What does a city-wide tug of war look like?

I bet you ponder this question all the time. If there was a giant tug of war put on by a whole city, what would it look like? Well, ponder no more. Let me introduce you to the Naha Tug-of-War! The purpose of this festival (everything is a festival here, if you haven't caught on) is to thank the gods for the harvest, pray for rain, and ward of disease. And it is just what you would it is. Huge, Crazy, Fun, Entertaining. Basically they blocked off many blocks of Naha and cranes brought in this giant rope piece, by piece. The rope stretches forever. This is list in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest rope-pull event in the world! Once the rope is assembled, they divide the sides. East vs. West. There are people in charge standing on the rope, they yell, and everyone pulls. And I mean everyone. You want to pull? Go right ahead. Fight your way to the rope, grab an end, and pull. But be careful, because this means war and they don't play. Everyone pulls and gets into it. Men, women, children, the old, the young, and even, yes, the pregnant. The pull back and forth for 1/2 an hour, and whichever side moves the most wins (at least that is how I understood it). It was truly a site to see. The is a yearly event, held every October. We didn't go last year, but heard great reviews, so we were excited to go this year.

We took the monorail into Naha. This is the first time we have done this. It gave me flashbacks of MARTA:

Olivia was bored on the monorail, but had the most comfy seat in the house:


This is part of the rope. It branches off so that more people can pull:


This is the main part of the rope. It's HUGE. They remake it every year, winding strand, by strand:


Mommy & Olivia on the big part of the rope:

Touching the rope for good luck! Hopefully our side wins!

Laughing at the chaos:

And they begin! The men on the rope say something like "AAAhhhh-EEEEE-aaaaaa!!" And then crowd shouts the same thing back to him, and then they PULL! I'm assuming it means "pull." Here are Craig and Maddie giving a try at tugging:

Doesn't it just look like a fun event? People actually smile and laugh throughout the tug. I'm going to guess that would not be the case in America...

These boys were really funny. They kept coming up behind me and saying "Hello!" and waving. And then they would try to speak more English. It happens a lot and sometimes I don't realize then are trying to get my attention, so I'm sure they think I'm ignoring them. But this time, I just took their picture and smiled:

See that man? He is the one screaming "AAAAHhhh-EEEE-y-aaaaa!!"

I quickly learned not to get caught up taking pictures while they were pulling, because I got taken away with the crowd and ended up a few blocks away from Mike.

Pull! Tug!

The end! Everyone made lots of noise. Not sure who won...

Maddie with a drum:

"I have no idea what is going on..."

People take pieces of the rope back with them for good luck, so we cut some pieces off too:

A sea of people...

Our photo-op with the rope!

And again:

It was a very fun day!

Fukushu Chinese Gardens

The last week in September we took the opportunity to check out the Fukushu Gardens. As most of you know, I recently got a job! Which means we won't have as much "play time" during the week. So, when Mike had a random day off during the week we headed towards Naha in search of something to do. The gardens are right in the middle of the busy city, surrounded by a stone wall. It really is amazing to be following the directions down the busy narrow road, park, walk across the street, and cross through the gates into this wonderful, tranquil place. There are three different areas of the gardens that represent light, seclusion, and beauty (don't ask me which areas represent which, that is just what my guide book tells me). There were tons of plants, flowers, neat little buildings, displays, hideaways, a waterfall, and a few ponds filled with koi and turtles. And the best part? It was free! Take a look.
Olivia loves feeding the fish and watching them all swim around and fight over the food:

I love this picture:

And this one too. All throughout the gardens you get a great sampling of Chinese-inspired architecture:

Here's the waterfall...And Daddy and Olivia are standing behind it. See them?

There they are!

The three of us! Thanks to the self-timer on my camera :)

Having fun running wild and free:

It looks as if she is having a peaceful thought here, but I'm sure she is just scheming something up:

I love this. Looking out one pagoda towards another:

My handy dandy guide book also tells me the trees, plants and flowers represent the different seasons of the year...

Warning: If you lie down to take a picture of the beautiful ceiling of the gazebo, you will be attacked unexpectedly by Miss Olivia. She uses any opportunity she can to jump on people's bellies and pretend you are a horse...

But, it is worth it because (1) the attack is kind of cute, and (2) you end up with a beautiful picture:

EW-R

East-West Red. That is what the title of this post means. That is what was on our TV the other night, telling us not to plan any water activities. We had a couple typhoons pass us by, just getting some wind and rain from them, nothing too bad. But they made the waters pretty rough. We decided to go to dinner off base the other night. We left a little early so we could see what a sunset looks like for East-West Red. Turns out we didn't leave early enough, or there were just too many clouds, because the sun was already gone by the time we got to Araha. But it was still nice. A great breeze, cool night, and a spooky sky. Take a look.
Walking along with Daddy:

She loves running around, being free:


Watching the waves:

Big storm cloud took over the sky here:

So, What's New?

Other than Olivia climbing on coffee tables? Well, now that you've seen just about every picture I took while I was home (no, not really, not even close- I'm sure I took over 2,000, easy), lets get back to life on Okinawa. So, what have we been doing since we've been back? Well, you know, a little of this, a little of that. August 22 marked our one year mark! Can you believe it? We have three more left. When we first got here we were told to pace ourselves. Not to do everything, see everything all at once. Because after a few years, people start to get "island fever." I think we have succeeded. Although it seems like we did a lot through our posts, we really haven't seen that much of this island. There is still lots to see and lots of "to dos" on our list. That being said, since we've been back from vacation, we haven't done anything huge. Just your everyday things. Oh, except for the Air Force Ball. That was pretty fun. Anyway, thought I would share some pictures of the last month or so.

The AF Ball - Me, Holly, Jill, and Sue:

Everyone from Mike's Unit:

Me, Jill, & Holly: (Holly is wearing my most favorite dress from college, I got my dress from Sue's daughter)

Mike & I. Inside the club bar had state tables. We thought it was only fitting to sit here. And made everyone else sit around us :)

We were eager to get back to our sunsets on the seawall. One night we went it was really cool. There must have been a storm out to sea. You could see the rain cloud on one side and the sunset on the other:

I loved the colors that night. This photo is untouched!

Lately, Olivia's favorite thing to do is to grab a pair of my shoes and walk around in them:

Its actually pretty cute, and I smile every time she comes out of the bedroom with a random pair of shoes. She managed to match them pretty well this day! So, I took the opportunity to go outside and take a few pictures of her being cute. I love this one:

She is rambling on about something to herself:

Mom, I didn't know you were watching me!

Testing the grass on her bare feet:

And then one day we just stayed inside and colored. I love this, laying on her belly, with her feet up in the back:

Really concentrating here. Look at that tongue stick out!

Caught me snapping her:

Thinks it's funny:

We had our friend Haruka over for dinner. She was amazed by the corn-on-the-cob holders, and we were amazed by the dry ice the ice cream she brought over was packed in, so that the ice cream wouldn't melt. Smart thinking ice cream store! So, Mike played with the dry ice until it melted away. Haruka said, and I quote, "I never seen adults be so happy about dry ice!"

The ice cream that Mike loves. Sweet potato ice cream:

A very hip chick:

Playing with Haruka's phone:

After dinner we went out to walk around. Haruka showed us how to use the photobooths:

Another time out in American Villiage, Olivia rides a ride:

Oh and of course football started! Go GIANTS! Olivia was ready for the game:

Went out to play outside and found this guy. Can you see him?

How about now? Awesome, huge, grasshopper. But, if I had found him in my house, I wouldn't have thought he was so awesome.

And today we went to actually do something, but the place we went to was closed. So we went across the street to a small park instead.

It must be some sort of work-out fitness park. There were all kinds of excise things there. This one that I am on was like a stand up bike, you just hop on and pedal away. Weird.

That's all folks!