Kiya!

At the beginning of March, Adam started taking karate.  This is, after all, Okinawa - the actual birthplace of karate - so how could we leave here without someone actually learning the art?  We just had to wait until he was old enough to take a class.  So every Tuesday and Thursday night we head down the street about two blocks to the Youth Center and Adam takes on the role of karateka, learning Shorei-Goju karate.  While he was very excited about starting the class, I was perhaps a little more excited.  I had visions of a very intimidating Japanese Sensei scaring the daylight out of Adam, turning him into an obedient, disciplined version of himself, who would be able to ward off any bully (let's face it - between his father and myself in our youth, he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of being anything but scrawny).  I thought my problems would be solved for $45 a month.

Well, the Sensei is not Japanese.  And he's also not very intimidating.  In fact, the kids laugh at him more than anything.  It didn't take Adam very long to figure out that his normal M.O. of playing "class clown" would work out just fine here.  So that's the role he played.  I tried to be patient, thinking the discipline that other kids showed would somehow rub off on him.  But after the first month, I wasn't so sure.  So I asked him if he wanted to learn karate, to which he professed that he did.  But, still, the behavior stunk.  He was the first of any student to get called into the "time-out" position - a high plank.  He was constantly asked questions to which he didn't know the answer.  He could never stand still.  I never even bothered taking my camera because this was standard.  He started complaining that the class was boring because all they did was learn stances, so I explained the importance of the stances.  He still didn't seem interested, yet always protested when I told him we were going to stop taking the class.  I was at my wit's end.  Two nights a week, I have to be ahead of the game enough to either have dinner in the crock pot by 10 a.m. or start preparing it by 4:30 for it to be ready at 5:30 so we can walk out the door at 6:00 to watch Adam act like a fool by 6:15.  I'd had it.  To top it off, he had a test looming sometime in the near future for his White belt.  He had to memorize all 15 stances to earn it.  He knew about six.  Or so I thought...

Two Thursdays ago, we did our normal routine and got to karate right on time.  For some reason that day, I figured I should take the camera and maybe catch him in a few moments of actual obedience and effort.  But that night, Alan had to work late so he never made it to karate and I was left with not only observing Adam, but keeping Thing 1 and Thing 2 from disturbing every karate, gymnastics, dance, piano and guitar class going on in the building that night.  I didn't get a single picture of Adam.  Not that there seemed to be one to take, as I constantly heard Sensei yelling his name while I chased the Things around.  I didn't figure he did well.  Then, right before the end of class, he had everyone sit down.  Then he started calling out a few names, telling them to stand up.  I heard him call Adam's name (he actually said "This kills me...Adam", so I turned my attention to the dojo.  I looked around, confused, at the group of kids standing at attention...I couldn't figure out why he had chosen these nine kids to stand.  Adam and two others were the usual suspects, but then there were some others who were always on top of things.  What was up?  The next thing Sensei said made me drop my jaw (and almost Anaya): "These nine kids have just earned their White belt!" 

WHAT??  ANAYA, GET DOWN!  I HAVE TO TAKE A PICTURE!!

I could not believe it!  I guess he was listening, after all.  That's kind of scary, actually, that he can clown around and still semi-know what's going on.  He's not perfect and there is a lot of room for improvement, but he's one step closer.  The following class, they received their belts.  Here he is, just after having it tied on:

I love that clown.  We'll try one more month, I guess.

     

Gotta Getaway

A few weeks ago, I was catching up on the phone with a dear friend and she asked me if I miss my kids like crazy whenever I go on a trip like Hong Kong or Tokyo.  In hindsight, I guess I should have humored her a little bit and at least paused for two seconds before I answered.  Or maybe even lied to her.  But I did not.  I immediately told her "No.  I don't miss them at all.  They drive me crazy."  Don't get me wrong - I love my babies.  But I love them even more when they are not within screaming distance of me.  When given the chance, I will always jump on the boat that is taking me on a kid-free vacation.

While Mom was here visiting, Alan and I took advantage of the free childcare and made a getaway.  We chose a nearby island called Ie-jima (jima just means "island"), which is a short 30-minute ferry ride away, and a resort called YYY Resort.  The term "resort" is really loose.  There's no spa, which is how I classify something as a resort.  But, it was really nice and there were no kids with my last name there, which was good enough to compensate for there not being a spa.

When we originally planned the overnight, we were really hoping to get some diving in.  But the weather didn't look promising (it was raining cats and dogs when we left and the ocean looked angry), so we finally decided not to lug our dive gear along and just relax.  Luckily, our room did have a massage chair, so I did that while Alan wandered out to the balcony and took note of our awesome view. 
   

After my massage, we explored the room.  Here was the bedroom, with two full beds.  Notice that there is only one pillow on each bed.  Um...we purchased the "Couples Plan" and they think we're sleeping on separate beds?  The Japanese have probably never been lauded for their luxury mattresses or pillows.  Ever.  The hotels are notorious for having the hardest beds you've ever slept on.  And the pillows may as well not be there.  Seriously.  I couldn't help but see the irony in the fact that we went away to relax and ended up getting the worst night of sleep we've had in the past two years.  Really bad.  If you ever go, I would take your own pillow, at least.   

This was the bath/shower room, which was all plastic (kind of like the little bathrooms in RVs) and had a confusing setup.  There were two sets of water knobs.  The ones on the left were for the bath - even though they aren't even centered over it.  The ones to the far right, over the bowl (?) were for the shower.  And see where the shower mount is?  To the right of the tub?  So odd.  We still aren't sure what the bowl was for. 

There was a separate bathroom with the toilet, which was normal - by Japanese standards, that is. Heated seat, background noise and small or large-scale bidets. I have to give the Japanese credit - for what they lack in luxury items, they make up for with their fancy toilets. I'll miss the warm seat when we leave here.

Next we decided to explore the resort.  Here I am, looking for sea glass at low tide and here we are, on the beach:

Next, we decided to take advantage of the rain letting up and we rented some bikes to explore the island.  I hadn't ridden a bike in a few years, so I felt certain I was going to bite it.  But I didn't!  It really is just like riding a bike - you never forget!  Here I am not falling: 

We rode by a field with about 20 giant tortoises in it:

Numerous randomly-placed vending machines:

"Australian Pine Avenue":

Ie Lily Festival (where we stopped to have an Orion, for our happy time):

A scenic overlook:

Then, we headed back to the resort, opened a bottle of wine and hung out in the jacuzzi for a little while before going to dinner.  For dinner, we decided to venture away from the resort's restaurant and try a local one.  It appeared to be a big mistake at first, because the menu had only kanji - no pictures, no words we could read...nothing.  And the owner/chef/bartender spoke no English.  Luckily, another diner did speak English, so he told us what was on the menu, we told him what we'd like and he ordered it.  The food was fantastic.  My tuna sushi melted in my mouth - hands-down the best tuna I've had (maybe not the best flavor overall, but the fish was the best).  Alan had a nice steak and fried rice (surprise).  Plus Orion, obviously.  Always good.

The next day was sunny!  The few hours we had before checkout, we spent at the beach: 

Adam's only request was that we bring him back a starfish (like that's not too much to ask).  Well, we finally found one!  But, alas, we are not the type of people to snatch one from it's life, so we just had to settle with photographing it for him.  But, we didn't disappoint - we made sure to buy him one from a gift shop on the way home.

 Here we are, on the ferry back to reality.  Ie-jima's Gusukuyama (the volcanic-looking mountain) can be seen in the distance.  We did enjoy the getaway and got to relax on our own schedules for once in a long while.  Despite the uncomfortable beds, I would highly suggest this little island for anyone on Oki looking to take a little break.  It would be great for the whole family - as long as it's not my whole family ;)