Merry Christmas from Okinawa!

It's the night before Christmas in Okinawa and not a creature is stirring. Well, not exactly, since there are a few giant Ryukyu Fruit Bats flying around and Mongoose scurrying about outside. Nicki, originally scheduled to arrive last Friday night, finally made it to Okinawa Sunday afternoon. On Wednesday she flew from Miami to DC for her flight on Thursday to Japan. The Thursday flight from Washington-Dulles to Tokyo-Narita was overbooked by 40 people and she got bumped. United Airlines made her stand on line for 4 1/2 hours for rebooking on the next day's flight. Fortunately, she was compensated $800.00 for her troubles. The Friday flight, with Nicki on board, departed the gate on time, but encountered a problem with faulty bathrooms after it taxied out to the runway. This resulted in 1 1/2 hour delayed departure and a missed connecting flight at Narita Airport (the international airport an hour’s drive outside of Tokyo). The airline put her up in a hotel overnight and then bused her 1 1/2 hours Sunday morning to Haneda Airport (the domestic airport in Tokyo) for a 10:05 AM flight scheduled to arrive at 12:55 PM in Okinawa. That flight did arrive on time! As you can imagine, Nicki was not a happy camper, and who can blame her. Anyone would be quite upset and exhausted after being in a travel mode for 4 days straight. Nevertheless, she is here safe and sound.

Arrival at Naha Airport, Okinawa

To get us in the Christmas spirit, last night we went to the Southeast Botanical Gardens annual Christmas light display complete with a lasers and fireworks. And today we went to Ocean Expo Park, which is about an hours drive north from where we live. The park hosts the Chuarami Aquarium, which has the second largest tank in the world that contains 3 Whale Sharks, the largest fish in the world.

Although it was on the cool side yesterday evening, the weather today was absoulutely beautiful with temperatures in the low 70s. Since we still don't have our household goods, we didn't prepare a Christmas eve dinner this evening. However, we brought home a sushi and mixed platter from the local supermarket, which were not quite like pierogis, but a treat nonetheless.

Southeast Botanical Garden - Christmas Light Show

Christmas Eve Morning - Coffee on the Beach

Ocean Expo Park - Dolphin Show

Ocean Expo Park - Chuarami Aquarium

Going Native at Ocean Expo Park

Sanshin and Folk Dance Lessons

Christmas Eve Dinner - Japanese-Style

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

Okinawa Update

I thought you all would kick from this picture of the entrance to the US Marine Corps fitness center at Camp Hanson. Think of this place the next time you workout.

USMC Camp Hanson Fitness Center

All is well with us and life is indeed good in Okinawa. I’m sitting here in short-sleeves on a beautiful, sunshine-filled day. The temps are in the low 70s and the birds are filling the air with song outside. Not to rub it in, but we understand it has been pretty darn cold in the northeast.

Although there were opportunities to partake in traditional American Thanksgiving fare on the military installations, Joanne & I decided to forgo turkey & trimmings. Our household goods haven’t arrived yet so we are still using military issued kitchenware that doesn’t quite lend itself to preparing a big meal like Thanksgiving dinner. Our household goods should arrive in the next couple of weeks so most likely I’ll prepare a turkey dinner for the three of us during Nicki's visit. She arrives on Dec 19th and will depart on Jan 16th. We are trying to arrange a trip to Bali over Christmas although we are late in trying to book such a trip over the busy holiday season.

Okinawan Orchids

I don’t miss work or any of the chores that went with keeping up the house in Maryland. And there are no leaves to rake in a sub-tropical climate! I stay plenty busy here with keeping house, shopping, preparing nutritious meals for my working spouse so she stays strong and continues working and bird watching (Okinawa list is at 73 species).

Best of all is taking daily strolls and beachcombing along “our” beach down the street, gazing out over the turquoise-colored water or watching the sun set over the East China Sea. If you look closely at the sunset pictures you can see the Kerama Islands silhouetted 30 km in the distance. The time passes by quicker than I expected.

View of the East China Sea from Okuma

Sunsets on Toguchi "Our" Beach with the Kerama Islands 30 km Offshore