Thanksgiving and Sharing

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving here in Okinawa. It was much different from last year when Greg was on call and we actually celebrated on Friday. This year we had a few friends over, our sponsor family and Greg's Japanese intern and his family. The McCaulley's have obviously celebrated Thanksgiving before, but this was their first Okinawa Thanksgiving. The day was beautiful and hot, probably close to 80 degrees. It was perfect grilling weather, which is how we prepared one of the turkey breasts we made. Nori and his family celebrated their first Thanksgiving, the Japanese don't have this type of holiday. Nori had lots of questions about our Thanksgiving traditions and how they differ from everyone else in America. It was really fun sharing with them. Gabriella loved playing with Luke and Yuto, although they were both younger they all played wonderfully together. Gabriella played the consummate host making sure that everyone was happy and well taken care of. The food was delicious. We served turkey breast two ways, one grilled and one made in the oven. The sides were mashed potatoes, mashed yams with marshmallows, stuffing, green beans and rolls. Everyone enjoyed the dinner and dessert was pumpkin pie and pound cake with homemade strawberry topping and cool whip. It was a great Thanksgiving.

Catching Up

Well it's been a busy couple of days and in the sense of time I'm going to attempt to catch up a little.

Sunday we went to the Churaumi Aquarium, it's in the northern part of the island and one of our favorite places to visit. Although the aquarium is much the same every time we visit I notice something new each time. For example, this time Gabriella willing touched the sea cucumber in the touch tank. She's always been apprehensive before, but not this time. We also visited the dolphin tanks, which Gabriella and I hadn't seen before. Check out the low railing in the picture, that would never exist in the states, yet no one fell in. We watched the dolphins swim and jump in their pools before heading over to the main event, the dolphin show. We've seen this show quite a few times and usually it's always the same. This time however they added a few new moves. Our personal favorite was the breakdancing dolphin, it was very very cool. The trip up and back to the aquarium was full of traffic. Monday was a Japanese holiday and apparently everyone in Okinawa was on the road on Sunday. It took us 2 hours to get home, so scrapping our original dinner plan we went out for sushi. We all went to bed early, Gabriella because she had school, me because I had boot camp and Greg because he gets up at 3 am on Mondays to watch football.

Speaking of Mondays, another one happened yesterday. There were only 3 of us at boot camp and needless to say without others to deflect some of the interest we were all front and center in John's focus. We worked on stretching and did another exercise with this blue inflatable tube. Then we got a lecture about trusting our heart to know what's right. It was a nice lesson, however my legs hurt the rest of the day.

Tuesday was stairs at boot camp and more stretching. There were only 4 of us which made going up and down the stairs quick and painful. Gabriella had a great lunch date with friends and enjoyed a Thanksgiving themed story time at the library. She was very excited to tell her friends about our upcoming trip to Hawaii. "I get to take 3 planes" she says. I had a little less fun at story time because once I sat on the floor I had a hard time getting up.

Tug of War

Today I finally feel like the holiday season has begun. I was able to procure all the ingredients I needed for Thanksgiving dinner. It only took trips to 2 commissaries, but I suppose that's tobe expected since in the states I would have gone to just as many. After the grocery shopping was finished we had a relaxing afternoon at home.

This evening we went to check out the Okinawa City International Carnival. It was on gate 2 street which is right outside Kadena Air Base Gate 2 (what a coincidence). There were food booths, taiko drum performances, and music. The highlight of today was a tug of war. They've been making this huge rope in the park that I run at for boot camp so I've seen its progress over the past few weeks. It was a huge rope and Greg was nice enough to help them move it into position. Gabriella had a chance to participate in the kids tug of war, which I believe was a draw. Greg participated in the first adult tug of war which unfortunately his side lost. I got to participate in the second adult tug of war and you guessed it WE WON!! Once again proving that I'm superior, just kidding. The whole festival was really fun. Gabriella played a fishing game and won a light up butterfly necklace and she got to bounce in a bouncy house shaped like a dragon. Greg and I got some tasty food and he even got a Rich Orion beer. The festivals on this island are amazing, they are almost always free and contain great opportunities to try new foods, play carnival games and see things that are both traditional and modern, today was no exception.

No Rain on my run day

It didn't rain this morning but there was a rather wonderful breeze at 5 am. I finally cracked the 3 lap wall I've had since we first started running the blue line. I made it 4 laps!! Which is probably a little over 4 miles. I am really proud of myself. I had a good mix of music on my ipod which helped to keep me going up and down the slight hills along the line. In fact I found myself speeding up or slowing down depending on the beat of the song. And of course like always I was mouthing the words while I run. I have no idea why I do it but I do. I sometimes wonder what people think as they drive by me while I'm running. I'm sure it's something along the lines of "that crazy girl is talking to herself or I wonder if she's calling for help because she looks like she's about to die." Neither is true by the way.

Today was a really busy day and as I write this it's still not over. Although someone up there likes me because both Gabi and Luke are taking a nap right now. I'm babysitting Luke today for our new sponsor family, he's almost a year and a half. He went with us to Gabriella's school international feast and to Hula. Gabriella has been amazing with him, holding his hand and helping him with everything from bouncing in the bounce house to showing him how to use her toys. They are quite a pair and clearly they both exhausted each other. I have my fingers crossed for some long naps and a pleasant rest of the afternoon.

Repetition is his reputation

I remember when Rachel was going through her first boot camp, she told me a story about how one morning John just made them hold the plank position the entire hour. Today I think I experienced a little of that. This morning I arrived at 4:45 am and we joined the 4 am class' workout already in progress. They were all laying on benches with red balls tied to their ankles doing leg lifts. The 5 am class started in and we did about 300 before the 4 am class ended. The 4 am class filed out and those of us who'd come early just kept going as the rest of our class came in and got settled. We just kept going, over and over and over again. We'd get to 1000 and then start over. I estimate we did over 3000 leg lifts. It was brutal, but I remembered what Rachel had said about that day she'd experienced. It's an hour of class, after that hour you'll get to go home he can't keep you there. So I occasionally (obsessively) looked at the clock knowing that at 6 am I would be released from this repeating hell. Finally we got to get some water and take off the "balls of fire". The next exercise was running in place with our hands on the bench in order to "try out our new legs". Needless to say it was painful and yet I knew I could do it because at that point there was only 15 minutes left of class and I know I can do anything for 15 minutes. We got a short lesson for the last few minutes of class where John admitted he was trying to kill us. He meant the old us, because in order to make progress you must let go (kill) the old habits, the old attitudes, and the old self. I've seen progress, lots of it in fact, so that makes letting go easier because I can see the light. I see the future me and I want to get there. I know it won't be easy and I'll probably have more days like this one before it arrives, but it will be worth it.

Rain Rain come and stay...

... especially on a running day. This morning was a run day and it was sprinkling and a freezing 62 degrees here. Honestly I walked out of my house this morning and debated going back inside for a jacket. I didn't because I knew I'd be hot and sweating in no time. Yesterday we had a class lecture and someone was 15 minutes late, so in order to teach the class a lesson about timeliness our class now starts at 4:45 am. So this morning I dutifully arrived at 4:45 at the Kadena Blue line ready to run. There was no one from the 4 am class, no water bottles or keys on the ground and no John. My fellow students and I decided that class must be in the gym so we drove over there and got started. I chose the elliptical machine because it's in the back of the room and I can people watch without being watched. I started the machine and off I went for 60 full minutes, never stopping only slowing occasionally to take sips of water. In 60 minutes I was able to go 5.24 miles, the longest distance I've ever gone running or on an exercise machine, with the possible exception of the stationary bike. I'm drenched in sweat even now and I'm sure that my legs will feel like jelly for the rest of the day. But it won't matter because I'll have a ridiculously happy grin on my face as I hobble around all day because of this early morning accomplishment.

Manic Monday

Since Greg worked all weekend he got today off. He and Gabriella both started their days before I did. Greg was up watching football at 3 am and Gabriella woke up from a nightmare/bathroom trip about 45 minutes later. Both of them were happily sitting on the couch when I walked out of the door to go to boot camp at 4:40 am.

Today was a big day for me at boot camp, not only because it was the start of my second one, but it was the first day I've gone without my friends. Angie has finished her boot camp although she says she will go with me on Thursdays as my friend and Rachel is in the states until after Christmas. I got in my car this morning and as if on autopilot I drove myself to the gym. Now usually Monday mornings are half exercise and half lecture, well not today. This morning started with this new exercise where we bend over with our hands on the ground then bend our knees. We did 440 before we had to start over because someone was late. All in all I think we only did 700 but they were killers. Then we hit the stairs running down the stairs, down the block then back. We did 12 laps, well I should say the fastest people did 12 laps, I did 7. But I did manage to kind of run up the stairs so that was an accomplishment. Then we went back inside and did some arm and leg work using the benches. Then back outside for more running and then thankfully a 5 minute lecture about burning fat. It was a crazy workout and I'm sure tomorrow's will be even worse.

Greg had today off as I said earlier, so he bbq'd some delicious brats for lunch and then we walked over to American Village for dinner. Although I did have a hamburger for dinner I was able to pass on Yogurtland. Greg and Gabriella managed to spend 1398 yen on two bowls of yogurt. Greg insists that Gabriella's yogurt was heavier than his, but he ended up eating a fair portion of hers in the end. I had a few bites of her fruit but that was it. The evening walk was really nice and we are going to try to take one more often.