Learning to see again

After living within a stones throw to the ocean for three weeks, I'm not sure how I can live anywhere else again. I've never thought I'd live near a beach. I'm not into the tanning, the skimpy bathing suits, and sand everywhere kind of life. But for some reason this island life seems to just fit me like a glove. I'll do my best to explain.
This is going to sound so ridiculous, but it think being here has changed how I approach life, view myself, and other people, and it's only been three weeks. I've never felt more comfortable in my own skin. I wasn't one of those people uncomfortable with themselves, at least consciously. But there is something about being here that strips away any of the excess expectations I've placed on myself whether physically or emotionally, and it strips away those same unconscious expectations I have for others. I haven't felt a need to mold my personality into a preconceived ideal of what I should be or could be. Everyone I am around, regardless of gender, seems beautiful to me simply because I am getting better at seeing with my soul rather than my eyes. That's so corny. I even cringed a little while typing that. But it's the best way I can describe it.
It's as if natural natural beauty shines brighter here. I'm not sure of that is because of lack of internet access, the summer vibes, or if it's just in the Okinawa water, but people and places shine brighter to me here. No one wears makeup. Everyone is sweaty with frizzy hair. But it's as if now we have no barriers to hide behind. The water is crystal blue, the jungle is the most vibrant green I've ever seen, and there is no such thing as a stranger.
Like I said. This sounds so ridiculous. But I feel as if this place is teaching me to see beauty in people, places, and things better. We don't have our phones, our makeup, our schools, or our friends and family to hide behind. Those things aren't what define us here. What defines us is how much we laugh, how much we include others, the impact we can have on our kids, and what we make of our time here.

Sundays are also beach days

Best part about living on a small island is there are awesome beaches EVERYWHERE. It's beautiful and the people are still so kind. Parents also let kids hand out with strangers so I made another small friend today!!! Cutest child ever.
So sorry for the hit and run posts, one of these days I'll sit down and describe what life is actually like here.
Until then, much love!!!

Fun day Fridays

So first of, FaceTime is the bane of my existence.
Secondly, I got pied today. I have a video but I can't post pictures or videos of my kids. So here are some pictures. Hope you enjoy it as much as the kids did! Xoxo

Elsinore the elephant

Camp adventure is turning me into an artist. Free handed elephant what's up!!!


I've also never been more exhausted in my life.

Castle ruins

None of my kids fell off the cliff and this was my view.
Not too shabby if you don't mind taking twelve 6 year olds on a hike during black flag weather!!!
Still way overwhelming, but my kids rock.
More soon!

Lunch break wifi

First half of the first day? Check.

All I can say is good lord. Kids are exhausting. Teachers must be saints.

It's about to be a long summer.

Bonus: most of my kids rock!

Let's play charades

We went into Naha yesterday to finally explore a little of Okinawa.
It was pouring rain.
The roads here are different than the states, they are made from crushed up coral. When it rains, the coral becomes extremely slick and roads get dangerous. We probably should have stayed home and waited for a better day, but of course we didn't.
We took a city bus down to Naha which was an experience all in itself, the bus system is so confusing! But we made it and it was the best day ever.
We went and explored kokusaidori street, which is basically a huge shopping strip, similar to a boardwalk minus the beach, that has everything from fish markets to gift shops.
I had no idea that the japanese people loved americans so much. I was with a friend outside a shop and a group of young japanese men saw us and came over armed with cameras. They took tons of pictures of us and with us. They didnt speak any english but somehow we were all laughing the whole time. The most in depth conversation we had consisted of "soccer? japan! japan!" we cheered back and that seemed to be the response they were looking for.
One of the many times we got lost we wandered into a local restaurant that was the size of a large walk in closet. there was one man in there besides the chef, and there were no menus. They spoke very little english so our conversation consisted of pointing at pictures of food and bowing a lot. One of the girls pointed at the other man's food and said "I want that please" to order and the man thought she wanted his half eaten rice dish. He started to hand it to her before we  realized what was happening. We managed to convey she didn't want HIS, just one like his. I am still not positive what we ate but it was amazing. Our chef was the cutest old man I have ever seen and he was so excited to have americans in his restaurant. One again we were asked to be in pictures (for his facebook) with one request: we must make the peace sign. Next, the other man in the restaurant wanted pictures of us for his facebook. Basically, we are almost japanese facebook celeberties at this point After lunch the chef serenaded us with his guitar in japanese and gave us cupons for next time.
When we went into a clothing shop two small japanese children came over to us and tried to talk to us. they spoke zero english, but seemed captivated by the fact we were american. they kept giggling and laughing whenever we tried to talk to them and they would answer in japanese. We figured out the girl was 7 and the boy was 5. Since we couldn't communicate yet they clearly wanted to interact with us, we spent about 15 minutes high fiving, fist bumping, blowing up the fist bump, and making silly faces at each other. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. They look us back to meet their parents who were in a completely different section of the store and they were so kind as well. Once again, a lot of pointing and bowing.
One of the best things about being here is everyone is so kind, trusting, and helpful. Many stores are left unattended, children run around far from their parents, and people help strangers. The trust they have in each other is inspiring. I am so used to stranger danger, metal detectors, and kids on leashes it's almost foreign to me to be so trusting. In america we automatically assume the worst in others, here is the exact opposite. I've never felt so safe in a place where I know no one.
The other thing that became so apparent yesterday is that laughter is the universal language. I can speak a total of three phrases in Japanese, yet I was interacting with people all day. We were laughing and pointing and miming. They were the best conversations I've ever had and they didn't even include words. I will post pictures soon of our day in Naha, but if you're on facebook you can see most there.

Tomorrow is my first day at the center with camp and I couldn't be more excited. My name is now Miss Bumblebee and we have 57 kids registered for camp. I'll update soon to share how it is!
Much love

"Do you have wifi?!?!"

So this wifi thing is becoming my arch nemesis here on Japan. It just doesn't ever work! Ugh.
Anyway. Week one complete!
I am a certified driver of military owned vehicles in Japan (watch out world), I have signed up for spelunking, zip lining, and I'm enrolled in a class to get my scuba diving license. It's been a big week.
I saw the base where I will be working at for the first time yesterday. It's a 45 minute commute through Okinawa. But the drive is beautiful. Apparently our enrollment is up to 57 kids, so this should be interesting.
One of the best things about my assignment is our camp goes to the pool twice a week and field trips twice a week, so I get to see a lot of Okinawa for free. Granted I'll have 15 right year olds i. Tow, but I'll take what I can get.
The language barrier is pretty entertaining, I've played extreme charades for cab drivers multiple times. I'm learning a few phrases in Japanese but it's hard! I keep wanting to respond in Spanish, which probably wouldn't help me much.
Living on a military base seems pretty normal so far, minus all the uniforms and fences. The one thing I wasn't ready for: protesters. Outside of the entrance to the base I live on are some very dedicated protesters that are not happy we are here. They've been peaceful and even wave sometimes, but it's definitely uncomfortable. One man has a light saber he wields very precisely whenever we go by, we've taken to making sound effects with it.
Apparently we arrived right smack in typhoon season here, so it's been pretty much constant rain. Luckily all the buildings are built to withstand typhoons so it isn't anything to worry about.
Last night we explored a downtown area (pictured below) called American village. People are so kind in town! We are going into Naha today to explore and see some castle ruins.
I couldn't tell you what I've eaten because I'm not sure myself, but it's all sooooooo good.
More updates and pictures to come!! Much love to all.

the nitty gritty

Three flights, 23 hours of travel, 7 cups of coffee, and no sleep later....

I made it! The trip was stressful but I met some stellar people along the way who went way out of their way to help me out. Kind people are my favorite.

Internet connection is spotty so I'll keep this brief:
I am living in a hotel on a marine base with all the camp A counselors for all the bases except one.
I have my own room. It's lovely.
The people are incredible.
Jet lag sucks.
Its beautiful here, but rains more than I expected.
There are four other counselors at my site and 28 kids.
We have code names and our camp's theme is insects. We have Miss Spider, Miss Dragonfly, Miss Ladybug, and Miss Butterfly. Yours truly is Miss Honeybee. (awwwwwww.)
Camp starts next week, this week is all training.
I'm terrible at figuring what time it is back in the states, so I might accidentally call at 2am your time thinking I am calling at 2 pm. (Sorry mom, dad, and Kelsey!)

Right now we are still trying to get settled so my schedule is wonky and I'm tired all the time. I'll update later and hopefully provide photo documentation and much more witty and insightful comments. But it might be a bit so don't hold your breath.

Much love to all! I would insert some Japanese here, but I'm dreadful so give me a few weeks.

I'm going on a (camp) adventure!

I can't decide if I'm about to throw up from nerves, pee from excitement, or have an allergic reaction to my tears. I'm going to guess just about every Camp Adventure counselor knows the feeling I'm talking about.

My adventure has officially begun.
Minus a last minute suitcase change (it was torn) and going to the wrong terminal (whoops) my departure has been uneventful so far. My mom and I cried, my dad gave me a flower for luck, and a really nice TSA employee gave me tissues in the security line.
There's no turning back now.

I'm coming for you Okinawa!!

Set in stone. Well, on paper at least

Looks like this is actually happening!
Saturday is when the adventure begins.