Bittersweet Goodbye.

• Our final “Thrilling Thursday” evolved into “Super Saturday” because of the 3 day typhoon that messed with our usual routine. It was definitely a bittersweet end... I had to say goodbye to some really amazing kids and parents which was really hard but everyone joined together to have a fun day filled with games and delicious food. 

• Claire and I were invited to one of my kids’ 3^rd birthday party! (Spider Man themed, complete with a Dino Jump and piñata.) For the few hours that I was there, I probably heard my name repeated more than I ever have.. Miss Jessa, Miss Jessa, MISS JESSA, MISS JESSA! … watch this, hold this, eat this.. I was cooler than Santa to those preschoolers ;) …but after being gone for 2 days now, I already miss those little tykes like crazy.

• Forest Adventure! Zip lining through the jungle was a pretty awesome way to spend my last Sunday in Japan. I defeated the Tarzan Swing and jumping onto 40ft lines with amazing views of the ocean and tropical scenery. I used a few of my Japanese phrases to help coax an Okinawan girl to jump off a ledge, so I was pretty pleased with myself about that one. It was all thanks to my preschoolers who were scared to jump from the diving board, haha..I was pretty close to singing the Alligator Song to this Japanese woman. “Alligator, alligator stand so tall, alligator, alligator jump off the wall!” (with matching hand movements that go along with it..definitely a hit with all my swim lesson kids.) I’m not so sure how she would have felt about it, however, so I simply stuck to saying “it’s okay,” and “1, 2, 3, go!” in Japanese.

• Todake Falls. One of the most gorgeous places I had seen in Okinawa. After taking a river trek up to the waterfall, the view took your breath away. Hiking through the jungle to the top of a waterfall was definitely a great way to end an amazing summer in Japan.

During our last nights, we would ride our bike down to the seawall to simply watch the sunset. It's hard to believe that I'll never see that beautiful view again. Okinawa was, with no doubt, the most outstanding place I've ever visited. I can't see Iowa, with its endless rows of cornfields, ever competing with this tropical paradise...

So after four flights, endless hours sitting awake in the plane/airport (despite taking sleeping pills,) and a two hour car drive, I’m back in  Cedar Falls ready to start my senior year at UNI.  And after a summer like the one I just had, this year has a lot to live up to!  To all my friends, parents, and children in Japan, thanks for making  the past 10 weeks an experience that I’ll never forget!

Peace.
Love.

Japan.