Wednesday was so great! Mike and I spent part of it Star Bucks hunting. Mike had heard a rumor that there was a Star Bucks somewhere near our base. When he told me this, I was so excited that I can't exactly remember what I did next. I think I spoke or possibly ate a TV dinner. It's all still a little blurry. Anyway, so Wednesday afternoon we drove to the "landmark" (A HUGE Coke-A-Cola ferris wheel. It's scary sometimes how big Coke is here. Coke is like almost as big as Miss Kitty, but let's not even start that topic at this moment. My fingers don't have that much strength). We parked any walked around. After walking for a half hour without any luck, Mike decided that I should just wander (Something that just comes naturally to me. What can I say? It's a gift ;), so I walked to a crosswalk and suddenly Mike said, "Kate! It's a sign!" I was like, "What are you talking about?" and He pointed across the stress to a Star Bucks sign =) So we went inside, and I used my incredibly suave and cool lingual talents to point at a picture menu that they had on the counter. I ordered a coffee frappuchino, and it tasted wonderful =) It wasn't any different from any of the dozens of others I've had, and it was absolutely perfect. A little piece of familiarity, and I loved it (Thank you baby. It was exactly the pick-me-up I needed =)

Things I like about Okinawa:

1. Mike's here =)
2. They have lots of hibiscus bushes!
3. They have a kind of 'Lipton Ice Tea' called 'Lipton Sparkle'. I can't read the label, so I don't know what's in it, but it rocks so hard.
4. I may not be able to understand the langauge of the Japanese sitcoms, but the plots are exactly same as American sitcoms, so it doesn't matter anyway ;)
5. The langauge of Starbuck's knows no barriers.
6. There are a ton of flashy neon lights!
7. Palm trees! (Need I say more?)
8. Huge quantities of Pocky at my disposal.
9. The minivans look like shoe boxes.
10. The native people are always smiling =)

I'm really starting to like it here =) Today, I took a little journey to the Commisary (grocery store). I thought it was too far to walk to, but it turns out that it's just down the road, and Mike gave me directions =D So, I put on about a gallon of sunscreen (which was a good idea, my skin turn bright red within seconds of stepping outside, but at least it didn't burn) and then, armed with my backpack, directions and sunglasses, I made my way to the store. Which turned out to be a 10 minute walk =) I got there, did my shopping, checked out AND said 'thank you' to the cashier in Japanese! Woooo! Go me! I think she even understood me because she smiled! Yay!

It was good =)

Today, I have turned into a slug. Even typing is laborious. I managed to finish the laundry and wash my hair, but then I turned on the tv and started to knit, and there went the rest of my day ;) I was planning to take a hike down to the local bx (It's like a small Walmart), but I've completely zoned out today. Oh well, gives me something to do tomorrow =p

In other news, I'm happy to be here finially =) People keep asking if it's awful to be in a room all by myself for a good portion of the day, but the truth is I'm kinda enjoying it. I've been running in circles this month. First, Mike came back right at the beginning, then the wedding, then packing and running around seeing everyone who wanted to spend time with me before I left, and then spending 24 hours traveling...the whole month ran me kinda ragged, so I'm rather open to being here in the quiet for a while =) I'm enjoying the down time, and my stress level is slowly receeding.

I'm so happy to be here with Mike =) I've missed him so much.

Anyway, so that's the lastest from Okinawa. I'll attempt writing a better post with more actual content in the near future =)