A few days ago we silently celebrated three years of living on this little island paradise. Three years! I can hardly believe that much time has passed. Arriving here like a giant whale...by the time we leave (we don't know exactly when that will be yet, so don't ask!), the twins will be as old as Adam was when we arrived - maybe even older! That's crazy talk.
We've had so many great opportunities here. Recently, I was invited to participate in a kimono fashion show at our Officers' Club. It took them about 30 minutes to get me dressed! Here I am, being dressed, with the other "models" and the instructor, and making my modeling debut:
We attended our favorite festival a few weeks ago, as well - Orion Beer Fest!
Here we are with some new friends that night, who taught us some of the music (there's a video, but...):
And here's the guy who took our picture:
Finally, here I am with our Co-Commander, who has been so kind as to show us around a little bit:
Honestly, it's a pretty cool life we have here. How many people get an opportunity like this? Sadly, lately, the military presence on Okinawa has gotten a bad reputation due to a few idiots who don't know how to treat their hosts. I am appalled and embarrassed by the actions of these members and I would like to state, for the record, that these two incidents by these three individuals are not business-as-usual for military members here on Okinawa. For the most part, we do our country proud and we represent Americans well. But there will always be that 5% - that take up 95% of your time and give everyone a bad rap. Rest assured that those guys are not your typical military member and we are not proud to serve with them. Despite the inconveniences that have been imposed upon ALL of us due to these two criminal acts, I hope Americans living all over the world are reminded that you are always an ambassador, always a representative and always serving as an example of "America" to your host nation, whoever/wherever that may be. Act like it.
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