Hello! My apologies for not updating you all sooner! This week has been super busy, chaotic and amazing! We started our first day of camp on Monday. I was incredibly nervous... I didn't really know what to expect. The theme for the week was Coral Sea Jamboree. At 8am we began our blitz. The blitz is when all the counselors and campers get into a big circle and sing and dance to songs. After the blitz we had 'family time'. During 'family time' we get together with our groups. I was the leader for purple group 4. My kids are absolutely amazing! Of course there are those little stinkers in there but overall they are great! Family time was crazy! Within 5 minutes I had an injured child and two kids crying. I was wondering what I had gotten myself into! Things luckily settled down after family time. The kids had snack and then went to theirBe choice areas. After choice time they kids had lunch. Everyone eats with their kids and then has an hour break. After lunch they have choice time again until snack and closing. During closing we sit in a circle and sing songs. After closing we have a dance party. The kids just love it!

Besides camp things are going well. I have met some really cool people and have enjoyed getting to know them. A lot of the girls are from Iowa so we have been making plans to get together in the fall for some Hawkeye tailgating...Woot woot!!! I have invited them to participate in our annual family tailgating as well! =)

After a week of rain, the sun is finally shining so we are going to head to the beach and enjoy it! =)

Hello! So I have already been here a week! I can't believe it! This summer is going to fly!

One of the girls in our camp has an ex boyfriend stationed here in Oki and him and his friends were having a cook-out on Friday night. So a bunch of us girls went to that. It was really awkward at first ... it reminded me of a junior high dance with all the boys standing on one side and the girls on the other. However, it did not take long for the guys to start mingling. They set up beer pong and had us girls play with them. Remind you again that we are not allowed to drink the first two weeks so the guys had to drink double... it was comical.

Saturday we had to be up at 8am to work on a few posters. We only worked on the posters for an hour and then we were off to the beach. While at the beach, a few local boys came over to talk to us girls. Their English was a little rough but we managed to communicate. Saturday night a few of the girls and I met up with my friends ex and his friends. We ended going to a teeny tiny karaoke bar... the owner of the place was super nice and treated us like royalty. He even allowed us to take a picture with him and his wicked mullet!



Sunday my friend Megan, Trista and I walked around off base. We went into a bunch of different shops. We also ate at McDonalds, which was greasier than in the US! After that a group of us went out to eat at a hamburger steak place... it sounds like American food but it sure wasn't... it was super weird and gross!

This week we have classes and lectures to prepare us for next week... our first week of camp... I can't wait! =)

Hi All! I am safe in Okinawa, Japan and I am loving it!

My flight left Cedar Rapids airport on Saturday morning. It was a very rough start to my adventure... I was not feeling well and had gotten sick quite a few times before I boarded. I walked onto my plane and it was the tiniest thing ever! There was one row of seats, an isle and then two rows of seats. I wanted to walked right off! I then continued to be sick on the airplane... I felt so bad for the lady next to me. Lucky for me though there were a few other camp staff flying with me and taking care of me. A few hours later we landed in Texas. We had a two hour layover there so I took a little nap. Soon after that, we began bording our thirteen-fourteen hour flight. I didn't sleep at all on Friday night and I had taken a few dramamine so as soon as I was on the plane and in my seat I was out... I even slept through the take off and everything! The flight there wasn't as bad as I thought. I slept for the majority of the time and when I wasn't sleeping I was watching movies. We landed in Tokyo in the late afternoon. From there we had to get our luggage, grab a bus to another airport, wait for 3 hours and finally flew into Okinawa.

This week we have been pretty busy with camp stuff. We all got our military ids, sat in on a newcomers orientation, began and finished programming for our camp weeks, got cell phones and painted posters. My camp group had a chance to go off base and eat dinner. Of course everyone wanted to go to a sushi place so we did. I absolutely do not eat cooked fish, so I was not about to eat raw fish. I just sat, drank my coca cola and watched everyone else eat. I did slightly attempt to try a sushi roll... it was terribly disgusting! Last night a few girls and I went to a sports bar and grill for karaoke. We literally had just sat down when a flock of guys came over and started talking to us. We are not allowed to drink at all the first two weeks of camp so we did karaoke completely sober! That was a first for me =) Another girl and I were the first to sing. We sang Love Shack! I thought of Jenna and Lovie of course!!! Later on a few of the guys pulled me on stage to sing Don't Stop Believing... they were pretty impressed by my vocals...haha! Then today during our lunch break, some girls and I went to Subway (by the way subway was my first meal in Japan...go figure) and Jared, yes the subway Jared was there. We got a chance to meet and take pictures with him. It was pretty cool.

All is going good so far! =)