Happy New Year!

Ringing in the new year is a huge celebration here in Okinawa. They have several festivals around the island and many people visit a shrine for the 1st visit of the year. We ventured out to Shuri Castle, which is a reconstructed castle, close to the capital city of Naha. They had many performances and a traditional New Years Day ceremony....we will have to catch the ceremony next year because staying up until midnight was way too much for some people in our family :)
The traditional costumes that are worn during the performances are beautiful, the colors are so vibrant and the performers are very talented. Enjoy!

Ryukyu Mura Part 2

What can I say? I love Ryukyu Mura!! There is something about going there that just makes me happy....

Love these Shisas

Alyssa was able to work on a tradional loom.

Such beautiful colors

Christmas Lights

In Okinawa, Christmas isn't celebrated in the traditional way but they do go all out with lights...During December, a local winery transforms into a winter wonderland, they hang thousands of LED lights and have performances throughout the evening. Across the street from the winery is the Peace Prayer Memorial Park, so at 8 o'clock every night they turn off all the lights and have a moment of prayer to ask for peace. It really is a wonderful sight when they turn all of the lights back on....

Malia loved the tunnel of lights

Walking in a winter wonderland

Beautiful

Alyssa and one of the talented performers

Christmas Parade

Since moving to Okinawa, Alyssa has joined Girl Scouts and is a brownie this year. She is really enjoying it and can't wait to go camping! On December 3rd, the base we live on had a Christmas parade, Alyssa and the rest of the Girl Scouts from our end of the island walked in the parade. There were floats and the girls threw candy to the people watching.....it all ended at the exchange where they lit the Christmas tree--it was a great evening and it was actually cool that night so it really felt like Christmas!

Our little Brownie

Santa arrived on a fire truck!

The Christmas Tree

It is huge!!

Ryukyu Mura

I have been terrible about updating this blog but I promise to get better! Okinawa has been keeping us busy and there are so many things to see and do....We decided to go Ryukyu Mura on one of the holiday weekends that we have had recently and I have to say that even though we haven't made a dent in what there is to do here, I love this place!!! They have dismantled several homes from around the island that are all over 100 years old and brought them to Ryukyu Mura, there are performances and in one of the houses you can purchase a brown sugar donut and enjoy a cup of hot tea while sitting at a traditional Japanese table. You can't help but fall in love with Okinawa after spending a day learning about and experiencing so much of the culture.....

She is over 90 years old and was the cutest thing!

(Yes, she is balancing a bottle on her head)

You FEEL the sound of these Eisa drums all the way to your stomach

Just Beautiful!
Alyssa was selected from the crowd to play "catch" with the Shisa dog

Cape Zanpa and The Zakimi Castle Ruins

On one of our excursions around the island, we decided to go to Cape Zanpa. It is a beautiful area, with a lighthouse and many walking paths. Unfortunately, it was so hot that we were unable to see it all but definitely want to go back! On our way home we decided to stop at the Zakimi Castle ruins....all that is left standing are the walls that went around the castle. It was built by a warlord and is now a world heritage site.

Zakimi Castle

An archway leading into the castle grounds

Shisa Dog at Cape Zanpa

Cape Zanpa lighthouse and statue

Our new adventure...

A lot has changed in our lives since the last time I updated our blog....the biggest change is that we are now living in Japan. It is a beautiful place and the people are so nice! We did have some issues with culture shock in the beginning but I think we are getting adjusted and are finding our way to making this our home for the next three years.....

Japanese and American flags flying together

A beautiful Hibiscus

Mount Fuji from the plane window