Just a little taste

We jumped right into the culture here and started trying things off base pretty quickly. When I first moved to Oklahoma we didn't live on base so I didn't really connect with anyone or try to make friends. It is completely different when you live overseas because you really stick together and help each other out. A friend of mine from Oklahoma has a cousin who is out here and she introduced us through Facebook and she has been a great friend to us! After the first couple of days we were here she invited us to join her and her two kids at a park. Luckily they have a couple of nice indoor parks here because it is really hot to be playing outside in the middle of the day, especially in July and August. We went to the ATM because a lot of places off base take yen or cash only and then headed off to the indoor park. Tyler really enjoyed running around and playing in the lego area they have. As we've gone back more he's gotten more brave and gone down slides and even climbed to the top level. The parks they have are nice and clean and have counter service food. You can also bring your own food if you don't want to pay for what they offer. It's a great way to beat the heat and let the kids get their energy out. Since I was so absorbed in watching Tyler have fun I only have a picture of the flyer we got so we had the information to visit again. 

We also had to get new iPhones over here and signed up for a new plan. au is who we went with and they were really nice and helped us set everything up. They even gave us a treat bag for signing up with them. Of course I was overly excited about this because they were all Japanese snacks that we had no idea what they were. It was fun trying to guess what they were and then trying it and seeing if we were right. There was one that definitely looked like a cracker and even had seeds on it but it turned out to be a cookie. There was a jumbo cheese puff and some flaky type candy. If anything it was very interesting and fun to try some new snacks.

We also went shopping off base which was a little bit difficult the first couple of times. We couldn't buy much because we still didn't have a car at that point but there was a grocery store that wasn't too far of a walk. The mayo and ketchup come on soft squeeze bottles and wrapped in a plastic bag. Also some of their stuff has Kewpie doll on it. Mayo is used on everything! even pizza... although I haven't tried that. But I did have pizza with corn on it. Corn is another popular food here. Of course we had to try even more of the different snacks they have. Japan is known for their many flavors of kit kats so of course we went with the green tea ones. They are not my favorite... but if you love green tea then you will love them. We got these fake ice cream cones. I think the inside is like freeze dried ice cream. It was kind of like astronaut food and is shelf stable.

And of course we had to try Coco's curry house. A very popular restaurant among everyone. Curry is definitely a favorite dish. Nick had talked a lot about Coco's and even did his best to recreate it at home. Basically you can pick what kind of meat you want from pork, chicken, shrimp, beef, veggies, eggs, and others. Then you pick a spice level 1-10. I'm a wimp and get the mild which is below a 1. Japan also knows how to take care of the kids at restaurants. They always have cute divided kids plate with kid sized silverware. Also a little cup and bib to try and keep him somewhat clean. Tyler loves Coco's for the little jelly dessert he gets and the toy he can get out of the machine at the end. 

(Tyler's chicken nugget curry)

(my crispy chicken with cheese mix)

So that was our first little taste of some of the different snacks and foods they have here. We have a ton more we want to try but with four years here we will take our time. Its a small island so we want to space our adventurous times out a little bit but we are excited to keep exploring all that Okinawa has to offer. 

until next time, 

Courtney

First glimpse of Japan

So when we first arrived in Japan we were focused on where we needed to go to get our bags and get them checked again for our domestic flight to Okinawa. We were ready to lug all our bags again to get them checked but in Japan things are much different than in the states. We started pulling our bags off the belt and one of the employees got a cart and helped us with all our bags. He waited in line with us to get the tags put on and they even took all the old ones off for us. I was just taken very much by surprise when they were so willing to help us when we had no help before and when we asked for help they wanted money in return. We then went to get in line to go through customs and that was pretty easy. We figured out where our gate was going to be and started to go through security. We were not sure if the restaurants and shopping were inside or outside of security so we asked if there was food on the other side of security and they said that there was. The security was really laid back compared to what they have to do in America. We basically had to just put our bags on the belt and walk through a metal detector. They had to put Tyler's carseat through the x-ray machine and kept apologizing when it wasn't working. We were then very disappointed to see that the only place down by the gate was a small area where you could buy drinks, snacks, and there were a few soup/noodle options but no actual restaurants or anything. We did end up getting a milk tea and a green tea because we were so thirsty and at least needed a drink while we figured out what we were going to do.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that they had a kids play area so that tyler could run around and let out some of his energy after sitting for so long. We had at least a couple of hours before the plane would board so Nick went off to go explore and see if he could find where all the other stuff was since it is supposed to be a really big airport. It turns out that all the food and shopping areas were before you go through security and the guy at security was very confused as to why we wanted to go back out. The security is kind of a one way thing where once you get out you have to back the same way. Thankfully they were fine with letting us out and we went to go find something to eat. There were a lot of different places and even a McDonalds but not all the same menu items. Plus I couldn't read anything so the fact that most restaurants have plastic displays of the dishes they serve made it a little easier in choosing. Nick can also read a little bit and speak some Japanese but it has been 6 years since he has been back. A lot of the options were curry and soup and we wanted something more light and cool so we ended up getting sandwiches. Even the way they make sandwiches are different. Mine was shrimp and it also had egg salad on it. It sounds weird but it was really good!

I also got a melon soda and it came with some broth on the side. They also usually always have a self serve water station and we had our fair share of ice water before we went to go look around more and head back through security again. We ended up getting iced cream at McDonalds and they had blueberry oreo mcflurries. I tried to order a kit kat one but they were all out. The portion sizes are also much smaller and with the mcflurries they only came in one size. Sodas off base are usually not unlimited refills unless you have the option to buy "drink bar" which is serve yourself drinks.