We can do anything, we can be anything...

Quick summary of my recent events in Okinawa:

• Visited the seawall for breakfast at Coffee Casa..home of the best homemade whip cream. 

• Experienced a Japanese movie theater..3D, Jap subtitles, Jap commericials.. the whole shebang.

Precisely 2 weeks ago I had to say goodbye to one of my favorite childhood friends….Harry Potter. Harry and I go waaaay back, and sitting in that Japanese movie theater watching the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was a very bittersweet moment for me; tears were shed. Harry and friends, you will be greatly missed.

• Greenlined it to Camp Schwab to hit up the beach and barbeque with a battalion of Marines who made us awesome steak and burgers. The waves were huge due to the Typhoon that was hitting mainland Japan...However, Oki was only grazed by the edge of the storm so it stayed pretty tame in my area.

• Traveled to Naha for some shopping on Kokusai Street. The Foster boys went as well and played music on the street. A group of giggling Japanese girls wanted their picture taken with the American boys singing on the corner..new Japanese boy band?

• Finished session 2 of swim lessons, ending it with another fantastic Thrilling Thursday. I probably coaxed about 20 preschoolers off the diving board for the first time and ate enough delicious pot luck food to last me a lifetime; LOVE my Kadena moms.

• Took up one of my swim lessons moms’ offer to go snorkeling at Maeda Point. She rented us gear and took my roommate and I to the best reef I’ve seen so far. I felt as if I was swimming in an aquarium, it was amazing and we even got to snorkel deep into a cave off the coast.

• Ferried to Tokashiki Island from the Tomari Port in Naha. We camped in a jungle-like area right off the beach and it was absolutely gorgeous. Definitely the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life. The Annual Tokashiki Festival happened to be the same weekend so we were able to see Taiko drumming, a Shisha dance, and an incredible fireworks display which including flames and a laser show. While hiking here at the Keramas, I had a near death experience. I literally ran underneath a BANANA SPIDER! Yes, that’s right, a full blown, black and yellow, massive arachnid that was just dying to jump off its web to bite me and inject me with its deadly venom. However, I successfully survived the encounter and am able to tell the tale.

Ferry  from Naha to Tokashiki.

Paradise :)

Taiko Drumming at the Tokashiki Festival

Shisha

• Tropic Thunder 2011. All the CampA on Oki gathered together on Kinser for a little friendly competition. We were split off into teams and got down and dirty while fighting for a victory. 

Okinawa Camp Adventure Crew 2011

4 weeks, 3 weekends and 4 plane rides until I’m back to Iowa. I’ll have to trade in my swim suit for text books and the beach for classrooms and lecture halls..can’t say that I’m really ready for that life change. Therefore, this is me making a request to all my family and friends: COME TO OKINAWA!

Live Free. Play Hard.