Thanksgiving Weekend Snorkeling

Although being away from home for Thanksgiving is never quite the same, we definitely made the best of it and spent the weekend with a bunch of good friends that we've made out here in Okinawa so far. Sometimes I forget that Thanksgiving is just an American holiday (The Pilgrims, Plymouth Rock...) and that they don't really celebrate it here in Japan. The holiday weekend started off on Thursday with a huge meal over at our friend's The Angelines' house right down the street from us. There was a ton of food, a bunch of people from Matt's shop, and we had a blast playing Wii all night.

Friday morning we got up early to have breakfast with our friends, Lucas and Amber, before going for some snorkeling. We took them to Kadena Marina where we had been snorkeling once before - only difference? This time we had our underwater camera with us! Of course, the visibility wasn't as clear as the first time we went, but we still saw some really neat things (including an octopus!) and got some cool shots.

Matt's self-photo


Amber and I trying to walk over the rocks to get to the reef on the other side

Blue Starfish - these are everywhere & are about twice as large as my hand

Check out this video Matt took under the water (sorry its a little choppy - I think Matt was trying to get our attention):

An awesome shell that Lucas found - it still had something living in it

Amber & Lucas under the water

Me

Crown-of-Thorns Starfish - dangerous to humans and deadly to coral - and it was moving pretty fast for a starfish, too!


After a day of snorkeling, we all took a trip down to Naha City for some dinner, and had a fun time just walking down Kokusai Dori. Here are a few photos from the night:


Amber & I with a cat on the street that does tricks (and by "tricks" I mean, he gets up on a chair)

All in all, we had an interesting, yet fun, first Thanksgiving here in Okinawa, and Matt and I are incredibly thankful for so many things God has blessed us with: eachother, the United States that we have the privilege to be free citizens of, our families and friends back home, our food and money, the chance to experience life in a foreign country, and our new Okinawa family that we have out here. We hope everyone else had an amazing Thanksgiving this year as well - we miss you all!

-C