I made it safe to okinawa and have been enjoying the comforts of the Freiberg's home for 2 days now. I haven't yet ventured out on my own but will do so soon. I started reading Into Thin Air for the second time and haven't been able to put it down. It was a long journey from the San Diego Amtrak at 6 am on friday, december 31 to the little okinawa airport at noon on the 2nd. I enjoyed a 14-hour flight from LAX to Shanghai, China. Breezed through a book and read three chinese movies. They were all subtitled so I didn't bother to listen. But even reading them in English was a challenge. I soon learned that "Don't in to house" means "Please don't come into my house without knocking." I arrived in Shanghai and received a full-page visa just to sit in the airport for another 14 hours. Sweet. I wasn't the only bum there, and had to fight to keep one of the benches without armrests. We zoomed past new year's in the air and I arrived in the evening of January 1st. It was a pleasant 2-hour flight to okinawa but I had a hard time getting through the border check since I hadn't bothered to get Sarah and John's address but when I showed them my hostel booking for Tokyo several weeks from now they allowed me into the country. They had been nice about it though, laughing at my predicament and lack of knowledge for where I was headed.
I went to school with my friend Sarah. We studied in Israel together and it has been fun to recall our adventures crossing Egyptian borders and ditching our tour guides in Jordan. We looked through our semester scrapbook and so many memories I had already forgotten were flooding back. We have gone out to some fun restaurants. At one place we order food from a vending machine and wait for it to be delivered to the table. Brilliant. Last night we went to a cute garlic restaurant. Sarah's husband John is working on his Dive Master so we will get to go for some dives while I am here. We tried going yesterday but the water was a little rough. Possibly a night dive tonight. It has been wonderful seeing them. I think I am adjusted to the time now and will wander off base to orient myself this morning. Happy new year! I kind of missed it this year, but am not in denial and realize that 2011 has indeed arrived. I will keep you posted with more stories as they come.
