June: Tour Guiding, New Job, Hiji Falls/Okuma

Early in June, my friend Emma came to stay for a week. Being the adventurer she is, she decided to see where else she could explore while on a school trip to the Philippines. We took the opportunity to visit old favorites, as well as discover new places. 

Of course, the aquarium.

a native Okinawan village, also in Ocean Expo Park

the Tropical Dream Center

A local ruin, Zakimi Castle

Camp Zampa

We went to Futenma Fest (a Marine Corps Air Station), enjoyed fair food, stepped away for a bit to see Maleficent... 

 and climbed in all sorts of aircraft

and vehicles

and stayed for the All Time Low concert

 Another day, we went to the gorgeous Fukushen Gardens, a Chinese garden in Naha. 

After an application and interview in May, I started work part-time with Community Bank in June. The bank is literally across the street from Nathan's main chapel. I don't plan on making a career of banking, but it's a good way to fill my time and fund my future endeavors. 

Kicking off with our first summer event, we took a group of guys north to Hiji Falls. 

We walked along the trail, up and down hundreds of stairs to reach it, then jumped in the stream on the way back. We spent the rest of the day at Okuma, an area used by the military as a campground and resort. We swam in the ocean, built sand castles, drove go-karts and jet skis, and enjoyed a meal on a large, breezy patio. It was a great day outdoors, and everyone went home happy, albeit a little sunburned. 

March, Part 3: Japanese Underground Naval HQ/ Prefectural Museum of Natural History/ Mos Burger

Tuesday, March 10. We drove down to Naha to the Japanese Underground Naval Headquarters. This was a series of tunnels hand-dug beneath the ground that served as a Japanese base during WWII. Because of the nature of the tunnels, we were not able to get an decent pictures. In essence, the base was comprised of several main tunnels that branched out into rooms. Without the signs telling you where to walk, it would have been disorienting for quite some time. It was a somber visit, nearly crouching in some of the low places, looking at the chips in the wall where Japanese peasants had used hand tools to carve them, stopping in a room with damaged walls from a grenade in an act of suicide. It reminded us what Okinawa had been through in the war, even though now you would hardly know. 

The view from a tower outside the tunnels.

Our next stop was the Okinawa  Prefectural Museum of Natural History. In a similar fashion to the Smithsonians, the Okinawa Prefectural Museums are separated into categories. Although much smaller, we only visited on this trip, the Natural History museum. It felt very similar to it's equivalent in the Smithsonian, covering the history of the people as well as the wildlife hundreds of years back. Most of the signs were in Japanese, but there was still plenty to look at, though many of the areas banned photos.

We had dinner at a local chain we had been wanting to try called Mos Burger. It was typical in what you would imagine a chain burger place would be like, but being on a Japanese island, the menu was indeed different. There were many of the normal items, but some, my shrimp patty burger and Nathan's burger with some sort of cabbage salad on it, for example, were new. And of course, these were enjoyed with a favorite drink, melon soda, which is supposedly a flavor of Fanta that isn't available in the US. I tried a cherry drink that reminded me of an Italian soda as it was very light. Add in onion rings, fries, and milkshakes, and it's not too different than a burger joint back home, but with just the right amount of foreign to make it interesting.