Back in Action

It is now late March and wow do I have so much to update on here! Trevor and I both left the island in November, he went to North Carolina for the good ole USMC and I went back and forth between California and Texas. It was great to be back in the states but four months later we were excited to get back to Okinawa (I never thought I would say that). The reason for this excitement was due to the fact that A) Trevor and I finally got to see each other again B) We had moved back in October to a new apartment right in the middle of all the hustle and bustle of Okinawa and B) I had friends!

Yes, I know we were not in our first house very long but for good reason. Although it was a beautiful little house in a beautiful area it just was not for us. Our neighborhood was somewhat isolated from main roads and a trip to the commissary, gym or dinner took between 30 to 45 minutes. I of course was the one who initiated the move but once Trevor saw the new place I had found he was on board! The new place is in a small apartment complex with 16 units. It was a bit more pricey in rent, initially listed for 250, 000 yen but most housing agencies will come down on the price so we got it for 200,000 yen~ about 2,500.00 US dollars. Although we pay a little out of pocket (until Trevor's next promotion) it is definitely worth it!  It is super close to the beach, Camp Foster (the largest MC base) a ton of restaurants, shops and night life!

Most apartments on Okinawa are called mansions, not sure why but anywho I present to you Mikano Mansion.

I took this picture from the left side of our balcony, on the other side of those green hedges is Camp Foster, so you can see how close we really are. Every day at 8:00 am I get to listen to the "morning colors" and the National Anthem that the base plays through their loud speaker they call "the big voice".

 Looking out over the right side of our balcony we have a view of the East China Sea (this picture does not do it justice), on a clear day we can see the Kerama Islands (I will be doing a post on that later)!

  

I took this picture at Araha beach near our house, you can see our building a couple blocks away. And no worries, our building is very sturdy and tall so if any tsunamis come our way we are safe!

Here is a great picture of the beach. I took this early on a Saturday morning hence why no one is on the beach, usually it is packed! I found this next picture to be interesting, the Japanese have the funniest warning signs, it looks like a monster wave giving a boy scout a wedgie, would this keep you off the beach?