Here, me and Christina enjoy a hearty bowl of oishii soba at the cute little soba restaurant next to my house. i love this place, it's my new favorite hangout. don't forget to heap lots of pink pickled ginger on top!!!!
TR is served as a general menu item at practically every restaurant. You can buy Taco Rice instant mix packages at every grocery store. In fact, there is no one in my new world who does not love Taco Rice. And Taco Rice loves them riiiiiiiiight back. 
Now, one of the things that pleases me most (probably because it's the most perfect culmination of cultural blending that I could ever imagine) in Okinawa is one particular form of TR that you can buy at コンピニ (convenience stores), which I call Burrushi (burrito + sushi). It's TR formed into SUSHI!!!! That means the taco filling is rolled in rice and then seaweed, but GET THIS, they make it big bad ol' burrito sized. Soooooo sorry I don't have a picture yet. But soooooo gu-reatto! 
performed by various famous Japanese Boy Bands (really popular here: Backstreet Boy-ish teenage trendy bands, stipulations on being a member of which include looking like a girl and having put many hours of styling into your luscious locks). The whole shebang is cheesy and horrific in that way that only Japan could make it. Soulful renditions of Chim-Chimeny (Mary Poppins) by heart-throbs, with one guy wrinkling his perfect brow in emotion and intent concentration as he dings the chimes, another making Aerosmith contortions of his face, lips pressed against the mike in Awesome Coolness as he croons, `chim-chimeny, chim-chimeny chim chim cherooOoooOooooOOoooo` creating a visual and auditory performance of such complete imbalance that it requires you to stop chewing your breakfast of kidney beans and corn and just drool. The highpoint of this morning`s Hakuna Matata was, just when i thought it couldnt get any worse, the lead singer breaks the routine to perform a gently crooning rap solo. First of all, gently crooning and rap just dont jive. Secondly, Hakuna Matata + rap makes me cringe. Pumba with some bling bling? What's going on, Japan?
Many little children were doing spectacular things at this festival, such as this little girl performing on the, uh, shell. This is the first shell performance I've ever seen, and I bet it will also prove to be the best! Then there were these little dudes
performing staff fighting. These two guys are awaiting their turn up. Though they look peaceful now, they will soon be wacking each other fiercly with blurry-whirling sticks. Kids here are all martial arts masters. You gotta watch out.
One of the most interesting goings-on at the Matsuri were the Pole Hefters. This is my name for them. I have to make up my own names for most things here. These are special festival "poles" which are quite large and heavy. They have different head-dresses and flags on each one, and there were about 2 dozen of them, perhaps. A group of about 10 men surrounds each pole. 
They wear special cloth pouch-belts that fit the bottom of the pole, and they raise the pole with these other sticks they all carry that have a cleft foot in them. Then one guy supports in in his belt and begins to bounce it up and down while moving his feet in a little dance, sweating profusely and concentrating intensely (as they should be, since if they dropped the giant pole it would crush about a dozen innocent bystanders in the crowd). The other fellows surround this guy in a circle and hold their cleft poles at the ready, to catch the big one if it falls (yes, it does fall. i saw it happen, and they DID catch it miraculously before it hit the bystanders. I still made a mad dash to safety and swore to never return to the pole's Radius of Death). 
All the while, they are chanting something and banging on gongs, moving up the street, and occasionally transfering the pole from one sweaty guy to a fresh guy. This transfer is very tricky: it is done in one BOUNCE of the pole, not by putting it down and putting it up again. Just heave a bounce from one pouch to the other.
At the end of the mighty Tug, everyone surges towards the rope, brandishing pocket knifes and the occasional machete, jumps on the rope, and begins feverishly hacking bits and pieces of it off. You can see from the photo that I too gave in the the hacking frenzy. Rumor has it that a piece of the rope will bring you luck for the year to come. My theory is that the Okinawan prefectural government started this rumor... because really, how else are they going to dispose of a 44 ton rope every year?
washiki). Now, having lived in Nicaragua, I felt no fear when I stood before the Japanese squat toilet for the first time. I was, however, astonished at the sheer number of squatties in this advanced nation. Squatties are to be found in many establishments like restaurants, government buildings, schools. Often a bathroom has one western-style flush toilet and the rest are squatties. BUT: I have come to cherish the squatty in my few short months here. Why? The convenience. The speed. No contact, just a quick hello and goodbye. You can imagine. But what you cant imagine without my help is the more advanced Japanese toilet. For those of you who are interested (which must be all of you since you are clearly still reading)let me explain the wonders of the woshuretto. 
While the toilet looks like a Western-style toilet at first glance, there are a number of additional features, such as blow dryer, seat heating, massage options, water jet adjustments, water temperature adjustments, automatic lid opening, auto flushing, wireless control panels, etc, included either as part of the toilet or in the seat. These features can be accessed by a control panel that is either attached to one side of the seat or on a wall nearby, often transmitting the commands wirelessly to the toilet seat... Some toilets play music to relax the user... Also, the latest models store the times of the use of the toilet, and have a power saving mode that heats up the toilet seat only during times when the toilet is likely to be used based on the collected usage data. Some toilets also glow in the dark or may even have air conditioning for hot summer days...Recently, researchers have added medical sensors into these toilets, which can measure the blood sugar based on the urine, and also measure the pulse, blood pressure, and the body fat content of the user. Talking toilets that greet the user have also started to be made. Other measurements are currently being researched. This data may automatically be sent to a doctor through a built-in internet-capable cellular telephone.
Many Japanese women are embarrassed at the thought of being heard by others during urination... To cover the sound of bodily functions, many women flushed public toilets continuously while using them, wasting a large amount of water in the process. As education campaigns did not stop this practice, a device was introduced in the 1980s that, after activation, produces the sound of flushing water without the need for actual flushing. One brand name commonly found is the Otohime (音姫), which literally means Sound Princess, and is named after the Japanese goddess Otohime, the beautiful daughter of the sea-king Ryujin. This device is now routinely placed in most new public women's rooms... The device creates a loud flushing sound similar to a toilet being flushed. This sound either stops after a preset time or can be halted through a second press on the button. It is estimated that this saves up to 20 liters of water per use. 
my second year students perform traditional Okinawan Eisa dancing
Well, you've struck gold. In America, I think male synch-swimming is simply not something that could ever be considered cool. Which is why I found the whole business very amusing. The 18 year old sports boys are famous around this place for their synchronized swimming team, known as the Water Boys. The Water Boys are nation-wide in Japan: all boys' synchronized swimming in high schools are Water Boys. There's a movie that you should watch if you want to understand the psychology behind this Water Boys business. It's called "Water Boys." Ginowan high is one of few Water Boys teams in Okinawa, which makes us SPECIAL!
two boys in a drag-show making out on the runway
