Japan

Today I upped my hippie factor a notch and actually remembered to bring in my reusable totes into the grocery stores.  Normally I leave them in the car.  I also bit the bullet and bought some Dr. Bronner's soap (10 bucks.  I'm a big spender and it'll last me years). Click the link- the Mad Scientist on their home page is pretty special.  Anyways, I bought the peppermint because B cannot stand the smell of vinegar and won't use the cleaners I make because the smell makes him sick.  Now, he has no excuses.  Win.

I really don't have any exciting news to write about.  So in honor of the typhoon hitting Okinawa as we speak, I'll show yall some pics from Oki.

New Year's Eve Day.  We drove up north and explored.

Annabelle, Heather, and myself.

Interesting fact: Don't listen to online resources that tell you Okinawa is tropical and you won't need more than a light jacket in the winter.  THEY LIE.  I had one pair of jeans, one hoodie, 1 lightweight running jacket thing, 3 long sleeved shirts, 3 pairs of yoga pants, and summer clothing.  It rained a little every day and was almost always cloudy and chilly.

Actually seeing western letters was a BIG deal.  EVERYTHING is written in kanji.  Okinawa is not reading friendly unless you read Japanese.

I remember having the biggest sensory overload when I got off the plane in Seattle from Japan. I could suddenly read signs and understand background noise.  It was unreal.

Hiji Falls.  Hiji means elbow in Japanese.  

Taking embarrassing pics of myself on the other side of the world.  Nothing new there.

Maybe because I was in Okinawa with my best friend, and her daughter and husband are like family to me, but I LOVED every second I spent in Japan.  Lots of people say they hated it there, or they never want to be PCS'ed there.  And I really can't understand why.  The people are great, base is beautiful, the island is super clean, there are lots of cool parks and historical places, there is a military-only resort up north that is cool, and you can fly to mainland Japan if you want and it only takes like an hour.  Ya, food is expensive and utilities (off-base) are insane.  But YOU ARE LIVING IN JAPAN!!  How cool is that??  Obviously I really really hope B and I get stationed there in a few years!