Solar Eclipse

Today we experienced a Solar Eclipse. It was pretty cool!
While Okinawa was only 92% covered, some other islands got to see 100%.


The last time Japan got to see such a sight was 46 years ago, so people were pretty excited.

Debe's sister Patty arrived last night: just in time to join our "viewing party."
The video is not great, but it will give you an idea.

Patty is here!

Debe's sister Patty is visiting Okinawa for a few weeks.
That is her on the right (Lisa is on the left).

It has been way too long since we saw her last (6 years?).

She is taking a break from her work and studies.

We went to the Comprehensive Park:

Happy Independence Day

July 4th, while a huge summer holiday in the US, is obviously not a holiday in Japan. That said, due to the large number of Americans here, you can always find a BBQ or something to go to.
In fact, even Kadena AFB opens it's gates to the public for it's "America Fest"; kind of an open house that includes game booths, food, live bands and even fireworks.

In the end, we decided to stay at home and avoid the crowds (and loud music) -- it gets a little too late for the kids. However, we decided to BBQ, Japanese style: Yakiniku!

But first, we took advantage of the day off by going to this great fish restaurant. The girls were learning about fish this week and this place has about 6 fish tanks and tons of other things as decor.
Here are some blowfish lights:

Yes, that is Mika in the background.

16 Years... and counting

Yesterday we celebrated 16 years of marriage (woo hoo!). It has been a wonderful time!


We decided to go out for breakfast instead of dinner. We went to Makan Makan at the Coco Garden Resort, which is just 2 minutes from our home, but was our first time.

They're up on a hill, so you get a decent view of Ishikawa:





It was a pretty nice buffet! It included all kinds of foods, even salads and soups. They even had "fresh-squeezed" orange juice... the only catch was you had to squeeze it yourself.




Debe did such a good job of making the orange juice that I suggested she do it daily -- I got the "evil eye" for that one.



Anyway, it was nice to get away by ourselves for once.

Well, babe, here's to the next 16 and beyond!

Cooking: the Japanese Way

On Wednesdays, Dan attends a Men's cooking class.

He does this for 2 reasons: 1) He enjoys cooking, but doesn't really have much experience making Japanese food. And, more importantly, 2) He is hoping to make contacts near where we live.



The classes are held at the Community Center, just 3 minutes walk from where we live.

An added bonus: the class is all in Japanese, so it is great language practice as well.



It's been a lot of fun. And, yeah, we made "Tako Salad" (Octopus Salad)!

Tuesday Morning Japanese

Technology today is really cool!

On Tuesday mornings, Debe and I take a Japanese class. It is through edufire, which offers all kinds of classes online. This allows us to take the class in the comfort of our own home.

Plus we can eat doughnuts and drink coffee at the same time. This class is from 7~8 o'clock, so Dan has just enough time before leaving for work.

Anyway, we are trying to immerse ourselves in as much language learning as possible, as Japanese is a difficult language to master.

One question: which is more glazed: the eyes or the doughnut?

So all classes were canceled today!
Why? So we teachers could go cheer on our students as they compete in several sports tournaments. This is the last opportunity for the 9th graders to do sports. After this weekend, they are expected to "focus" on getting into high school (they have to pass a written/oral exam).

We have a strong baseball team, so I went to see them play:

As you can see, we (Bito) were stomping them 5-0!

I left to go watch softball, soon after, but we were victorious.
Kind of a nice easy way to end the week.