Things I enjoy about Okinawa

-The weather

As odd as it may seem, I love the weather here! It averages between 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit everyday with 70-90% humidity on top of that. But it's warm and sunny with beautiful blue skies and gorgeous puffy clouds. And you can tell when it's going to rain by the build up of humidity and then the rain cools everything off and it rains hard but not too long. And the evenings are clear with a cool breeze and the moonlight illuminating the white clouds set against a deep blue sky. (Yeah I know, I'm a romantic writer.) It is so nice.

-My roommates

Nana and Miwako have been so great! My transition here would have been much rougher without them. I praise God for them. (I will post a picture as soon as I can get one.)

-The students

As you've seen in the pictures, the kids I work with are so cute (although I haven't posted pictures of all the kids I am working with). But kids are kids regardless of where you go and my kids become even cuter to me the better I get to know them and love them.

-The food

I have only eaten a few things here that I wasn't too thrilled about. And some things just take getting used to. But I am enjoying the food and it is healthy too! (I've already lost some weight from eating the food here.)

-Going to the store

It is always an adventure to go to the grocery store. I like it because it's something I can do on my own and yet it's still an adventure discovering new things and deciphering labels. =)

-The cafe/tea house by my school

My roommate Nana and I went to a cafe right across the street from the school my first week here. We've been back there a couple times and she's also taken me to different cafes, but I really like that one. I'll have to find out how to write the name in English.

-My coworkers

I really like the other teachers and the receptionist at Okinawa Christian Academy. I don't think the receptionist/secretary is a Christian, so you can be praying for her.

-The Bernanrds

Sam and Dacee Bernard are two of my childhood friends from Haiti. Dacee's parents were missionaries in Haiti and Sam's dad has an orphanage in Haiti and we all lived on the same campus. I have not seen them in 12 years since both of their families moved to the US. They got married and had two beautiful girls and have been stationed in Okinawa for 4 years. It has been so fun to reconnect with them and so encouraging!

-The Christian community

I have enjoyed getting to know the people at my church as well as some other church groups that my roommate Nana is involved in. There are several teachers from Okinawa Christian School International who go to my church and they have been so supportive (OCA and OCSI are sister schools). And I have met a missionary family with Cadence (an organization that ministers to military people around the world) who lead a church called The Harbor. They have been so nice and welcoming.

Okay, well, I just wanted to write down some of the things I am thankful for and acknowledge the Lord's goodness and faithfulness. I know I could write more but I need to get to bed.

Ping Pong!

No, I am not referring to the game. I am referencing cultural sounds. If you've ever been to another country and started picking up some language, or worked with kids, you have realized that animals make very different sounds in different countries. Foreign cats don't say 'meow' and dogs don't say 'woof.' Animal noises are often the easiest to notice as different but most sound effects are different, even if only slightly. The title of this post is the sound a doorbell makes in Okinawa. =)

Introducing.....My kinders

Here are the kids in my kindergarten class:

Linna (6)

Kousho (5)

Kohei (4)

Katsuki (5)

Josiah (5)

This is the son of the friends who asked me to come work here.

They are all very sweet, with lots of energy, very smart and a lot of fun.

Important teaching tool

So I have learned the Japanese variation of a highly effective teaching aid. This aid is helpful in resolving conflicts. It is called "rock, paper, scissors," although it is quite the international game and has many names. Here is a bit of what I found on wikipedia (the whole article is rather lengthy):

Rock-paper-scissors is a hand game played by two or more people. The game is known by many names, including 'rock-scissors-paper', paper-rock-scissors, paper-scissors-rock,fargling, cachi-pún, scissors-paper-rock/stone, jan-ken-pon, "jenken" kauwi-bauwi-bo,камень-ножницы-бумага and rochambeau.

I'm sure most anyone is familiar with this game is some way, shape or language. Feel free to read up on the international tournaments they have for this game. And apparently this game originated in Japan. Here is the Japanese form:

First you say "Sai showa gu" while presenting your fist on every beat. However you don't make one of the signs until the next line of the chant, "Jan ken pon." You show your hand motion on "pon." In case of a tie you say "Aiko de sho" and do your gesture on the last word. The gestures are the same as in America; fist for rock, flat hand for paper and a sideways peace sign for scissors. Gotta love handy games! =)

Typhoon vs. Hurricane

So did you know that basically the only difference between a typhoon and a hurricane is which ocean it's in? They are nearly the same except typhoons are in the Western Pacific Ocean (ie. Japan) and hurricanes are in the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans (ie. Haiti).

I am quite familiar with hurricanes, but I wasn't entirely sure what a typhoon was like. But today I will find out. Okinawa is directly in the path of a typhoon (don't worry, it hasn't been that bad and they move on quickly). So school was cancelled today, which was kind of a nice break.

It's always interesting to me to learn the different reasons for school being cancelled according to where you are living. In Haiti we got "the government is being overthrown again" days off of school; in Portland we got "snow days" since Portland is not really equipped to deal with snow; and here in Okinawa we get "typhoon days," even though it really hasn't been too bad so far, you just never know.

White Rice Song

White rice hot, white rice cold,

White rice in the pot nine days old;

Some like it hot, some like it cold,

Some like it in the pot nine days old.

I am so thankful that I grew up eating rice and that I like it so much because I have it for almost every meal! Oddly enough it's one of my favorite things to eat, probably because it is familiar and I already know that I like it. It's always nice to have a little bit of consistency in the midst of an entirely different world.

Prepared for Okinawa

So the Lord has granted me more grace than I even knew by preparing me for living here in the Japanese culture in ways that I didn't even realize. Here are a few of the ways he has prepared me before I even thought about coming to Okinawa (some of these things are just quirks about my personality that work well here):

• Chopsticks - In high school I randomly decided it was cool to eat with chopsticks and so I started using chopsticks to eat everything! And I mean everything. I even ate pizza with chopsticks. My brother brought me back some real chopsticks from Tibet since no one uses chopsticks in Haiti. Although my high school literature teacher, Mr. Hersey, was an MK from Japan and he taught my class the correct way to use chopsticks. It may seem like a little thing, but being adept at eating with chopsticks has helped me feel more at ease in the Japanese culture. Eating is such a normal and regular thing that it would be stressful to be frustrated in such a common task by not being able to use the utensils.
• Hand washing - Okay, some people may call me a germ-0-phobe, but it was ingrained in me from a young age to constantly wash my hands. Haiti can be dirty and you can get sick easily by not maintaining proper hygiene, so my parents drilled it into our heads that we always needed to wash our hands. I am so thankful because Okinawan people are very clean and sanitary. I would probably horrify them with my lack of concern for sanitation if I hadn't been brought up to be so conscientious about it.
• Humidity - Growing up in Haiti I was accustomed to a high level of humidity. I have lived in the Northwest for 8 years so my tolerance has dropped, but I am acclimating quickly. I know people who completely wilt in the humidity and it can be incapacitating, so I am thankful that I am able to function despite the high humidity. (And the bright beautiful blue skies are so worth it!)
• Flexibility - I mean this in two senses, one is physical and the other is psychological. I am grateful for my natural, though fading, physical flexibility so that kneeling and such are not overly strenuous for me. I am however, way more grateful for my flexible mindset. There is something about living on a tropical island that just means things move at a different pace and often things don't go according to the given time frame. And I don't know if it's just a part of ministry in general, but the details and schedule at the school are constantly changing as well. My natural personality desires concrete expectations and advance warning of changes. However, growing up in Haiti has caused me to be very go-with the flow and highly adaptable to unexpected changes. So I can be very easy-going and fluid when necessary, rather than stressed and flustered. And I have learned the art of 'flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants,' which is very useful for surprise situations.
• Conservation - Thanks to my parents influence, I learned how to conserve things like water and electricity. While these are often such an indispensable part of life in the US that we don't think about them, in Haiti many times we went without both. So my parents taught us to always turn out the lights when we left a room and to close the refrigerator door rather than standing with it open and to turn off the water rather than just letting it run. Okinawa does not have problems (at least that I've seen) with supplying water and electricity, but the school I work at tries to conserve as much as they can so I can be an asset in that effort rather than the constant drain on resources.
• Cockroaches - I HATE COCKROACHES! I am sure most people do, but I was surprised to see my intense dislike shared by the Okinawans I've interacted with. They react as much as I do and they immediately get out heavy duty cans of bug spray to kill them. I suppose it makes sense because cockroaches are so dirty and Okinawans are so sanitary. But it is a big deal and they are very adamant about killing the cockroaches right away. Sweet! My kind of people. (Unfortunately they do not harbor any dislike toward spiders since they eat mosquitoes. Oh well, I haven't seen any tarantula sized ones yet, so I am okay.)

Okay, all for now. More to come but I need to sleep.