First of all, I did not like where Okinawa was located. It is the furthest island from Japan, and out in the middle of the Pacific ocean. I do not like being so close to water. We purposely moved about 15 miles inland to avoid any major hurricane issues. Typhoons are quite typical for this subtropical area. Not too happy about that either. Temperatures range in average of 73 - I prefer 63. Long summers, and short winters (average temperature does not drop below 50 degrees). YUCK, since I am a big fan of Fall.
However, I travel alot, and being a big fan of visiting strange countries and experiencing their culture, I dug a little deeper and found some nice blogs. Not many of them were positive, always stating how much they missed the US. I finally stumbled on one blog that was definitely a bit more cheery. Her and her husband spent alot of free time traveling. Her blog talks about the culture, the food, and the lovely features of this island. Definitely more uplifting than anything else I read. I wonder how hard it would be to travel with two kids. How often I would have to evacuate with the kids and not speak the language?
Things are not like they were. I have two children, and they come first. So I looked into their schools. That was not so uplifting either. I found lots of groups that homeschool their children. The test scores for the school was about 71%. I am not too sure, but I did not see that as a positive thing either. Last year the reading score was 61%. Not too many special ed classes there, so what is going on? Do I really want to know.
The more and more I read, and researched, the more depressed I got and the more unsure I got about really wanting to travel abroad. Things are pretty rough right now with our economy, and selling our house will not be so easy. As it stands right now, we are due to lose about $41k on our house. If things dont start looking better, we may have to rent. Going to Japan, will help us to avoid paying rent or a mortgage for two years, but what happens if we cannot sell this house. We will have to rent, and not being in the US may lead to alot of problems - alot of expensive problems. It just is not fair.
So if anyone can tell me anything positive about being stationed in Okinawa with children, I would much appreciate it. I really want to gather as much information as I can, before making a final decision.
Our day was fun for the kids. We took them to a waterpark in Navarre Florida. They loved it. The adults however were of a different opinion. Sitting out in the heat watching the children enjoy the water was no fun. My eyes were burning most of the day from sweat pouring down my forehead. Why we did not join the children? Well, nobody over age 12 was allowed to enter. So, the kids had a wonderful day, and we enjoyed watching them run and play for hours. Thank goodness for cars. I got into mine a few times and cranked up the air conditioning. Afterwards, we celebrated G's birthday with chocolate cupcakes. The kids were so exhausted, they each hit the mattress at 7:00pm and were both snoring by 7:10pm. I am next. Going to bed early, and hoping to finally get some sewing done tomorrow.
