Tuesday, August 19, 2008
My BIRTHDAY!!!
Hey everyone! I forgot to mention this in my last post, but my birthday was last Sunday the 17th. I am now 14 YEARS OLD!!! I also forgot to mention this, but we are in Utah for this week so I spent my birthday in Salt Lake City. Also, if you leave a question or suggestion, I will either answer it in my next post or try and find some way to contact you and answer whatever you may need.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
We're back!!!!!!
Hello everyone!!! We are finally back in the USA!!! After 11 months of living in Okinawa we are finally back. I'm not complaining or anything, but it is GREAT to be back. We have been back for almost one month exactly. I'm really sorry that I haven't had time to update my blog because I had been busy with school and finals and family, and for the last almost three months we haven't had our computer because they packed it, but we finally got it just last Monday.
Ok, I have the most earth-shattering, wildest, amazing, scariest, drop-dead craziest thing has happened to me...(drum roll please) I GOT MY FIRST HAIRCUT IN A YEAR!!!!!!!!! (GASP!!) I don't have any pics downloaded yet, but when I do you will all get to see the amazing haircut! I actually looks really good. Props to my aunt's hairdresser, Lacy, who did a marvelous job!
Ok, I have the most earth-shattering, wildest, amazing, scariest, drop-dead craziest thing has happened to me...(drum roll please) I GOT MY FIRST HAIRCUT IN A YEAR!!!!!!!!! (GASP!!) I don't have any pics downloaded yet, but when I do you will all get to see the amazing haircut! I actually looks really good. Props to my aunt's hairdresser, Lacy, who did a marvelous job!
Last week my grandpa took me, my dad, and my brother also went this really cool ranch called the Bar 10 Ranch. It's a two hour drive from Saint George to this little old fashioned one room schoolhouse in the middle of the desert, and then another hour and a half four-wheel drive to the Bar 10. From the Bar 10 though, it's about a half an hour drive to the edge of the Grand Canyon. While we did this my mom, sisters, and pretty much all the girls in my family went to Vegas. They shopped till they dropped (literally). We stayed at the Bar 10 for about a day and a half and then...I GOT TO DRIVE HOME!!!!! It was a two hour drive and I had a lot of fun. When you're on dirt road in the middle of the desert and there aren't a lot of cars passing you, you tend to be little bit more relaxed, but when you get to paved road, it's a whole different story. I almost gave my grandpa a heart attack because when I finally had to drive on my side of the road. We pretty much spent the rest of our time either swimming or at our grandparents store.
After Utah we came back for about a month. In that month, Jess went to Girls Camp for the first time, I went to scout camp (more details to come), my cousins came up, and Tanner had his baptism.
On to Scout Camp. For Scout Camp this year, we went on the longest, bumpiest, hardest bike ride ever! We rode 75 miles in four days! Stopping only to catch our breath or eat lunch on the trail and then we got a relaxing respite at the end of the day when we stopped for the night. On the first two days all we could feel was the pain in our butts, but eventually that went away. All I know is that I'm going to have buns and legs of steel by the time school starts. I know that may give you a very odd mental image so please disregard it, I was just kidding.
My cousins also came up from California and have been here for the last two weeks. They just left last Thursday. While they were up here my uncle bought a new jet ski, a new boat, and a bunch of new stuff for the boat; wake boards, water skis, tubes, etc. We have had so much fun on their boat. The only thing is is that the lake that the lake that their house is next to only lets people use jet skis on even days :(. So on the odd days we just spend them on the boat.
More stuff coming up with school starting (I'M STARTING HIGH SCHOOL!!), so be sure to check often. I'll try and include pictures in my next post of my haircut and cousins. If you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to post them. Until then, later.
After Utah we came back for about a month. In that month, Jess went to Girls Camp for the first time, I went to scout camp (more details to come), my cousins came up, and Tanner had his baptism.
On to Scout Camp. For Scout Camp this year, we went on the longest, bumpiest, hardest bike ride ever! We rode 75 miles in four days! Stopping only to catch our breath or eat lunch on the trail and then we got a relaxing respite at the end of the day when we stopped for the night. On the first two days all we could feel was the pain in our butts, but eventually that went away. All I know is that I'm going to have buns and legs of steel by the time school starts. I know that may give you a very odd mental image so please disregard it, I was just kidding.
My cousins also came up from California and have been here for the last two weeks. They just left last Thursday. While they were up here my uncle bought a new jet ski, a new boat, and a bunch of new stuff for the boat; wake boards, water skis, tubes, etc. We have had so much fun on their boat. The only thing is is that the lake that the lake that their house is next to only lets people use jet skis on even days :(. So on the odd days we just spend them on the boat.
More stuff coming up with school starting (I'M STARTING HIGH SCHOOL!!), so be sure to check often. I'll try and include pictures in my next post of my haircut and cousins. If you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to post them. Until then, later.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Pictures of me and Okinawa
Hey everyone! How's it going? In reply to your many questions we are coming home this summer and I can't wait to see all of you and tell you what it was like here because words can't explain it all. I am soooooooooo excited! I'm already counting down the days till we get back. We leave here on Saturday, June 14th so mark your calenders. There are less than 10 weeks of school left!!! Ya it's been fun here, but I really miss it back in Washington. If you want me to post any more pictures or add anything in my next post, just leave a comment on my blog and I'll try to put it on. See ya this summer!!!
Reed
Reed
These are the two different fountains. The one on the left is where the mouthwash comes out and the one on the right is where the water comes out. The mouthwash is a milky kind of color.
In case you're wondering, that does say "Gargle" and "Water." What it is is a fountain for either taking a drink of water or washing your mouth out. You're supposed to get some of the mouthwash in your mouth and then swish it around a bit, spit it out and get a drink. I tried it and it is really weird. I think we have a picture or a video of me trying it out.
This is our family at Shuri Castle. We went a couple of months ago.
As you can see in English, it says Kamakura. Kamakura is a city that has a statue called the "Daibutsu." In Japanese it means Great Buddha. The Daibutsu is a huge hollow statue of a Buddha that you can climb inside of. I've heard that it was really cool but i have never gone inside of it.
Tanner is "surfing" on the roller slide. He must take it seriously, can't you see that look in his eyes?
No that is not water, it is, yes, sweat on Tanner. That is 100% pure sweat. Yes, I covered my nose when I took this picture. (Just kidding, the lenses zoomed in enough that I didn't have to get that close to him.)
These are our friends the Becks that came with us when we went to Tokyo. They are standing in front of "their" coffee shop. It's not actually theirs, they're LDS and don't drink coffee.
This is me, my mom, and Rachel on the beach at Okuma. Do you like my shoes? I have black ones just like them.
This is me at Hedo point on Saturday afternoon. It was really windy out. Hedo point is the most northern part of the island and it is where you can see the Pacific Ocean and the East China Sea meet. It wasn't much to see, but it was just nice to say that I've been there.
This was at Okuma when we went there on Friday. Tanner looks like he was having fun jumping off the sand dune.
This was taken just last week with our exchange students. Our students are the the girl sitting in front of me and the boy sitting next to Tanner. The other ones are our friend's students.
I like this one because it looks like the picture of Spiderman when he's climbing on the wall.
These are two pictures of a gecko that came into our house at night. It was HUGE!
This is me on my last campout, you can tell it is early morning because I have bed hair.
This is my friend's baby brother. He is really cute and fun to play with - he is easily distracted.
This is what some of the parks in Naha look like.
This is me at Araha Beach
This is what the cherry blossoms in Nago look like. Pictures don't do it justice- the colors of the blossoms were amazing.
This is the plane my dad and I flew in. It was a Cessna.
This is honestly the actual color of the ocean when we flew over it - no color enhancements. It's definitely not Puget Sound - it's about 30 degrees warmer.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Sorry!!!
Shoot, why do I always do this!!! I get really busy with school and life that I don't have time to update my blog! Aw well, it's kind of late but, HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! We were in Tokyo (if you want it in Japanese it's: 東京) with our friends, the Becks, for Christmas Break. We have taken so many pictures that I'm going to have to make another post with just pictures on it. While we were in Tokyo we got to see so many cool things. Like we got to see the Emperor of Japan! He only comes out twice a year, on his birthday and on Jan. 2, and we were there. It was our first day in Tokyo, and we had just checked into our hotel and had taken a train downtown. When we got out of the station, we followed this huge crowd of Japanese people, and as we walked towards the castle we were handed a Japanese flag. When we finally got to the courtyard of the castle there were a couple hundred people, but by the time it got full there were thousands of people. When the Emperor came out with the rest of the royal family, the Japanese people and we (is that what you would write? The Japanese people and us or the Japanese people and we?) anyway,we all waved our flags and the Emperor spoke to the people (in Japanese of course) then we left and took another train to Askusa.
Asakusa is an area of Tokyo that has a bunch of shops. The street we went on had some really cool and cheap shops. While we were there I got two keychains, a ninja star and a dragon. Together they cost about about 800円. While we were on that street, we saw one of the weirdest things ever. It was like a human intersection. Two police officers would pull yellow tape across and one side would move and then after a while they would switch and the other side would move. We had just barely gotten across and they closed the tape so that the other side could go through. The next day we went and saw even more of Tokyo.
First off, we took a train and went to Shinjuku. The only thing we went to at Shinjuku was "Tokyo Hands." It's this huge 13 story department store that sells everything! If there's anything that you want you could go to Tokyo Hands. In fact, thats were my parents got a lot of our Christmas presents. While we were walking to the Tokyo Hands building we saw an hour long wait at a Krispy Kream Doughnuts! I know, it crazy! After Shinjuku we took a train to Harujuku.
Harujuku is kind of like Asakusa except that it is more narrow and it has trendy shops. While we were walking down the street the girls got excited because they found a Claires shop. When we got to the end of the street we took a turn and found this really good Turkish stand that sold doner kabobs. The were so good! At the end of that block we saw our first big American brand name store, GAP. The girls got extremely excited, but they couldn't buy anything because all the clothes were really expensive. For example, one GAP hooded sweatshirt cost about $128 and a winter coat cost about $300!! After Harujuku, we took one more train to Shibuya.
Shibuya is the worlds busiest intersection. In the middle of the day about 2,000 people cross at a time. All the lights turn red and then everybody walks across and then all the lights turn green and the cars drive through. Right across the street from Shibuya is the worlds busiest Starbucks. If you go up to the second floor you can get a seat and see all the people cross. It's really cool to watch. After that we came back and life went on and then just about two weeks ago we went to Okuma.
On our way there we made some detours. The first place we went was mikan picking. Mikans are pretty much Japanese oranges. They taste really sweet, but when you pick them they look kind of dirty. After that we went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Nago. We took some really neat pictures of the cherry blossoms. After the cherry blossoms we went straight to Okuma which is a militray resort on the northern part of the island. It was ok. It was really cloudy, but I have heard that when it is sunny it's better. While we were there, Tanner got stung by a dead jellyfish and I smashed my toe when I tried to kick one of those floats that had washed up on the beach. We also took some pictures while we were there. On our way back we went to the pineapple park. The pineapple is a park dedicated to pineapples. You can take a tour of the park on a pineapple car and when you get off you enter and exhibit that has really awesome shells. As you continue walking you get to other parts of the pineapple park. Like the brewery where they brew pineapple wine. The last place you go to is just a bunch of samples. They have pickled pineapples, pineapple juice, pineapple cookies, pineapple gelatin, pineapple cake, pineapple candy, pineapple cheese, regular and dried pineapple chunks, Jessica also accidentally ate a piece of pineapple wine cake, but spat it out (don't talk to her about it though, she's a little sore about it), and other assorted fruit products. When we got back life has been the same until now. I will try to update the blog as best as I can.
Asakusa is an area of Tokyo that has a bunch of shops. The street we went on had some really cool and cheap shops. While we were there I got two keychains, a ninja star and a dragon. Together they cost about about 800円. While we were on that street, we saw one of the weirdest things ever. It was like a human intersection. Two police officers would pull yellow tape across and one side would move and then after a while they would switch and the other side would move. We had just barely gotten across and they closed the tape so that the other side could go through. The next day we went and saw even more of Tokyo.
First off, we took a train and went to Shinjuku. The only thing we went to at Shinjuku was "Tokyo Hands." It's this huge 13 story department store that sells everything! If there's anything that you want you could go to Tokyo Hands. In fact, thats were my parents got a lot of our Christmas presents. While we were walking to the Tokyo Hands building we saw an hour long wait at a Krispy Kream Doughnuts! I know, it crazy! After Shinjuku we took a train to Harujuku.
Harujuku is kind of like Asakusa except that it is more narrow and it has trendy shops. While we were walking down the street the girls got excited because they found a Claires shop. When we got to the end of the street we took a turn and found this really good Turkish stand that sold doner kabobs. The were so good! At the end of that block we saw our first big American brand name store, GAP. The girls got extremely excited, but they couldn't buy anything because all the clothes were really expensive. For example, one GAP hooded sweatshirt cost about $128 and a winter coat cost about $300!! After Harujuku, we took one more train to Shibuya.
Shibuya is the worlds busiest intersection. In the middle of the day about 2,000 people cross at a time. All the lights turn red and then everybody walks across and then all the lights turn green and the cars drive through. Right across the street from Shibuya is the worlds busiest Starbucks. If you go up to the second floor you can get a seat and see all the people cross. It's really cool to watch. After that we came back and life went on and then just about two weeks ago we went to Okuma.
On our way there we made some detours. The first place we went was mikan picking. Mikans are pretty much Japanese oranges. They taste really sweet, but when you pick them they look kind of dirty. After that we went to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Nago. We took some really neat pictures of the cherry blossoms. After the cherry blossoms we went straight to Okuma which is a militray resort on the northern part of the island. It was ok. It was really cloudy, but I have heard that when it is sunny it's better. While we were there, Tanner got stung by a dead jellyfish and I smashed my toe when I tried to kick one of those floats that had washed up on the beach. We also took some pictures while we were there. On our way back we went to the pineapple park. The pineapple is a park dedicated to pineapples. You can take a tour of the park on a pineapple car and when you get off you enter and exhibit that has really awesome shells. As you continue walking you get to other parts of the pineapple park. Like the brewery where they brew pineapple wine. The last place you go to is just a bunch of samples. They have pickled pineapples, pineapple juice, pineapple cookies, pineapple gelatin, pineapple cake, pineapple candy, pineapple cheese, regular and dried pineapple chunks, Jessica also accidentally ate a piece of pineapple wine cake, but spat it out (don't talk to her about it though, she's a little sore about it), and other assorted fruit products. When we got back life has been the same until now. I will try to update the blog as best as I can.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
December 20 (five days until CHRISTMAS!!!)
Oh man I am so dead. I am so sorry guys. I have been so busy with Christmas and school and all that I haven't had time to update my blog. Lets see, when I left off it was the beginning of October...Ah, I remember, when I left off we had just gotten finished with a typhoon and I had lost our first of many soccer games. I would have a schedule of our games and their scores, but my mom just had to throw away my schedule. I don't even remember my scores! All I can remember is that we lost most of our games and when the tournament came, it was single-elimination, we got out in the first game. I was the goalie when they scored the winning goal. So please don't rub it in.
For Halloween we all got a lot of candy, not as much as some years though. Tanner was an artist, Rachel was a 50's girl, Jessica was a cowgirl, and I was Fonzie. It was fun, but the base has some weird rules: You have to be under 16 to go trick-or-treating, you can't be out past 8:00p.m., you had to wear reflectors, and they had Military Police walking around. You can pretty much get the idea what Halloween is like on base. After Halloween we didn't have anything big, just school and soccer; which ended on December 1st, until Thanksgiving.
For Thanksgiving we went over to some friends house and ate dinner. We had turkey, ham, rolls, Jell-o salad, green beans, Grandma's dip; for those of you who don't know what Grandma's dip is it's cottage cheese, onion, cream cheese, and worcestershire sauce all mixed together and you dip Frito's and Tortilla chips in it, we also had sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes; no gravy, don't be so surprised Joe. Anyone that is reading this most likely doesn't understand this so I will enlighten you. My mom is not a very big gravy fan; she says that it is too fattening, and so she usually doesn't make gravy. We usually go to my grandma and grandpa's house every Thanksgiving and my grandma usually is nice to us and spoils us by making us gravy, but since this year we are in Okinawa, my grandma isn't here to save us, and we didn't get our yearly supply of gravy. After Thanksgiving dinner we watched the movie "Elf."
After Thanksgiving, soccer ended and then the Christmas festivities began. We got our tree. It's fake because the trees here are super expensive. A couple weeks ago my dad went up to Tokyo for a training and my mom went with him. We all stayed at friend's houses and while they were up in Tokyo my parents were going to buy a Christmas tree, but they didn't buy a tree because one that was on sale was (huge drum roll please) $315!!!!! Shocking, I know. Something even more scary is that the highest price that they saw was $339!!!!!!!! So we decided to settle for a fake tree. Fortunately, with all the decorations, the tree looks real. Just the other day Jess and Rachel had a piano recital. That same day we also had a Branch Christmas Party. It was at the Futenma Church Building. I can't think of anything else to write so if you have any questions then leave your question on my blog with your e-mail, unless you know that I have it, and I will try and answer you questions as soon as possible and as best as I can. I PROMISE.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Reed
For Halloween we all got a lot of candy, not as much as some years though. Tanner was an artist, Rachel was a 50's girl, Jessica was a cowgirl, and I was Fonzie. It was fun, but the base has some weird rules: You have to be under 16 to go trick-or-treating, you can't be out past 8:00p.m., you had to wear reflectors, and they had Military Police walking around. You can pretty much get the idea what Halloween is like on base. After Halloween we didn't have anything big, just school and soccer; which ended on December 1st, until Thanksgiving.
For Thanksgiving we went over to some friends house and ate dinner. We had turkey, ham, rolls, Jell-o salad, green beans, Grandma's dip; for those of you who don't know what Grandma's dip is it's cottage cheese, onion, cream cheese, and worcestershire sauce all mixed together and you dip Frito's and Tortilla chips in it, we also had sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes; no gravy, don't be so surprised Joe. Anyone that is reading this most likely doesn't understand this so I will enlighten you. My mom is not a very big gravy fan; she says that it is too fattening, and so she usually doesn't make gravy. We usually go to my grandma and grandpa's house every Thanksgiving and my grandma usually is nice to us and spoils us by making us gravy, but since this year we are in Okinawa, my grandma isn't here to save us, and we didn't get our yearly supply of gravy. After Thanksgiving dinner we watched the movie "Elf."
After Thanksgiving, soccer ended and then the Christmas festivities began. We got our tree. It's fake because the trees here are super expensive. A couple weeks ago my dad went up to Tokyo for a training and my mom went with him. We all stayed at friend's houses and while they were up in Tokyo my parents were going to buy a Christmas tree, but they didn't buy a tree because one that was on sale was (huge drum roll please) $315!!!!! Shocking, I know. Something even more scary is that the highest price that they saw was $339!!!!!!!! So we decided to settle for a fake tree. Fortunately, with all the decorations, the tree looks real. Just the other day Jess and Rachel had a piano recital. That same day we also had a Branch Christmas Party. It was at the Futenma Church Building. I can't think of anything else to write so if you have any questions then leave your question on my blog with your e-mail, unless you know that I have it, and I will try and answer you questions as soon as possible and as best as I can. I PROMISE.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!
Reed
Thursday, October 4, 2007
October 2007
When I left off we had just had a typhoon. For those of you who don't know what a typhoon is, it is a really big rainstorm with a ton of rain and wind. A family in our branch came over and we played on the computer, watched T.V., or played in my room all night. After the the typhoon (which wasn't really a big one) we haven't done much until this last Saturday. This last Saturday I had my frist soccer game. My team is the Storm. Unfortunatly we lost 3-1, but we have another game this Saturday the 6th and hopefully we'll win. Two weeks ago I was called to be the Deacons Quorum President in our branch and this last Sunday I was set apart. We are going to have a campout on the 12th and 13th. An overview of this month is; I have soccer on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have Mutual on Wednesdays, on Columbus Day our branch is going to have a party at one of the beaches on the island, and we get to watch General Conference two weeks after it shows in the States. Other than that it's a pretty quiet month. Check in regularly.
Wishing you the best of luck,
Reed (a.k.a Agent Dragon)
Wishing you the best of luck,
Reed (a.k.a Agent Dragon)
Monday, September 17, 2007
From landing to the Present
It all started when we landed in Yokota Air Base in Japan just outside of Tokyo. It was so humid and hot, but the heat and the humidity were not near as bad as it was in Okinawa. After we got off the plane in Yokota we had to go through customs. After we got our passports checked we had to wait in a big room while the plane got refueled and more food & drinks were put on the plane (it took a little longer than usual, because they couldn’t find the part to hook up the fuel tank to the airplane – minor details). We then got back on the plane and flew to Okinawa. It was raining when we landed, but it was a warm rain, not like the kind we have in Seattle. We were then picked up by my dad’s principal and taken to the Hamagawa Lodge, which was our temporary housing for the next two weeks. In those two weeks we got military ID; you have to have it because you can’t get on base, go in any stores, and basically can’t do anything without it, registered us for school (which started on Monday the 27th), got a car, and got cell phones for my parents.
Also, while we’ve been here, my dad had his birthday, on the 16th, and I turned (drum roll please)…13!!! Yes folks, I’m 13 – officially a teenager now!! We ran errands all day on my dad’s birthday, and that night we ate at a restaurant called Okonomiyaki. It’s an extremely tasty and really cheap restaurant in American Village. American Village is a bunch of American style shops (very big and very crowded) that sell Japanese products. We thought it was kind of funny that it was called American Village, but we were the only American’s we saw there.
For my birthday we went to Churaumi Aquarium & Emerald Beach. It’s on the northern part of the island and it takes about an hours drive to get there. The aquarium was crazy AWESOME! It’s split into different levels, like the different levels of the ocean. When you first enter you’re in the coral reef. Then you go to deeper into the ocean and you finally get to a HUGE three-story high tank that’s full of giant fish and manta rays that are so big that Jess, Rachel, Tanner, and I could sit on them Indian-style! It also has, not one, not two, but three whale sharks! When we got out of the aquarium we got lunch and then walked to Emerald Beach. Emerald Beach has some of the whitest sand I have ever seen and the water feels like bath water. You don’t have to slowly go out into the water so that you can get used to it like in Seattle, you can jump right on in. That was on the 17th and we really didn’t do much until the 23rd when we moved into our house.
Our house is a duplex on the corner about a block and a half from the elementary school that Jess, Rachel, and Tanner go to. The street we live on (it’s actually a cul-de-sac) we call “Mormon Hill” because six families in our branch live on our cul-de-sac. Four days after we moved in (scary music) SCHOOL STARTED! I was so freakin’ scared because I knew nobody, and when I say nobody I mean nobody. I only knew a few of the deacons in our branch. We started school on Monday and on Friday a couple of the guys in our branch had a “We Just Survived the First Week of School” party at one of the deacon’s house. It was awesome! We played Super Smash Bros. and Naruto from 7:00pm to 11:30pm, and we got PIZZA! Then we had another week of school.
On Saturday for the Labor Day weekend we went snorkeling with my dad’s boss’s family to Zanpa Beach. Zanpa Beach is a really cool beach where the water is about the same depth for couple yards. There is one spot in the water where there is a big patch of seaweed with a big rock in it that had three sea urchins and a couple of fish living in it. As your swim farther out you get to see some other cool fish. Zanpa Beach was cool, but on Labor Day we went to Maeda Flats and that is more awesome than awesome. We also went snorkeling there with a family in our branch. We swam out about a quarter of a mile and under you is a huge drop-off. If there were no water it would be a big cliff, but since there is water it feels like you are flying over a canyon. There are tons of brightly colored fish and urchins and if you look off into the distance it just melts into a blue nothingness. As you look down, the water is crystal clear and you can see some amazing coral. We also walked over to Maeda Point and snorkeled there. When you get in the water you swim to a cave that’s a few yards away, and as you swim you can see scuba divers swimming under you. When you get to the cave it has a low entrance but then it opens up into a cave that has a lot of scuba divers and people snorkeling. As you go farther back it stops and you can get out of the water and walk up a path. I’m guessing that it leads up to the top of the cliff that the cave is under, but I don’t know that for sure because we didn’t go up the path. Later that night we went with a couple of families to a park that’s off base. It has two really cool slides; one of them is like a conveyor belt, it has little rods that spin as you slide down them, and the other is really fun because you hold onto a bar and drop about six feet and then the slide catches you and you slide down it.
On Tuesday we had to go back to school and on Saturday we saw “Aga-Boom.” Aga-Boom is a live performance that has clowns in it. Some people don’t like clowns, but these clowns are super funny and I can’t begin to describe how funny it was. It is based in Las Vegas and it’s a Broadway production so I’m sure it will be easy to find a video of them. Today is my mom’s birthday and we are also being hit by a typhoon right now. So she’s had a fun birthday. That’s it for now, check in later.
Reed (a.k.a Agent Dragon)
Also, while we’ve been here, my dad had his birthday, on the 16th, and I turned (drum roll please)…13!!! Yes folks, I’m 13 – officially a teenager now!! We ran errands all day on my dad’s birthday, and that night we ate at a restaurant called Okonomiyaki. It’s an extremely tasty and really cheap restaurant in American Village. American Village is a bunch of American style shops (very big and very crowded) that sell Japanese products. We thought it was kind of funny that it was called American Village, but we were the only American’s we saw there.
For my birthday we went to Churaumi Aquarium & Emerald Beach. It’s on the northern part of the island and it takes about an hours drive to get there. The aquarium was crazy AWESOME! It’s split into different levels, like the different levels of the ocean. When you first enter you’re in the coral reef. Then you go to deeper into the ocean and you finally get to a HUGE three-story high tank that’s full of giant fish and manta rays that are so big that Jess, Rachel, Tanner, and I could sit on them Indian-style! It also has, not one, not two, but three whale sharks! When we got out of the aquarium we got lunch and then walked to Emerald Beach. Emerald Beach has some of the whitest sand I have ever seen and the water feels like bath water. You don’t have to slowly go out into the water so that you can get used to it like in Seattle, you can jump right on in. That was on the 17th and we really didn’t do much until the 23rd when we moved into our house.
Our house is a duplex on the corner about a block and a half from the elementary school that Jess, Rachel, and Tanner go to. The street we live on (it’s actually a cul-de-sac) we call “Mormon Hill” because six families in our branch live on our cul-de-sac. Four days after we moved in (scary music) SCHOOL STARTED! I was so freakin’ scared because I knew nobody, and when I say nobody I mean nobody. I only knew a few of the deacons in our branch. We started school on Monday and on Friday a couple of the guys in our branch had a “We Just Survived the First Week of School” party at one of the deacon’s house. It was awesome! We played Super Smash Bros. and Naruto from 7:00pm to 11:30pm, and we got PIZZA! Then we had another week of school.
On Saturday for the Labor Day weekend we went snorkeling with my dad’s boss’s family to Zanpa Beach. Zanpa Beach is a really cool beach where the water is about the same depth for couple yards. There is one spot in the water where there is a big patch of seaweed with a big rock in it that had three sea urchins and a couple of fish living in it. As your swim farther out you get to see some other cool fish. Zanpa Beach was cool, but on Labor Day we went to Maeda Flats and that is more awesome than awesome. We also went snorkeling there with a family in our branch. We swam out about a quarter of a mile and under you is a huge drop-off. If there were no water it would be a big cliff, but since there is water it feels like you are flying over a canyon. There are tons of brightly colored fish and urchins and if you look off into the distance it just melts into a blue nothingness. As you look down, the water is crystal clear and you can see some amazing coral. We also walked over to Maeda Point and snorkeled there. When you get in the water you swim to a cave that’s a few yards away, and as you swim you can see scuba divers swimming under you. When you get to the cave it has a low entrance but then it opens up into a cave that has a lot of scuba divers and people snorkeling. As you go farther back it stops and you can get out of the water and walk up a path. I’m guessing that it leads up to the top of the cliff that the cave is under, but I don’t know that for sure because we didn’t go up the path. Later that night we went with a couple of families to a park that’s off base. It has two really cool slides; one of them is like a conveyor belt, it has little rods that spin as you slide down them, and the other is really fun because you hold onto a bar and drop about six feet and then the slide catches you and you slide down it.
On Tuesday we had to go back to school and on Saturday we saw “Aga-Boom.” Aga-Boom is a live performance that has clowns in it. Some people don’t like clowns, but these clowns are super funny and I can’t begin to describe how funny it was. It is based in Las Vegas and it’s a Broadway production so I’m sure it will be easy to find a video of them. Today is my mom’s birthday and we are also being hit by a typhoon right now. So she’s had a fun birthday. That’s it for now, check in later.
Reed (a.k.a Agent Dragon)
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