Med's tag line is 'where happiness means the world.' And I have to say, I think Club Med IS the happiest place in the world. Yes, it was that good. Despite the small beds in our room, we enjoyed our view of the beach. The food, although it was a buffet, was amazing! We spent our days being waited on hand and food by the pool. We spent our evenings being entertained by the 'village' (yes, that's what they call the resort) staff with dragon dances, a magic show, fan dancing, a comedy show, and Balinese dancing. Sure, we could have wished for no rain and nicer weather, but despite it all, Matilda and I had a fabulous time that weekend and highly recommend Club Med to everybody! When I got home and was greeted by the biggest spider, I couldn't wait to get back to Club Med.

Early in April, we visited Katsuren Castle which, as it turns out, can actually be seen from our house, along with the submarine that was hanging out that day as well. I don't know exactly what it was that we witnessed while we were visiting the castle, but it appeared to be a photo shoot with a king and queen who were dressed in traditional attire as they overlooked their kingdom.

On April 18, we went to Yoron Island by way of a two and a half hour ferry called the Queen Coral 8. Would you believe we were on a ferry with cattle? Yes, we were. We stayed at the Pricia Resort and so began my first weekend of photography with my new camera. We rented a scooter and explored the quiet island. Our intent was to find the island's Greek Village which turned out to be a Greek named road and not much else. We found a pottery place, tried our hand at night shooting (which, so far, hasn't worked out so well), and the next morning, woke up early to catch sunrise shots. We had an interesting Japanese breakfast that included something that I think is called 'nanto?' Fermented soy beans. Matilda has acquired the taste. Jabbar was brave and tried it. Me, I took one bite, and that was more than enough. We attended the event which was the reason we got to go to the island in the first place and there came a point where we had to take a group picture. The chaplain noticed that I had been shooting a lot of pics and asked if I could find a nice place to take a group shot. Which actually turned into my 'director' finding a spot. With his (Jabbar's) help, this photography thing might work out after all...

On April 26, we took another ferry. This time, only 30 minutes, to Ie Island to see the Lilly Festival. Instead of getting a scooter, we rented 2 bikes. Only later did we realize that we should have just gotten the scooter. We rode around the island looking for the Lilly Festival and finally found it. It was the second weekend of the festival. We should have gone on the first. The lillies were already dying. Guess we know for next year. Nonetheless, I think we still got some nice pics to share, even if I did realize, once again, that I need to lower my expectations for these festivals. I always expect so much more of a Cherry Blossom and Lilly Festival and forget where I am sometimes. Festivals do not exactly have the same meaning here. Abundance usually comes with my idea of a festival - abundance of cherry blossoms, abundance of lillies. But this was not the case and I really need to remember that for the next festival! Still trying to get used to another country's ideas of things.

This month, on May 1, I went to my first Jayne Wayne Day. For those that don't know, it was a day for us Marine spouses to be the Marine for the day. So there I was dressed in my camouflage trousers (complete with my last name on them) and camouflage paint courtesy of my FRO (family readiness officer), Shandra. The day started with checking out a Howitzer in addition to some other static displays. Afterwards, we went to learn about sniper training, take a ride on the Zodiac in the Pacific Ocean (after which we were all drenched), and then learn about land nav(igation). We were supposed to find this box in groups of 2 with the help of a Marine or two. We didn't find the box. But only because we were almost there and the Master Sargeant was yelling at us to get back on the bus. So you know we had to hussle back there. Come to find out if he had only given us another 2 seconds, we would have found our target, a little red box, out in the middle of the woods.

Then it was lunch time, Marine Corps style, with a Meal-Ready-To-Eat or MRE. I think that was the first time in the almost 9 years that Jabbar has been in that I actually ate an MRE. The one I had actually wasn't that bad though I can't remember which one it was. I didn't go hard core and eat the meal cold. I remember I had chicken and I had to heat it up, which wasn't as difficult as it sounds. After lunch, we wrapped up the day. We were supposed to be able to shoot real weapons, but my group didn't get to as there was a fire out in the distance. Instead, we checked out an Amphibious Assault Vehicle or AAV and even got to ride around in it, looked for hidden mines, and shot simulated weaponry at the Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer or ISMT. I found the mines, but it turns out I'm not much of a shooter. I think I was more deadly with a pistol than a rifle; however, that's not saying much.

So the point of Jayne Wayne Day is to give us a better understanding and appreciation for what our Marines do on a daily basis. The thing is that Marines don't do all that in a day! They do one specific job, not all 8 things we did that day. At the end of it all, I was exhausted, but I learned a lot about a lot of Marine jobs. The funny thing is that Jabbar was coming out of the field that day, which is basically where I spent my day and I thought about staying in my cammies (camouflage) but I felt the way I think Jabbar feels every time he comes out of the field - gross. Especially after being drenched in the Zodiac and then having to go the rest of the day trying to dry out. All I wanted was a nice warm shower and to be clean. Ah, the simple things in life!

This month, we ventured over to the east side of the island and discovered Zampa Beach and Cape Zampa, a quasi-national park, whatever that is. I also learned about Kodomo-no-Hi, Children's Day, a Japanese national holiday celebrated on May 5 as part of the string of Japanese holidays called Golden Week. So the story goes that according to an ancient Chinese legend, the golden carp that swam upstream braved the numerous rapids and waterfalls of the Yellow River, and had the strength to leap over the Dragon Gate at the river's head, was rewarded for its perserverance by being transformed into a celestial dragon and spent the rest of its days flying majestically above the land. Many in Asia believe that because of this legend, the carp represents the epitome of courage, strength and perserverance. It is popularly thought that the custom of flying carp-shaped flags called koinobori during the holiday also finds its roots in this myth. During the month, I saw some of these flags and was able to...you guessed it! Get some pics. We also discovered the Butterfly Garden, returned to the Ocean Expo Park, and also revisited a photo spot where we first took pics on island in order to get sunset pics. While visiting the Butterfly Garden, a Japanese lady hit our parked car while trying to back out her rental car. Nobody was hurt. We weren't even around. But poor Jabbar's car is now back in the shop again for the second time in 8 months getting a new bumper. Last Friday, we had 'family day' at Oura Wan Beach. Saturday, we had our own not mandatory family day at Torii Beach.

All of this brings me to this week. Since Jabbar has been with his new unit, he has spent the last 2 months coming and going. Story of our life. One week home, one week in the field. Until this past Sunday when he left for a month of training back in the states. Poor guy is sick and is spending more time in the field. I know he cannot wait to get done and go on leave so he can spend time with friends and family. As for me, I am continuing to keep busy. I went to a spa workshop on Tuesday. Did some yoga and enjoyed it so much I think I need to get into class. Learned how to make bath salts and scrubs, reflexology, and goal setting. Even went to an interesting jewelry party Friday night. Seems that multi-level marketing, or at least that's what I think it is, is big business round these parts.

Seems like we have had a lot going on as usual and it shows no signs of stopping. As always, will work on Snapfish pics next and will send along as I get them done. Hope all is well in your world.