Off base

Lots of activity the last few days! Training is going well and everyone has pretty much fallen into a steady routine at this point. The athletes are getting acclimated to the time zone, heat and humidity and are peaking for their competitions. Won't be long now until all their hard work pays off!

As for staff, we manage to sneak an hour or so whenever we can to leave base and see a little of Okinawa. Kim and I went out to a nearby beach and jumped into the wonderfully warm ocean water. Unlike the chilly waters off the California coast, the water was warm and inviting and it was hard to pull ourselves out of it!

As we walked along the boardwalk, we discovered several of these vending machines offering cold beverages. For around 100 yen (approx $1) you can get just about anything you're thirsty for. We also stumbled across a few amusing public announcements like this sign informing folks to pick up after their dogs. Even though I've seen a ton of these literally translated signs during my travels in Asia, they still make me chuckle!

On another quick outing, I journeyed with another two-wheel enthusiast in our delegation the 3 miles off base to an Okinawan Harley-Davidson dealership. It was small by American standards, but about the same size as the one I visited in Beijing last March. We all joke in the States that HD stands for "hundred dollars" since there's not much for sale with a price tag of less than $100 at HD dealerships. That is most certainly true here. . . I paid $68 for a Harley-Davidson t-shirt. I know, I'm crazy for paying that much, but it's a pretty sweet shirt!

Last night, a group of staff went out to eat at Kitakaisen sushi restaurant out in town. It was authentic Japanese but with a Western twist (there were pizzas on the menu!). I had a crab and rice soup that reminded me of seafood gumbo back home, complete with a whole half crab in the bowl. I'm pretty proficient with chopsticks at this point in my life, but peeling crabs is still a hands on endeavor in any culture! I talked Beth into getting the yakisoba and she wasn't disappointed. Everyone ordered different dishes and we tasted a bit of everything. My goal of having sushi everyday while I'm Japan is still on track- 5 days running!

That's all for now, I'll keep posting as time allows. Thanks for checking in!