So we have been in Okinawa for 2 weeks and now are pretty used to everyday life. I still have not driven yet (a task I must face this weekend) but we now have internet at the apartment, a home phone, and a pay-per-use phone-- which I have already used half of the 3000 yen that we put on it!
This week we started working a normal work schedule. We've been helping to unpack all of the boxes (the 2 campuses are now together in a building that we are sharing with a church). I got to work in my classroom a little bit today as well, I went through a lot of the worksheets that were left from the previous teachers and organized them by subject. I also learned today that I am going to need to buy a flyswatter (or make one with newspaper) because there are jumping spiders throughout the building. Spiders and cockroaches will not be tolerated anywhere near my classroom... I wouldn't mind a gecko or two though as long as Kristen (my partner teacher) is okay with them :) This is me in my classroom before I put the tables in:
Our garden is starting to grow! The scallions are growing really fast! This was taken a few days ago and they are already at least twice the size and there are many more now!
I am really enjoying it here. All of my co-workers that I have met so far are wonderful! The only thing I don't like is the humidity!!!
I'll end this post with a picture I took tonight of some flowers right near our parking spot. It's so easy to find beautiful things here!
Settling In
Pineapple Park Day
Today we ventured to Nago Pineapple Park with Lori (the Pre-K/kindergarten teacher and her daughters).
Before we got to the park we stopped at a glass factory where they make sooo many beautiful things out of glass. We didn't shop in the store but did visit the clearance section outside. They not only have cheaper things out there but also a fun game. If you have ever gone to a fair and won a goldfish you will know what I mean. For 300 yen (about $3) you get 5 ping pong balls. There is a little section with different types of glasses inside of it. If you get a ball inside the cup, you get to keep it! I won 2 glasses:
After that we headed to the Pineapple Park. At the park we rode on a little pineapple golf cart that drove itself through the pineapple farm. They had a recording (actually in English) that told us what we were looking at. I didn't realize there were so many different types of pineapple!
After the ride we got to sample A LOT of different pineapple products. My favorite was just plain old pineapple though. Okinawa pineapple is so much better than in the states. We have yet to buy one though because we are waiting to find one on a little street store (they were expensive there of course). Afterwards we bought some Ube (sweet potato) Ice Cream which was good.
On the way back to Lori's house we stopped to take pictures and see a beach. It was good free fun! I had fun looking for sea glass and interesting treasures from the ocean. Here are my goodies:
It's hard to tell from the picture because they are all sandy and not washed off.
Today was a fun day. We hadn't been out exploring the island lately except for the Okinawa City area so it was a nice change. Oh...the many places to explore!