Okinawa Habu & Land Mines

It is hard to believe that 2 months have already almost breezed by. I am almost to the point of accepting that driving here is not going to get better or that the Okinawan drivers will never make sense to me. As much as the driving is frustrating a couple of things have stood out to me. I have only seen two accidents on the roads and both have involved Americans; at least I assume they are Americans being scantily clad heavily tattooed Caucasoids near the military bases. Despite the apparent lack of any real rules, I have noticed no local cars that are dented and banged up like I saw in Turkey. This leads me to think there is a rhythm and rhyme to the driving here which I have as yet been unable to tap. I am enjoying my time here, though, and have taken it slow getting out into the culture and landscape. Certain social aspects which generally involve my colleagues, of which there are so many that you could pretty much throw a rock in any direction and hit one, make me feel like flying wa-a-a-ay beneath the radar. Flying low is hard when you score a 45 on Dr. Phil’s personality quiz. Anyway, I have managed to get out a little bit and really to just enjoy quiet time and spending time in low key activities. I was invited last week to explore some old Japanese bunkers in areas that were eventually taken by the US Marines with much bloodshed during the WWII Battle for Okinawa. These were in secluded and overgrown areas off the beaten path. About halfway up one of the Ridges, known as Ryan’s Ridge, my friend who showed it to me said, “By the way watch out for Habu, because he is watching you.” Habu is the extremely deadly viper that lives here and is particularly aggressive. I thanked him for the heads up and then he added, “And if you take a step and here a click, don’t move…there are unexploded land mines out here.” So a fun time was had by all and I found a cool souvenir, but didn’t have time to look for any real artifacts which I understand are at every corner. And I didn’t step on a land mine that I know of. I am uploading this addendum to my blog, not because I have so many profound things to say and show, but because I have gotten a few good pictures I would like to share. The fish were playing Nemo style and I love the photo...yes I took it.  The couple below were getting their wedding photos done at Zakimi Castle.  I had to get an extreme photo of the lighthouse and cliffs.  The boys were on a ledge playing around and my heart was racing mainly because I was sure one would fall to his death.  The sign speaks for itself!

Okinawa at first glance

One month into my stay in Okinawa, and I have moved from a nice if hot and congested place in downtown Okinawa City to a really nice place on the beach in a slightly more rural area.  The drive will take a little longer, but the change of scenery is well worth it. It seems like I often write about driving as one of my memorable experiences wherever I go and Okinawa is no different.  First it was England with all the roundabouts going the opposite direction, then Turkey with no discernible rules and a crash, then Japan with the girls in high heels and miniskirts riding bikes while chatting on their cell phones and holding an umbrella, then Netherlands with more bikes than cars and none of them ridden by anyone with an awareness of cars also sharing the road.  Now it is Okinawa’s turn to bear the brunt of my driving wit.  There are the 2 lane roads on which drivers can stop anytime or anywhere they like. 2 lane roads have no turn lane so anyone going right (across traffic) backs up cars behind it. Of course most cars squeeze around it to the left and the right turning car might actually be generous and move into oncoming traffic so the cars behind can get around.  Of course then the oncoming traffic has to squeeze to the left to avoid running into the car that is turning. 4 lane roads are a little better except that the left lane is also the parking lane, the bus lane and the taxi lane and the right lane is also often the turning lane, so traffic on a four lane is generally a snake-like thing with cars weaving in and out of the parking or turning cars, each one trying to get ahead of the cars in front and to either side.  It is more like an amoeba than a snake actually with the shape and speed constantly morphing into another shape and speed.  There are some turn lanes on the 4 lane roads though and that is generally a surprise and a welcome luxury.  Driving in Okinawa is like finding the Isla de Muerta; in order to navigate it you have to already know where everything is.  And I am learning. Oh yes…and a red light means, get as many more cars through as possible before the green light people come out and broadside you.  They always say here, “when the light turns green, count to three before you go, because there are likely a couple more cars trying to get through.”  And did I mention driving again on the left side of the road.  Yeah…and that! The only road rage here is mine to own. I don’t mean to in any way disparage Okinawa or Okinawan people.  They have been wonderful and generous.  They seem to appreciate me trying to speak Japanese and they try to speak English but I think they have resisted it since the whole war thing and the US occupying forces that dominated for about 60 years, and still maintain several large bases on the island.  Work is fine and pretty standard stuff, really. I am surrounded by thousands of Marines so I guess this may be one of the safest places on earth.  I went to the library the other day on the base and was a little disappointed when all I found were coloring books and dot-to-dot books.  I was a little relieved to see the officers section actually had some word-find books, but still it wasn’t enough for me and I figured I would be wasting my breath to try and ask for something with actual sentences. I guess I have to finish War and Peace now. The sunset picture here is from my new place and others are various and mostly self explanatory. It’s good to be king, though…it always is.

 

Home again...

I got home from Germany at the end of May and immediately started working on my house leaning towards the likelihood of renting it out rather than selling it. Either way I had a lot of work to do starting with painting the remainder of what I didn’t do the summer before.  So between the scraping, washing, priming and painting, I started going through rooms and the barn and throwing out all the junk that accumulated over 18 years in the same house.  You know… the stuff that you keep, thinking “someday I will find a use for this.”  Between the garbage dumpster and the recycling can and bulk pickups, I had full loads every week for the folks from Sanitation Services.  I gave away a lot of stuff and took several truckloads to the Mission. As I cleaned sorted and packed I moved gradually from one room to the next emptying it and taking stuff to storage.  All that to say, my house is clean as a whistle with freshly painted ceilings and a few touch up jobs.   A lot of memories go with that house, but after all the things that made it a home were out, it was much easier to let go. Big Sigh! Hurricanes, kids, me…a lot of history.  Now on to new exciting adventures.  I leave in a couple of weeks for Okinawa for a 6 month gig, but at least this time I won’t have to fret about my house being empty and no more relying on others to handle things like mail. Jared and Tifany have done a great job for me and even mowed my grass and bought staple groceries pending my return each time, but all in all, this is a big relief.   Replacing my water heater and re-doing to electrical boxes in the house was kind of an unplanned expense, but needed to be done.  Almost a shame to get my house so clean and updated, only to hand the keys over for somebody else to enjoy. Another sigh!  So I guess my next blog entry will be from Okinawa telling all about life on a tropical island.

 

FCK Strasbourg and Heidelberg

 The Fußball game was a blast. I kind of remembered some of the rules for playing soccer, but watching it on this kind of level was exciting and made me care less about the rules than winning! Winning is always good and I definitely prefer it to most of the alternatives, but it was my first time and not only did my local team win, they shut out the opponent who WAS ahead in the rankings! Beer, a big beef bratwurst, and singing the FCK fight song made for a wholly enjoyable experience. Sue and I rode the shuttle bus from the burbs to the the stadium which was built for the FIFA World Cup series in Germany in 2006, seats 50K (was sold out) and is a pretty fancy arena, I can tell ya!

The next morning I woke up pre-dawn and caught the train to the French border city of Strasbourg to meet my good friend Kathy. It’s very cool with an amazing old city and possibly the nicest church I have ever seen. It was the Eglise St. Pierre de la Jeune. The frescoes are still very vibrant some 700 years after they were painted. The architecture dates back to the 11^th century. It was so beautiful that I was compelled to sing a hymn inside. Nobody shushed me so I guess it wasn’t too awful. The Strasbourg Cathedral was an awesome experience as my entry was greeted by a final rehearsal for that evening’s concert of the Baroque stylings of Vivaldi and Bach, complete with a stunning mixed youth choir and orchestra (almost made me cry). MY youth choir in high school was nothing like this. How amazing to see the blend of old and new, with $800 a pair Prada shoe boutiques sidling up next to 12^th century buildings. Very French and very lovely…not that I necessarily equate the two along those lines but it was…both. 

Last weekend I went with my friend Ditmara to Heidelberg. Whenever I see castles I am excited and thrilled, and like a dog that gets excited everytime it’s owner asks in breathy tones, “Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?”, I almost run around in circles as fast as I can with my tongue hanging out. All that to say it never truly gets old. I have had dinner twice in the last couple of weeks in castles and have to pinch myself each time. Heidelberg is almost too good for words but I will give it a try. The huge castle has some towers that are intact and others that have split in two over time. The moat is so deep that standing in it’s bottom (it has no water, FYI) and looking up at the towers fills me with awe at the engineering feat. Some walls reach to the sky without any adjacent walls to support them and their giant glassless windows look like a Dali painting. The Altstadt (old city) is beautiful with several churches and this ancient university… Germany’s oldest seat of

learning founded in 1386. Great food, great company and beautiful weather made the We spent hours walking along the Philosophers Walk along the hills opposite the Neckar River from the old city. Just brilliant.

I am so fortunate and so blessed in my life. None of us deserves blessing, so I feel most privileged to get to do what I do. The work is so rewarding and the fringe benefits are over the top. Today, I overheard somebody talking good about me behind my back, loudly and in public. As if that wasn’t enough, a kid told me “I hope you never leave” and then I drove home the long way through the mountains with my windows down and took a spontaneous walk out across a field. Ah…God is good to me, despite myself!

 

 

Worms

Once in awhile I run into somebody who is just my kind of people.  Because of my lifestyle, those people can appear at random times and occasionally more than once.  Such is the case here. I have other folks around me who are doing things in tandem & having a good time with them, but I am so glad to find that Sue is here with me again.  We were together for Snowmageddon in Washington DC a few years ago.  So the week after I arrive in Germany, SUE arrives & we have a new snowmageddon, shutting down the bases. Now, after 4 weeks of barely getting above freezing:  Easter...& more snow (top left outside my window). 

Two weeks ago we went to the city of Worms, Germany.  It is pronounced Verms, but some people cannot get it right; think they are being set up when they are told to pronounce it “Verms” so they just go ahead & say “Worms”, then chuckle a little as if to say, “these Germans are so cute.”  Americans! Worms is a very old city founded in 14 BC. It’s Cathedral (top right) was begun in the 10^th century & is possibly most famous for being the place where Martin Luther refused to recant his beliefs in front of the Pope/Holy Roman Emperor & was then thoroughly excommunicated. Worms is the site of the oldest Jewish Cemetery in Europe (right) & the Jewish quarter is home to the yeshiva where the venerated Rabbi Rashi studied, to a Synagogue reconstructed after Kristallnacht &to an ancient, functional mikveh (ritual bath).  The crusades & the nazis pretty much decimated the Jewish population & today only a few Jews live there in a city whose name was first Celtic, Borbetomagus, & then Hebrew, Vermayza. Interestingly, the Jewish quarter & the main street, Judenstrasse (Jew Street) are mainly occupied by the Muslim Arab population.  Vandalism & desecration is a problem but the polizei do what they can to protect the ancient artifacts.

I don’t need or have a desire to drive or ride a bus for 6-8 hours for a day in all the big cities in Europe like some folks.  That reminds me of “European Vacation”. To me it is only worth the trip if it takes a couple of hours & I have plenty of time to stay…at least 2 days.  Partly that is because there is so much great stuff within a short distance that I never heard of before!  Places like Idar-Oberstein with it’s two castles on top of the mountain overlooking the valley village & the cathedral built into the side of the mountain (left). Went there for lunch last Sunday after Palmsonntag services at the local church, St. Martin’s, which was built in the 14^th century by Franciscan monks (like Pope Francis, who I call Pope Fransisco, because it is so fun to say). This morning (Easter 2013) I woke up & it was snowing. The church bells were ringing, smoke & steam were billowing out of the chimneys on every rooftop in the valley. I again went to church with my 2 compadres Sue & Sandy at St. Martin’s & then home for a day of rest before embarking on another full work week.  I am going to my first live Bundesliga game with 50 thousand other foosball fans at Fritz-Walter-Stadion to see the 4^th ranked FCK Rotes Teufeln (Kaiserslautern Red Devils Football Club) take on the #3 ranked Koln “Billy Goats”.  I hate to think that is their team name, but it is their mascot – go figure.  Even though I do fly the colors of Bayern Munchen (#1 in Bundesliga) I have been instructed that I cannot wear them here, although the colors are the same, somehow people will know.  If you hear of riots at a German foosball game, then you know it was probably because I wore the wrong team on game day. Then, assuming I survive the game & the after-party, on Saturday I am going to meet my friend Kathy in Strasbourg, France & likely will spend the night.  Looks like a full weekend, but I can handle it. I am getting tired of day after day of freezing temps though. Other photos here are Barbarossa's Castle remains in downtown Kaiserslautern; Easter eggs at the market and an Easter tree festooned with plastic eggs; My house; and My village.

 

Hohenecken, Attendorn, NAHncy

Everytime I go on one of these assignments I am confronted with very different situations.  This time I have not been disappointed with the differentness but I won’t bore anyone with that.  Regardless, I again find myself in Europe, coming out of the fog that is borne of travel and seeing the great opportunity that presents itself. Sorry for the flowery text but I just watched the 1953 movie about Martin Luther in prep for my trip next weekend to the city of Worms (say “Verms”), Germany.  Huge amount of history there but I will tell you about that later.  I am wrapping up my second weekend here in the Kaiserslautern community and have thus far spent the night in a German castle in Attendorn, Germany and wandered around the French town of Nancy.  It’s a lot of fun to say Nancy France with American pronunciation, but I have been schooled that the town is “Nahncy, Frahnce”, which truthfully is almost as much fun to say. I arrived without my snow boots, because I figured it can’t be much longer til spring.  Oh how wrong I can be.  There was about 3-4 inches of fresh snow on the ground when I got here and it all pretty much melted and evaporated within the first week.  Snowing in Attendorn at the castle on my next weekend was kind of a custom request I had fulfilled: a) because I believe in God, and b) because He likes to see me happy.  Then after I got home it was sunny and slightly cool but tolerable, which was convenient because the zipper on my awesome Korean winter jacket busted and I had to have it committed to a shop to be repaired. Then it started snowing again all day and all night dropping several inches of snow making everything look fresh and beautiful.  The roads and highways finally cleared up today and now the temps are dropping, it’s snowing heavily again and supposed to drop to minus 20 tonight.  That’s Celsius which sounds pretty bad…in Fahrenheit it will only be about 6 below zero.  But it’s so freakin beautiful.  I will take a picture from inside my room with the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the valley, the church and the hills beyond and post it on this blog-spot.  ZO, I got my jacket back, I have a couple of friends, and a very quaint restaurant downstairs with a fireplace and an endless tap.  Life is so unfair.
These pictures are (top to bottom to right): The 800 year old castle ruin above my house-Schlossberg Hohenecken; Schnellenberg Castle in Attendorn; my little village of Hohenecken with the hotel, castle and church all visible; the church outside my bedroom window this morning, covered in snow; the menu of the bistro in Nancy France (which nobody could interpret, so we had to point and guess - at least I knew how to avoid escargots); and lastly, the downtown of Nancy France.

Prague memories

I have been aware for some time that I didn’t ever post anything about my trip to Prague with my good friend Shelley.  I think it was because I was passing the torch to my relief person and after coming home, I had stuff to do and time got away from me, blah, blah, blah.  Although this is not even close to real time since my trip was in the spring, maybe the pix will still be impressive and maybe cause somebody to look at them and remember when they were in Praha.  There may be more in Prague to capture the interest of younger people who like to party because it is definitely a partying city, but Shelley and I tried hard to do it all in 36 hours.  I drove to Prague and got a hotel in the old city; moving traffic was almost at a standstill with the throngs pushing into the tight cobblestone streets. Absinthe induced revelry bulged from overcrowded bars and nightclubs and the streets groaned in slow motion.  One-ways streets criss-crossed one another in a random fashion causing the most sane person insane enough to drive in Prague to become easily disoriented.  When we finally found our hotel which was only marked by a small wooden door with an 8X11 logo, I had to drive again around a couple of blocks to access the parking “garage”; a 3 story underground bunker with a car elevator.  I just drove down an alley onto the little courtyard behind the hotel and parked in a white outline not much smaller than the courtyard.  Then I left my keys with some smiling young guy named Michel who said, “Don’t worry…I take good care of car for you.” It sounded better with the accent but some things you just can’t write. I heard a long grinding and crunching sound after I entered the hotel that kind of sounded like my car being chewed up by a salvage yard car compacter.  From my room on the 5^th floor walkup I could see the tiny courtyard and Michel waving up an me with that infernal grin but no car…I just hoped for the best. I am learning that when someplace says “breakfast included”, it could mean anything or not much as in this case.  After learning how to properly say good morning in Czech, “Dobry Den!”, exploring Prague was quite the adventure as we got on the wrong bus driving us out of town the wrong direction. Eventually, we found the right bus but a lot of folks in Prague don’t speak English, or German or anything else that might have been a step in the direction we wanted to go. (Always makes me LOL when I cross the border into another country and suddenly the language changes: the people, the culture, the clothes, the signs, the food, everything changes immediately.)  Anyway, this 2500 year old city in ancient Bohemia, started to wake up Saturday morning and became alive again with a different pulse from the night before.  The day warmed up into the 70’s and the people came out in swarms to enjoy the incredible day. Castles, Palaces, The Charles Bridge with it's interesting and sometimes bizarre scuptures and statues, the Astronomical Clock, the amazing Central Square all were very alive.  After the Sabbath ended, the Jewish Quarter crawled slowly to life where to our puzzlement, people on the streets spoke Hebrew; finally a language we could communicate in. We got to drink Budvar (the supposed originator of Budweiser beer, much to the chagrin of the people at Anheiser-Busch and the joy of the people at the Budvar Brewing Co.), we got to see a zombie flash-mob. So many things to see and do and many of them you just don’t see in America, pretty much ever – the kinds of things that make you feel just – well … good.

Prettige Kerstdagen and Cologne DE

That’s how you say Merry Christmas in Dutch.  Of course as I write this I am no longer in Nederlands but neatly reabsorbed at my home in Florida, paying my yearly property taxes and homeowners insurance among other bills, refilling my fridge, replacing burned out lightbulbs. It’s warm and it hasn’t rained; opposite of the Netherlands, but I definitely enjoyed my time there.  I got my knees X-Rayed and a shot of cortisone in each one and I have an appt with an Orthopod in about a week.  All the things that make this holiday season so joyous and bright. I spent the day Saturday on my last weekend in Europe in Cologne with my new good friend Jania. (We both live in Pensacola and have known each other for some 15 years, but never hung out or socialized in the same circles, and it took Brunssum, Netherlands for us to become good friends!) My knees were aching but since I knew this was possibly my last chance to climb the stairs to the top of the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) belfry; 509 stone steps of the spiral staircase to a viewing platform about 322 ft above the ground. That’s 509 up and 509 down with each step being about 3 feet wide and several hundred people all doing the same thing. There was that and the Jewish archaeological site which was discovered a couple of years ago a few blocks from the Dom.  It is the oldest known Jewish settlement in Northern Europe.  Yep, they were just digging down to build a new Starbucks and found this whole city, complete with Mikve, Bakery and a Deli.  Okay not the deli but the other stuff is actually in pretty good shape for having been buried a thousand years. The Christmas markets were starting up and there was the smell of Glühwein, chocolate, bakeries, pine and for some reason bayberry aroma was everywhere, too. The bottom picture from inside the Dom is the famous "Adoration of the Magi" triptic by Stefan Lochner created around 1440 AD. By the time the sun started going down I was feeling like an old man, not so much in pain, but my knees were feeling weak (maybe it was the wein or bier, but I think not) so we went back to the house. I sure did enjoy Northern Europe. Next time I plan to be jumping and running.
Prettige Kerstdagen, Frohe Weihnachten, メリークリスマス, Mutlu Noeller, 메리 크리스마스, Joyeux Noël, Veselé Vánoce, Mele Kalikimaka, or however you say MERRY CHRISTMAS where you come from!

Thorn, Netherlands and Valkenburg Christmas Market

It has been 3 weekends now that I have yet to blog about.  Well there are a few reasons for that. One is that I hurt my knee running in the spring, took a month off and started back with aching and soreness again.  Since then both knees have become increasingly sore and a couple of weeks ago actually feeling like they will buckle under my tremendous weight. So I have not gotten around much the last two weeks. Reason two is Amsterdam (right).  This was my second trip there and again I was not impressed: maybe it was the hoards of people, or the driving rain and icy wind, or the lines and fees for anything I wanted to do but I just didn’t like it. The things I did do were unimpressive like the Jewish History Museum which I thought might be a good substitute for the Anne Frank or Corrie Ten Boom House, but was an expensive lesson in basic Jewishness with a lot of pictures of Dutch historical figures who allowed Jews to have minimal rights as if that was a noble gesture. The Sex Museum (not my idea, but better I thought than standing outside in the rain) was the dumbest thing I may have ever seen and I felt a little stupider for the experience (standing outside in the rain would have been more edifying). The cars parked precariously along the canals however did impress me (right). The streets reeked like old bong-water and the openness of the prostitution made me feel pity rather than joy about the progressive nature of Amsterdam. Half of the prostitutes were just gruesome and the other half looked like sex trade victims. I don’t plan to ever go back to Amsterdam; nothing to see here folks unless you want to crawl into a coffeeshop and stay in a stupor for the duration, which be time better spent.  Last weekend I went to some smaller places for some local flavor.  First, the town of Thorn (left) for pancakes at their quite famous Pannenkoekenbakkerij (Pancake Bakery).  Pancakes are like a crepe the size of a pizza and covered with any number of toppings.  I had Salmon, mushroom and spinach, but didnt take a picture since I was hungry and it looked too good to become distracted with getting the perfect photo. The town was created as a monastery then a cloister and then turned over to exclusively women’s rule about 800 years ago where the Abbess (Head Nun) ran the abbey and town.  The whole downtown aka the Old Town is and always has been, whitewashed and the church is 1000 years old. From there I went to the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten (left) where 8301 Americans are buried.  I am awestruck as I hear over and over how grateful the Dutch are to America for the liberation from the Nazis and they have markers and reminders everywhere. The cemetery is very reverent and clean and is maintained by the citizens of the local community. Then a late afternoon drive to the Hoensbroek Castle which is about 15 minutes drive from my place here in Brunnsum (left). Nice big old castle with a moat, drawbridge and a café that serves espresso and vlaai (a special Limburgisch fruit pie where the whole pie is baked and the filling is very thick with fruit – heavy but delicious). To finally catch up, the Kerstmarkts (Christmas Markets)began opening on Friday the 16^th.  Here they celebrate Sinterklaas which is the day, December 5, when the big fat man (St. Nicholas) dressed in red arrives to Netherlands by steam boat (stoomboot) and brings toys to all the good children and Swarze Piet (Black Pete – a skinny white guy in black-face, supposedly representing the Moorish tradition but obviously not in a positive light) comes to collect the bad kids, throw them in a burlap bag and take them away to Spain. In recent years Swarze Piet has just become a bunch of guys in black-face who keep the kids amused with antics and candy. But I saw no Swarze Piets last night, only a Sinterklaas and his lovely wife. I topped the day off about 730 pm with some gluweine (hot mulled red wine) and a pannenkoeken met kaas (cheese pancake). I missed the big parade because my compadres didn’t want to stay.  Mental health professionals, all PhDs: one afraid of clowns, one afraid of crowds and one who hates to wait, and me, feeling like a kid loaded with gluweine and giddy to see Sinterklaas and Swarze Piet.  Although I had the car keys, I figured it was better to go home now, than to force them to stay while I am amused and then ride home for 20 minutes with 3 angry womyn.  No, just kidding, they are all great and we had a lovely time. We laughed and laughed and enjoyed the crisp air and the day without rain.  My knees ache a little this morning but I only have to go grocery shopping and iron my shirts for my final two weeks here. Next week, weather permitting, knees permitting and finances permitting I will spend in Cologne, Deutschland.