This morning started out very early. Me and the other aquatics counselors had to wake up to start registration for swimming lessons. We arrived by 7:00am planning to start at 8:00am, and there were already 50-60 parents there. The first parent that came through the line told us she had gotten there at 3:00am. At the end we had registered 216 parents' children for swim lessons. It was a long morning.
Yesterday we had to stand outside the commissary (grocery store on base) and pass out fliers for the swim lessons. We had to do it for 3 hours and it was pouring. It was not the funnest thing I have ever done to say the least.
Since it rained all day yesterday we all just stayed indoors and worked on our posters for camp, they all turned out really well. We have the rest of the weekend to do whatever we want so we are going to spend the day at the beach.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Last night was my first night out exploring the island. Me and 5 of the other lifeguards on our staff went out for sushi. We went to this very cute restaurant called Genki. All of the menu was in Japanese so when the waitress came I just pointed at something that was cheap on the menu...I ended up getting raw fish. I wanted to cry when she brought my meal to me and sat it in front of me. But I finally grew some and tried one of every type of raw fish that was on my plate. I did not end up liking any of them, but I was still glad I tried. Afterward we walked along the boardwalk near the ocean. It was so beautiful. There were white little crabs scattering across everywhere. The ocean here is clear and you are able to see the bottom. On our way back we stopped into cute shops that had many cute clothes. Since all of the Asians are no bigger than a size 6, it has not been too easy to find clothes or shoes ha.
The base here has very strict rules. We learned a lot of them yesterday. The BAC level for driving here is .03, so you cannot even have a beer and drive. When you walk on base you cannot wear spaghetti straps, old navy flip flops, headbands, or anything that I would usually wear. Everyday at 8:00am and 8:00pm they play the national anthem followed by the Japanese national anthem. Everything on base freezes including cars to stop and salute the flags. It is really cool. Everyday they hang a flag on base indicating the temperature. Yesterday, the flag was black meaning children were not to be outside playing due to the severe temperatures.
Today we started our first lesson plans for swimming lessons. They are very tedious and are going to take all day to do so I better get started. Krisanne pointed out all of my spelling errors so just for the heads up, I am horrible at grammar and spelling. It is a good thing I am going to school for math. Happy Thursday!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Hi everyone!
Today our project coordinators surprised us and allowed us a day off of base. This was our first time off based since we had arrived. We went to a part of Okinawa called American Village. It was filled with many cute stores and boutiques. It was also right along the ocean so we had a beautiful view while we shopped. I found a store that had a fish tank in it and you could pay 5000 yen (5.00) to put your feet in it for 10 minutes and the fish eat all of the dead skin off of your feet. I am determined to do it before I leave, but I could not get the courage to do it today haha. After we returned back on base to the barracks we got ready to meet the parents of the children we will be teaching swim lessons too. There were many parents at the meeting and they all had many questions about how the program was ran. The man who ran the meeting said in the past parents have lined up outside the door for registration as early as 3:00am. The parents were all very friendly and some even brought some of their children. The children that we teach the lessons to are not allowed to know our real names. So my staff and I all picked the theme of cereal and we all came up with different names to be called by. The entire summer I will be Ms. Honey Bunches, which will be weird to get used to.
I am still struggling with jet leg, my roommate and I both woke up at 5:15am this morning, wide awake. I decided to read for a couple of hours. I get very tired around 8:00pm but I am guessing it will just take time to get used to the time change. Tomorrow we have a meeting with the military personal from 7-4 over rules and regulations.
Love,
Nat
Today our project coordinators surprised us and allowed us a day off of base. This was our first time off based since we had arrived. We went to a part of Okinawa called American Village. It was filled with many cute stores and boutiques. It was also right along the ocean so we had a beautiful view while we shopped. I found a store that had a fish tank in it and you could pay 5000 yen (5.00) to put your feet in it for 10 minutes and the fish eat all of the dead skin off of your feet. I am determined to do it before I leave, but I could not get the courage to do it today haha. After we returned back on base to the barracks we got ready to meet the parents of the children we will be teaching swim lessons too. There were many parents at the meeting and they all had many questions about how the program was ran. The man who ran the meeting said in the past parents have lined up outside the door for registration as early as 3:00am. The parents were all very friendly and some even brought some of their children. The children that we teach the lessons to are not allowed to know our real names. So my staff and I all picked the theme of cereal and we all came up with different names to be called by. The entire summer I will be Ms. Honey Bunches, which will be weird to get used to.
I am still struggling with jet leg, my roommate and I both woke up at 5:15am this morning, wide awake. I decided to read for a couple of hours. I get very tired around 8:00pm but I am guessing it will just take time to get used to the time change. Tomorrow we have a meeting with the military personal from 7-4 over rules and regulations.
Love,
Nat
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Hello from Okinawa!
After about 32 hours of travel yesterday, I finally made it! Okinawa is 14 hours behind the US so I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night, even though I had been up for over 30 hours. I ended up traveling with about 40-50 other Camp Adventure staff, so it made things very easy. We went straight to bed right when we arrived and I woke up to the Star Spangled Banner being played on the base speakers. I guess they play it twice a day and everyone is supposed to stop what they are doing and face a flag. Traffic even stops when it plays. We got our roommates last night and I ended up being paired with a girl from Solon who I have been training with all semester, which was great! I can see the ocean from my bedroom window, from what I can see it looks crystal clear and is very beautiful. They won't let us off the base until we get all of our base access cards, which stinks! We have a lot of training in the next couple of weeks and we won't get to start working with the kids for two more weeks. We are now off to more meetings, have a good week:).
Love,
Nat
After about 32 hours of travel yesterday, I finally made it! Okinawa is 14 hours behind the US so I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night, even though I had been up for over 30 hours. I ended up traveling with about 40-50 other Camp Adventure staff, so it made things very easy. We went straight to bed right when we arrived and I woke up to the Star Spangled Banner being played on the base speakers. I guess they play it twice a day and everyone is supposed to stop what they are doing and face a flag. Traffic even stops when it plays. We got our roommates last night and I ended up being paired with a girl from Solon who I have been training with all semester, which was great! I can see the ocean from my bedroom window, from what I can see it looks crystal clear and is very beautiful. They won't let us off the base until we get all of our base access cards, which stinks! We have a lot of training in the next couple of weeks and we won't get to start working with the kids for two more weeks. We are now off to more meetings, have a good week:).
Love,
Nat
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Getting ready to leave!!
Hi everybody:)
This summer I will be spending my 2 and a half months in Okinawa, Japan, for an internship, so I thought I would start a blog for my family and friends to follow me. I leave June 5th (tomorrow) for a 12 week program so I will first start by explaining what I will be doing. Last semester, I started training for a program called Camp Adventure. It is normally a 10-12 week day camp that services the military children overseas. We work 35-40 hours a week planning activities and taking them on field trips throughout the summer. I am doing a separate branch of Camp Adventure because I will be doing their aquatics program. I have been working hard getting certified in life guarding, water safety instructor, AED, CPR, and first aid. So everyday I will be teaching swim lessons to children anywhere from 6 months to 12 years of age. All of the children I will be working with will be American so their won't be any language barrier for me. I will be living on the Marine base called Camp Foster, which is one of the bigger ones in Okinawa. There is many other college students from around the US who will be living in the barracks with me and also doing camp. Along with getting an almost all expense paid trip, I will also be receiving 12 semester hours of college credit through the program. This will be the longest I will be away from home which will be very hard for me, especially when my nephew is born in a couple of weeks. I will try to update as much as possible! Please feel free to email me at natalieryther@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you.
Love,
Natalie
This summer I will be spending my 2 and a half months in Okinawa, Japan, for an internship, so I thought I would start a blog for my family and friends to follow me. I leave June 5th (tomorrow) for a 12 week program so I will first start by explaining what I will be doing. Last semester, I started training for a program called Camp Adventure. It is normally a 10-12 week day camp that services the military children overseas. We work 35-40 hours a week planning activities and taking them on field trips throughout the summer. I am doing a separate branch of Camp Adventure because I will be doing their aquatics program. I have been working hard getting certified in life guarding, water safety instructor, AED, CPR, and first aid. So everyday I will be teaching swim lessons to children anywhere from 6 months to 12 years of age. All of the children I will be working with will be American so their won't be any language barrier for me. I will be living on the Marine base called Camp Foster, which is one of the bigger ones in Okinawa. There is many other college students from around the US who will be living in the barracks with me and also doing camp. Along with getting an almost all expense paid trip, I will also be receiving 12 semester hours of college credit through the program. This will be the longest I will be away from home which will be very hard for me, especially when my nephew is born in a couple of weeks. I will try to update as much as possible! Please feel free to email me at natalieryther@gmail.com, I would love to hear from you.
Love,
Natalie
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