My time in OKI-nawa

HELLO everyone!!  Sorry it has been so long since I have done a blog post, I forgot my camera charger when I left for Japan so I didn't have any way to post pictures of the amazing Okinawa.  I did learn that Okinawa is properly pronounced OKEE-NAWA.  They call it the "Oki lifestyle".  Let me just start off by saying this place is amazing!  It would be how I would picture Hawaii would be.  Everyone is so laid back, friendly, and overall just happy.  Needless to say, I definitely want to go back and visit.  My trainer was AMAZING.  She was so sarcastic and we had so many laughs together.  In fact, my stomach is still sore from laughing so hard over the 2 weeks I was there.  She took us to all these different restaurants, stores, you name it.  I did try the "real" sushi and LOVED it.  It is so much more fresh and good here than back in the states (but that won't keep me from eating it there :o) ).  I actually traveled with another Army wife, they live up North.  The other 2 women took a different flight.  We both love sushi and couldn't wait so we had it in the airport in our layover at Osaka-Kansai Airport.  

We trained at Kadena Air Force Base located about 3 miles from our hotel (but always costed as around $15.00 each way, sometimes more).  Kadena is a beautiful base, really spread out, which is practically the complete opposite of Korea.  The training was primarily based upon anti-money laundering, things of that sort.  I learned a ton.  I think one of the most appealing parts of the trip was being about to be surrounded by Americans, or even just English-speaking coworkers.  Japan doesn't hire local-nationals, so it is all Americans in the banks (which was so refreshing).  It was almost like a women's retreat, hanging out and making overall life-long friendships with these women!  There is SO much to talk about in my trip but I'll just keep it simple for now.  

I'm sure a lot of you are wondering about the radiation and things of that sort.  What's funny is that Okinawa is like its' own separate entity.  No one talks about any of that, mainly because they had no effect.  However, they were doing a lot of money raising for the victims and restructure from the Tsunami and Earthquake.  Because of everything that was going on, the Yen (their currency), was very strong compared to the dollar.  We lost about .15 to .20 on average per $1.  That was killer!  

Here are a few pictures of Okinawa..I will do plenty more posts with more!  Love you guys!