I expected October to fly by, and fly it did. (And now that I finish this post, November is halfway through!) I started the month on the tail end of a whirlwind trip back to the homeland: Texas. I got to spend some good quality time with friends and family (though so much less than I needed to see everyone!) and be in my friend's wedding! My trip back to Okinawa came all too soon and it was a little sad coming back to an empty house. But hey-oooo, there certainly was no sitting around!
My first week back was super busy at work, which made the week fly. Fortunately, I had Okinapa to look forward to at the end of a tiring week and the beginning of a long weekend. It was fantastic to reunite with my wonderful Okinawa friends and, of course, drink wine!
It was a good weekend: wine, friends, relaxing, sleeping, and THREE DAYS. I think the world would be a better place if all weekends were three days long.
I wasn't settled for long before I left on a 2 week trip for work. I'm not sure I've ever really talked much about my job, but I do accounting for the USO centers in mainland Japan, Guam, and Hawaii. So my boss and I headed to mainland for a week and Hawaii for a week to train some new employees. It was such a great opportunity for me to meet the people that I've been emailing and calling for 6 months. It definitely makes me feel more invested in the job and the people.
We started out at a naval base in Sasebo, Japan. It really had an sleepy wharf town/east coast vibe going on. I guess what I would imagine Maine to be. And yes, there certainly is a different feel to mainland Japan and Okinawa! Probably the same difference as mainland USA and Hawaii! Anyway, Sasebo...a co-worker from Sasebo took us up on a mountain that overlooked the entire city. It was a spectacular view!
View of "99 Islands" According to our native Sasebonian friend with us, this was the background for a scene in The Lost/Last (?) Samurai...some Tom Cruise movie
....Sorry, just had to take a second to pinch myself. Sometimes I forget the amazing places and opportunities that are part of my everyday life!
After a couple of days there, we went north to the naval base in Yokosuka (pronounced ya-KOH-ska). Yokosuka is right outside of Tokyo, a suburb, if you will. Yokosuka had a very different feel. Maybe like Chicago in the 80's. Because I obviously know all about Chicago in the 80's...
I don't think I took any pictures in Yokosuka. We pretty much just worked. We walked to the commissary once. That's about all the sightseeing we did.
THEN, here comes the big one, we headed out to HAWAII!!
Ok, I'm going to be honest here. I was certainly excited about Hawaii, but probably not as much as a normal human would be. I thought since we pretty much live on a tropical island, what's another tropical island a paddle down the ocean? Well, let me tell you. I can't wait to go back to Hawaii. It's so beautiful AND it's America. It's like the best (in my homebody opinion) of all worlds - the island feel and English/Target/highways/Cheescake Factory/.... I suppose being away from all of the American conveniences can make you appreciate the little things.
So Hawaii was great. We stayed at a hotel a block from Waikiki Beach and walking distance from tons of shops and restaurants. The weather was fantastic. We were there for about a week, including travel days on both ends. Fortunately there was a weekend in the middle. I used my free time wisely: either by the pool, shopping, or watching the sunset at the beach. It was a tad bit awkward being a loner in the land of honeymooners, but I made myself useful taking pictures for other couples/families.
Waikiki Beach - take me back!
I told Zac that I wouldn't mind him staying in for another assignment if we lived HERE! He said he was ready to be somewhere where he can drive to visit people, but I think that's just his exhaustion talking. Who would give up living HERE!!
We did do a lot of work, and I loved meeting all of the people that I have "worked with" for the last few months. It makes it so much easier to communicate when you know who you're communicating with! It wasn't all a vacation, but I really think that it will help in my work (and morale) moving forward.
The rainbow was wishing me farewell on my last day in Hawaii.
After two weeks, 3 hotels, 4 airports and dragging my suitcase all over tarnation, I was more than ready to be home. All it took was a 20 hour trip and a little time traveling and I got back to Okinawa....just in time for Typhoon Chaba!
I'm thanking my lucky stars to have flown in just in time (though the flight was quite bumpy). I went to work the next morning for 2 hours before we were sent home for TC-1Caution. Fortunately, I stopped in at the Shopette for some milk and bread (I hadn't been grocery shopping since mid-September) merely an hour before it shut down. I got the rest of the day off to hang out with friends, which was such a blast.
Friday night, I was catching up on some shows and cuddling with Shish when my eye swole (a word?) almost shut. I thought I was going to have to go as Quasimoto or a pirate. It was the weirdest thing ever. I still can't understand what happened, and there was no irritation, itching, gooey things, nothing. It wasn't even that red. I have a picture, but it looks like a mug shot gone bad. So I took a Benadryl and went to bed. It was still pretty swollen in the morning, halfway better by Saturday night, mostly better by Sunday morning, and pretty much normal by Monday.
Thank goodness one more month is down!!
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