Karatsu Seaside Hotel

... into that here. I will say though that, although the bases no doubt serve an important purpose for U.S. interests in the Far East, they are a contemporary expression of the military tragedies of the past that have befallen this beautiful island. If you want to get a more graphic and political view of the impact of these bases, read "Sorrows of Empire" by Chalmers Johnson.

Our first stop was at a re-creation of a traditional Ryukyu village. Ryukyu (if I didn't ...

Today we decided to do something that I don't normally like to do -- go on a guided tour with a bunch of other people and get caught up on a commercial racket. Given that neither of us have ever been to Okinawa and don't know our way around, we decided to go on a bus tour and are we ever glad that we did.

The tour took us to a number of historical and interesting spots, most notable of which was the old Imperial Navy Underground Headquarters that served as ...

... the US invasion forces landed near the end of the war. Apparently this was one of the most difficult and bloody battles of the Pacific War. It is hard to believe that this beautiful place was once a WW2 killing ground. Thousands of Americans died here and hundreds of thousands of Japanese died. I'm sure that the war memorials here will be very sobering.

It will definitely be an interesting couple of days.

... a walk to the playground in her extreme stroller. She and another very little girl played on the slides as we and the girl's parents raced around trying to keep them from falling. It was actually not a very toddler-friendly playground, as we had to scale a hill to get up there and navigate the stroller down a staircase to leave. Back at the house, we packed up everything, getting ready to say goodbye to Okinawa in the morning.

... we saw how Okinawans lived in the past (obviously). The Okinawans lived in squat wooden houses on shelly lawns. What's interesting about this island is that it was not always a part of Japan- that only happened in the last century. It had its own special Ryukuan culture, as evidenced by many things around the island that are different from Japan's other islands. One of Okinawa's most special features is the shisa dog. Shisa dogs are ...

... to the car, it stopped raining, of course. Obviously after all of that I needed a nap, so I took one up in the guest room. When I woke up, we had an excellent dinner of pasta and root beer floats before heading to the mall. The Okinawan mall was different than other malls I've seen, with a more open floor plan while still having sort of individual shops. Right as we walked in there was a cartoon animal to ride on, which Riley saw and immediately wanted, so we had problems ...

Thursday morning marked my third location change of the trip. My 1:30 PM flight meant that there was not a whole lot we'd be able to do before I had to go, so Natalie and I decided to check out the Harbor City Mall again. After a repeat of breakfast at Starbucks, we headed over to the entrance from yesterday. Or so we thought. Apparently this mall is so huge that we were able to wander for an hour, through a luxury brand ...

So, I thought that April was busy. May was our first month on our own with Trevor deployed. Though I hate to explore without him. We (me and the kids) needed some distractions. I signed Ava up for a gymnastics class and a ballet class. Of course I forgot my camera most classes I did get a few pictures. The kids made some nice presents for me for Mother's Day, thanks to their provider Jen! We made a trip to my schools' Luau and the kids ...

... and a World Heritage Site recognized by UNESCO. The garden had some Okinawan tastes and it was more like Japanese garden than Chinese one. There were twin limestone bridges on the pond: one bridge on the pond was interestingly rock-made and the other bridge was beautifully stone-made, which may have some meaning I don't know. Finally, I encountered Deigo, the Okinawan prefectural flower blowing in the spring. Usually I am not ...

... interesting artifacts would be an impossible task. As is always custom in Japan, shoes are not worn inside the apartment, but in order to avoid getting cold feet, traditional and modern homes alike offer house slippers. The Tanaka home had one most apparent feature: Imari porcelaine and related items, books. The home was set up much like a traditional Japanese home, with an open kitchen adjoining to a dining room, and continuing ...