Orion Beer Festival

Hey Everybody!  This is Brian stepping in to author a post (I was promised a bizarre but most likely adorable and/or robot related Japanese toy if I wrote something).  Luckily we just had a blast last night and it won't be hard to talk/write your ears/eyes off about it.

This past Saturday (or current Saturday for you folks living stateside…in the past) we went to the Orion Beer Festival.  It is a 2 day event that Maureen read about on the MCCS (Marine Corps…..cool stuff) web site.  It coincides with a traditional Okinawan festival with tons of Eisa dancing (imagine drums, colorful outfits, face paint, and people dressed as (I'm assuming) traditional characters from Okinawan history/mythology.  We went with Mel and Jonathan so all 4 of us piled into one of our tiny cars (Mel's, which is codenamed: Beeteru ((Beetle)), and headed out.  We could have parked on base but it's a bit of a walk from there to the stadium/fair grounds where the event was so we decided to drive over and try our luck.  Our luck didn't look good at first as tons of streets were blocked off and many people were walking to the venue, but then our luck changed and someone held up a sign with Japanese writing and "¥1500" with an arrow.  We asked in perfect Japanese (I'm lying) if they were offering parking, and they were!  They said "follow her"(I think) and pointed at an adorable grinning 6 year old girl who waved at us and took off down a side street.  She kept looking back and waving then running again and it was awesome.  She led us to a grassy lot that ended up being about 100 yards from the event.  What luck!

We walked in and were immediately struck by awesome sites and sounds.  It wasn't even that big of an event space but the crazy Japanese stuff makes it 10 times more interesting than events I'm used to.  There was a huge archway with Orion Beer lanterns leading to the beer garden/venue.  We wanted to grab some food first so we got noodles at a food stand.  In amongst the vending stands there were carnival games (throw darts at a balloon, ring tosses, etc.) to win kids prizes.  They had tons of balloons, but in typical Japanese fashion, they do balloons better than anyone.  They had balloon swords, balloon giant hammers, and even balloon animals with wheels on them so kids could pull them around.  They also throw in a healthy dose of the bizarre, as per usual.  Some of the balloon hammers were "relatively" normal.  One had a cartoon kid with big fists but the head of the hammer had his face with his mouth really big on it and the words "punch" written over it (?).  But some were even weirder.  One had an anthropomorphic (and slightly phallic) mushroom on it and all of his mushroom warrior friends all over the rest of it.  I wanted one but Maureen said "no".  This is a healthy reflex she has developed as our house would otherwise be overflowing with weird japanese toys (or at least more than it already is).  Then there was the truly bizarre (yeah, it gets weirder).  There was a balloon bat with a photograph of a balding middle aged man in yoga pants just standing there.  I have seen a book where he does weird yoga poses on the cover.  He may be some comedian or something.  Not sure, but it was weird seeing him on the side of a giant balloon bat that some 3 year old was waving around.  They also had masks of different cartoon characters, which will come up later (foreshadowing!!!!).

Our bellies and eyes full, we decided to head into the beer festival.  Inside the archway there were rows and rows of communal tables in a huge open area roughly facing a stage.  It kinda reminded me of pictures I've seen of Octoberfest in Germany.  This was all surrounded with booths selling Orion beer or "beer-like drinks" (Chu-hai), as well as Orion merch and some food.  The drinks were impressively cheap, as in only ¥150-300 per drink (which is equivalent to ~$1.25-2.50 USD)! We grabbed beers but the tables were pretty taken up so we decided to walk around some more.

 We walked into the stadium and were surprised to find the Eisa dancing still going on (we thought it had ended hours before our arrival).  The outfits were really cool and the dancing and drums were impressive.  We ran low on beverages so headed back to the beer garden.  While we'd been out it had filled up even more and we had trouble even finding standing room.  The people watching was incredible.  Men and women were dressed in festival attire (kimonos for women, and these woven jacket and loose shorts outfits for the men)  This was mostly Okinawans but there were some Americans dressed this way too. I'm going to look into the appropriateness of this as I totally want one of the outfits as they looked super comfortable.  We also noticed that Okinawans were getting pleasantly drunk all around.  Many groups had staked claims to table areas (with actual markers and make shift flags) and were all challenging each other to drink more beer.  One group near us all had yellow shirts that looked like they represented some sports league (like an intramural softball team).  One of them was attempting to fend off passing out while sitting up in his chair.  His head kept slowly dipping back until he'd hit a point of maximum extension then he'd jerk his head back upright to start the process over.  We kept noticing and then one of his companions noticed us noticing and said to Maureen in basically perfect english "punch him, wake him up".  Maureen laughed and then started talking with him about his drunk friend.  She asked if there was any room around them and they regretted to tell us that all of the seats were claimed.  But they looked around for a few seconds and then a bunch of them hopped up and moved some chairs and offered us 4 seats in the middle of the table row!  This led to an awesome evening in which we established a few things.  Okinawans are incredibly nice…... and the happiest drunks I have ever met.

To set the scene, it's a bunch of guys in neon yellow shirts with empty and full beer cups overflowing all over the table.  They were to the left of us.  On our right there were some empty seats but a few Okinawan ladies and a few kids with a ton of food. Raku was the guy who first spoke to us and he chatted us up for a bit.  He'd studied abroad in Riverside, CA so when he found out we'd just moved from San Diego, he reminisced about In 'N Out burgers and the amazing mexican food in southern California.  His friends wanted to chat with us too and one of them put a strange light on his head that seemed to randomly flash red and green.  We asked what it was and he said, "I cannot lie, it will show" and pointed to the light.  We realized it was supposed to be a lie detecter.  Then he said, "Watch.  I am very smart!" and the light flashed red.  The whole table busted up laughing.  "I am very good looking" again red.  This continued to much laughter.  People kept coming by and taking pictures with the perpetually passing out while sitting up guy.  Girls would pretend to kiss him.  Guys would pretend to be feeding him beer.  The rest of the guys would then challenge the picture taker to a chugging contest and down more beers, followed by tons of high-fives.  I was struck by how they liked to prank and compete but it was always very good natured and so…..nice.  

As I was watching these antics and felt someone almost collapse into my back.  I turned and a tiny Okinawan woman wearing a egg yolk character mask had sat down/toppled into the seat next to me.  She was about 15 sheets to the wind and having a GREAT time.  She spoke very little english (looking back it mainly consisted of "yes" and "no") and I indicated that I didn't speak any Japanese, so of course we embarked on an epic and long lasting conversation during which she would randomly say "no-no-no-no-no" and re-explain something in Japanese.  I would guess something completely random, and she would say "yes-yes-yes-yes".  We had a really good time with this.  She kept cracking up and offering us things.  The mask she was wearing had a Sanrio kids' cartoon character on it. We asked her what his name was but all we got out of her was that he is a "lazy egg" and she interpreted our questions as us asking to put the mask on ourselves. She would give us the mask, we would hold it up to our faces, and she would crack up. This was repeated many times.  One of her table mates made a little plate of some of their food and gave it to us.  We tried to refuse but she insisted and it was delicious.  We went and bought them all a round of beers, but "tipsy eggyolk woman" (we never did get her name) insisted on also buying us beers.  Fortunately her friends accepted a few more beers from us later.  

This was all followed by the performance of some really great (from the Okinawans reactions) band and fireworks with a laser show through the smoke.

Theeeeeen, I noticed a kid at a side table who had BATTLE BEASTS! These were toys from my childhood in the 80's and they had NEW JAPANESE ONES!  I had to have them, so I asked the table where they got them.  Actually I most likely terrified the kid who probably thought I was trying to take his toys.  His Mom was, of course, super nice and after "talking" (pointing at toys, pointing around park, questioning look on my face) to her and some uncles at the table we determined that the toys could be won as a prize at a shooting gallery game.  So as soon as the fireworks were done, I beelined it to the shooting gallery.  You got an airsoft gun and 6 shots.  You had to knock down 5 cups with balls in them that then slid down a pachinko board and if you stacked 3 balls into one column, you could pick a "3" prize.  Being the sharpshooter that I am (you stand about 2 feet away from the cups) I won.  The battle beasts are mine!!! Amazing ending to a great night.  We're probably going back today.  So basically, I love Okinawa, and I write really long blog posts.  You're welcome.  Tune in next time for a much more coherent and elegantly written post by my amazing wife.  Konichiwa!

Cats and Our First Typhoon

No way has it already been a month since we left San Diego! At least it sure doesn't feel like it. It specifically feels more like a state of perpetual vacation--like we'll be returning to San Diego any day now. I know that's not true but sometimes I like to pretend it is. I think that the vacation feeling is mostly due to the fact that we're still using all of the military loaner furniture--that and the whole tropical weather and humidity piece, of course. Once our household goods get here I think we'll begin to feel a little more settled. Maybe. Either way I'm sure it will exponentially help to help feel more completely settled in.

Brian has been working away, seeing clinic and studying for his upcoming boards exam. I have been working away in a different manner: setting up our house, running errands, taking care of paperwork, and sending out job applications--I hope to start subbing at the Department of Defense schools here on base shortly to help keep me busy until a full-time teaching position or something similar opens up. There are moments when I'm knee-bouncingly antsy to get out of the house, see people, do something! (Which I go and do--but I mean more in terms of work). And then there are times when it's almost meditative to be able to read a little, to be able to study some Japanese, to be free to run out to the store to buy the lawn mower/mixing bowls/plunger/"fill in random item that we need but don't currently have because we either had to give it away or it hasn't arrived yet."

Luckily the cats made it here safe and sound to keep us/me company, which some of you are already well aware of if we're Snapchat friends (sorry not sorry for all the cat pics/videos guys. I love these furballs!) They arrived on the 21st and have been adjusting well to the new place. Their travel itinerary had them going from San Diego ➡️ Los Angeles ➡️ Tokyo/Haneda ➡️ Iwakuni ➡️ Okinawa so now they are quite the experienced jet setters! We shipped them through Sarah's Pet Paradise, which I would recommend to anyone needing to send pets overseas--they were great and there was a person flying along with the pets to get them from check point to check point, and even through customs, without much hassle. They even sent/posted pictures of the pets along the way so us concerned pet owners could see that they were still alive and well!

The kitties upon their arrival in Okinawa. They don't seem as happy to see me as I was to see them. 

Tigre looks super over it and has resigned to his fate of imminent death approaching; 

Patches is anxious to figure out what all the noises are 

and whether or not there are shadows that need to be attacked.

I seriously think that they thought they were going to die en route so by the time they got to us they were just happy to be alive. They got out and immediately started exploring. Their stay at Rachel's prepared them for a new home with stairs, so they were pretty willing to explore both upstairs and downstairs from the get go. They weren't big fans of the bare floors though so they were flopping on the bed and the chairs until we bought some area rugs to fill a couple of the voids.

Exploring their new digs. 

I can just hear Patches being all like, "Hey Tig! Come on, let's go explore!" and him being like, "Ugh, fine. I somehow made it through that plane ride without dying so this can't be much worse." 
That Tigre...he's such a butt sometimes.

There was also an initial fiasco with the new litter box that resulted in a pee-soaked Tigre butt racing around our bedroom, leaving wet booty marks all over our nice new floor, and culminating in our poor buddy receiving the further trauma of a never-before-received bath. But he survived that too, much to his surprise, and is now being the lovey-est cat he has ever been! Cuddling up with us, wanting to be petted and not running away, and following us from room to room. I think he's afraid that we'll abandon him or put him on a plane again. We won't, buddy. At least not for the next three years.

I mean, look at how cute he is! So happy to be back with his people! 

Patches looks pretty darn content, too.

In other non-cat related news, we "survived" our first typhoon here on island. And by survived I mean that Brian got to stay home from work, and we got to build a bunch of toys and drink all the chu-hais we had stocked up for the occasion. Typhoon Goni could have been much much worse had it come closer to the island, but as it was he ended up being mostly just a large, extra windy storm. A thankful outcome for all involved. No trampolines flew past our window, no one lost power, and our sandbags kept our trash cans in place. A big win overall. I wish there was more to say about it, but really that's about it. Typhoon season lasts into November though, so we'll keep you posted if anything big comes through our way.

Filling up sandbags to be typhoon ready!

Alright, that's it for now friends. We miss you and would love to hear from you/Facetime with you if you're ever free! Afternoons/evenings in your U.S. time zones are best for us as they are our morning time. Take care!  xoxo Maureen

Our New Place (Part 1)

Our suitcases (pre-unpacking/exploding)

We got to move into our permanent place this past Friday morning! It's much larger than any place we've had before and has an incredible amount of closets & cabinets for storage--a huge change from our last place which had practically no storage. Here's a quick video of what it looked like before we exploded our suitcases all over it:

Between the limited number of bags we were allowed to bring with us and purging of items that we had to do before the move in order to make our weight limit, we knew that we would be short many of the required necessities to start up life in a new home. Luckily the military takes that into consideration and provides a modest moving stipend to help alleviate the costs of (re)purchasing these supplies. Although Brian teased me for packing sheets, towels, blankets, and shower curtains, they were immediately helpful and put to good use. General cleaning supplies (especially the liquid ones that we couldn't ship here) had to be bought along with food, beverages, and a couple of action figures for good measure :) All of that was anticipated and not too bothersome, but I do get a little irked when we have to buy items that are being shipped but haven't gotten here yet--like another broom & dust pan, or a new microwave since we unfortunately put ours in storage thinking that there would already be one here. But again, it's those kinds of things that the stipend is thankfully there for--just gotta chalk it all up as another part of the moving process!

Since our place doesn't currently have any carpeting at all, we also purchased some house slippers. We already try to make it a habit to take our shoes off when we enter homes, so we figured it would be culturally appropriate to have some house slippers of our own in our home. Plus it helps keep the dust off our feet :)

Overall the place has been really nice so far! The neighborhood is pretty quiet, there are a fair amount of trees and bushes in the back and front yards to give some visual privacy, and the loaner furniture has allowed us to begin to feel right at home. Our next door neighbor even came by in the pouring rain to introduce himself and to welcome us to the neighborhood with a bottle of wine.  It was such an unexpected and kind gesture, and it makes me realize the kind of community we may have been missing out on living in apartments the last few years.

A welcome gift from our new neighbors

We've still got a lot of unpacking to do to declutter the common areas but it's all falling into place. And we're super excited because the cats will arrive and join us here on Friday! We've missed them lots but know that they've been in great hands with Rachel back in California. (Thank you, Rachel!!! You're the absolute best!!!)

Ok, that's all for now. Take care, friends!
xoxo Maureen

PS. Part 2 will come once we get our household goods sometime in September--we'll post a new video of what it looks like once it's more complete :)

Our Next Big Adventure

After much anticipation, the verdict is in! This summer Brian, Tigre, Patches, and I will be moving to......

OKINAWA, JAPAN!

We are super excited, especially since this was one of Brian's top choices, and can't wait to see what this new chapter of Navy life will bring! We don't have a set-in-stone moving date yet, but it will likely be in late July/early August. Brian will be working at the main Navy hospital there with a couple of our favorite Pediatric people (yay for knowing friends already!), and I'm already working on applications to hopefully be able to teach there as well. Even with all the excitement, I still have some slight apprehension about moving--mostly stemming from being so far away from my family and not knowing the language (yet)-- but we luckily live in a day and age where FaceTime, email, airline travel, and Rosetta Stone are all pretty readily available so I know it will all be ok. Start saving your pennies now, friends! Our future guest room awaits your presence ;) We'll keep you posted as new developments come along, but are happy to share this big piece of news with you for now. 

This Veterans Day

Growing up the only veteran I really knew (or at least knew well) was my grandpa. I knew that he had fought in WWII, received a purple heart and some other medals, and was lucky enough to come back home to live a full life with our family. He never really talked about the war, partly because of how young we were but also because it was something you didn't really talk about.

My grandpa, Wayne Richard Matteson: WWII Army Veteran

He was my only connection to the military and what it meant to serve our county, and I remember the concept of Veterans Day feeling almost foreign--something that I knew I should respect and honor, but something that I deep down knew that I didn't really understand even with a close family member who had served.

This year as I scroll through my Facebook newsfeed I am flooded by the images of friends and family members who have served in our military or who are still serving today--and to be honest, it's almost overwhelming. Overwhelming in that I never thought I would be embedded in the military community like we are now.

There are so many people that we care about who put themselves into harm's way on a daily basis. Who sacrifice time with their loved ones. Who move half-way around the world to take care of others and their families, all while missing their own. Who deploy to dangerous areas. Who come back changed, or don't get to come back at all.

And strangely enough, sometimes it still feels unreal. When you hang out with all of these friends out of uniform it's easy to forget for a second that they are the men and women who serve our country--not because you actually forget*, but because these are real people who have selflessly chosen to serve. They are friends, and brothers and sisters, children and classmates, who chose to defend our country in a variety of ways. And often they just blend into our midst.

Would you know that almost every person in this photo is actively serving our country if I didn't tell you?
There are about 20 of them pictured here.

And that's just it. That's why Veterans Day is so important. Because of the real people in our midst who serve our country and sacrifice daily for the common good. They might not talk about their experiences, especially if they are dealing with wounds internally or externally, but they have given more than many of us can fathom.

And with that said, there's so much more we should be doing to take care of our veterans besides saying, "Thank you for your service." I don't think I can succinctly address it without going off on a bunch of different tangents, but please consider going beyond the holiday. Words of thanks are nice (and saying them in recognition is a good thing!), but many of our service men and women have had difficulty transitioning back into daily life after serving overseas. They need support more than once or twice a year. They need more than a standing recognition at sporting events. Take the time to get to know a veteran, learn about what they have gone through, help support veteran's affairs with your time and your voting, encourage your company to hire veterans. CNN posted some great suggestions here about ways to honor veterans beyond Veterans Day if you have a chance to check it out.

I am extremely proud of my husband, and of all of our friends and family who have served our country. I am thankful for their bravery, their selflessness, and their service. And I hope that we can continue to support all of our veterans in the ways that each of them may need.

*Trust me, you definitely don't forget it when it is a part of your daily life, so please do not take this statement out of context.