I spent a lot of time the first week just trying to figure out where to buy food and get cash. (Most places do not accept credit cards, so I am becoming accustomed to carrying around a lot of yen.) When you can't read most of the signs and you don't have a smart phone, finding your way around takes a lot of mental energy. This energy is in short supply when there are 2 jet-lagged passengers in the backseat. We do have a GPS in our car, but we have only figured out how to enter a destination using phone numbers. This is usually, though not always, reliable. Thankfully, the GPS can always find OIST so I can always find my way back, even if I don't find my way there! Actually, I have been pretty successful finding where we are trying to go, mostly from sheer will since staying in an apartment all day with hungry kids is not really an option.
Also, I get places with my BOSS.
Each day, I tried to do some errands followed by something fun. Last Tuesday, our fun destination was Maeda Flats. This area is not too far from where we are, and offers great snorkeling for beginners. We only had Keens, goggles and our bath towels rather than ideal supplies for snorkeling, but I figured we'd be fine. The kids were excited, until they saw the sea creatures. And until another girl came and told us there were poisonous fish so we better be careful (right before she splashed and ran through the water without a care). Thanks, kid!
I "uppy-uppied" Zoe through the water, and Maddox stepped carefully. But the plethora of dark purple sea cucumbers and spiky sea urchins combined with the possible poisonous fish meant our time in the water was short. Maddox did handstands, Zoe dug for five minutes, and someone dropped a sandwich in the sand. There was a lot of protesting about sandy shoes and wet bathing suits, but we made it back to the car and home in one piece. It didn't feel like a success in the moment, but I got a cool photo of Maddox, found my way to a new place, and know what to buy and bring next time!
On Wednesday, we started our day at the resource center at OIST which is a lovely space for family members to get their questions answered. The woman who runs the resource center is from Ohio, of course. (To my admissions friends, I did find out that she is from Dayton, but did not press her on her high school. You know I love the conversation game regarding where people went to high school!) Maddox found a nanoblock model of La Sagrada Familia in the resource center that she has been working on there, and there is a play area with toys that Zoe loves. We stop in there just about every other day to ask a question or play. On this day, we got directions to the closest 100 yen store in nearby Ishikawa. We found ¥3500 worth of happiness, including dishwasher detergent, grocery bags, and beads to make necklaces. Our shoppers' high ended fairly quickly once we went to the grocery store where shenanigans and crying earned me many looks. I choose to believe all of those looks were sympathetic ones. On a related note, I bought wine glasses at the ¥100 store.
On Thursday, we found a playground in Onna Village not too far from our apartment. This seemed to be a tame playground by Okinawan standards, and gave us an hour to get some energy out despite the heat.
After working up a sweat, we of course needed some more kakigori. I mean, what's a blog post of mine without a photo of my kids' unhealthy eating habits?
We bought the kakigori at our closest Farmers' Market, Onna no Eki. There are lots of prepared food options, as well as a store with fresh produce, and a boulangerie. Yes, people, we bought French pastries at the Okinawan Farmers' Market. Really no different than getting French pastries at an American market, true?
In some ways, these were ordinary days filled with grocery shopping, bribing kids with treats, and hanging out at the playground. Some days, it feels stressful to do these typical activities in an unfamiliar place, but mostly I welcome the change of scenery. Coming up next: dolphins, sharks, and jellyfish, oh my!
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