Yesterday I went on a bus tour with some of the teachers from my base school. The cost was 5500￥. That included the bus, the tour guide (who only spoke Japanese), entrance fees, and lunch. It was a pretty good deal. The initial idea behind the trip, I think, was to go see the cherry blossoms in the northern part of the island. When we arrived in the morning we were told that we would not see the cherry blossoms as we were too late. They were finished, so instead we were going to visit the Orion brewery. Teachers + beer = happiness in any language, I've discovered--more so on an island. Islanders drink more than mainland people I've been told. I've also heard that the outer islands have an even greater drinking culture than mainland Okinawa. I don't know the truth about any of this. I'm just reporting what I've heard. To digress, the first night I met my Prefectural Advisor I was told about one tradition they have where someone at a dinner party stands and gives a toast and then everyone drinks. Then the next person stands and gives a toast and everyone drinks. And then the next and so on and so. When it gets back to the first person, they start all over again. I've read one way to leave is to say you're going to the restroom and then don't return to the table, just sneak out. And back to the tour.
It's a little scary seeing how hot they have to make the glass in order to shape it. We all lined up and we each got to make our own glass. Then we were able to walk around the shop looking at everything. The prices were a little too high for me so I just looked. A few days after the trip we received a box with everyone's glass. 
After lunch we were supposed to go pick tankan. Tankan is a citrus fruit. The skin is as thick as a grapefruit's. It is very hard to peel as the skin is thick and tough. The fruit itself tastes similar to a tangerine or Clementine. I know I wasn't in the mood to pick tankan, although I would have appreciated being able to take home a bunch of them to eat, and it seems the rest of the group wasn't in the mood. We passed tankan picking place one after the other until we arrived at the Ocean Expo Park in Nago. I asked if we weren't going and was told no and that we were going to the Expo Park instead. That suited me just fine and I fell in with a group of teachers and walked toward Churaumi Aquarium. We were able to see the dolphin show. They were amazing. They can jump so high. 
I have to say I'm happy with how mine turned out. I may just use it for flowers, though, as I don't want it to break during the course of everyday use as a drinking glass.
After the glass factory we went to the Orion brewery. "We're gonna make our dreams come true / Doin' it our way" kept playing in my head and I really wanted the machines to start up so I could see a pink vinyl glove go by on a beer bottle. The tour was all in Japanese so I don't really know what all was said, but it all looked very interesting.
I did understand the part about free beer for half an hour, though. That was made perfectly clear by some of the teachers speeding through their beers to be sure to take full advantage of the bottomless beer glass offer. It was funny to see the teachers buying the beer nuts that they offered along with the beer. I think one of the teachers was planning on giving it as omiyage (souvenirs) when we returned to school the following week. The one thing I learned is don't drink beer before noon unless I can continue drinking all afternoon or I can take a nap right after. The beer was pretty tasty, though, I would imagine from being so fresh. I'd talked about touring the St. Arnold's brewery in Houston but never had, After this experience, I think I shall when I return. 
Outside the Orion Brewery is a street lined with cherry blossom trees, so we were able to take a few pictures with them. Afterward we got back on the bus and headed to the place where we would have lunch.
I did understand the part about free beer for half an hour, though. That was made perfectly clear by some of the teachers speeding through their beers to be sure to take full advantage of the bottomless beer glass offer. It was funny to see the teachers buying the beer nuts that they offered along with the beer. I think one of the teachers was planning on giving it as omiyage (souvenirs) when we returned to school the following week. The one thing I learned is don't drink beer before noon unless I can continue drinking all afternoon or I can take a nap right after. The beer was pretty tasty, though, I would imagine from being so fresh. I'd talked about touring the St. Arnold's brewery in Houston but never had, After this experience, I think I shall when I return. Outside the Orion Brewery is a street lined with cherry blossom trees, so we were able to take a few pictures with them. Afterward we got back on the bus and headed to the place where we would have lunch.Lunch was not very good. There have been many times that I have been presented with food and eaten it without knowing what it was but I was able to discern what animal or vegetable it was in most cases. This time I had little luck in discerning what I was eating. I think the most curious piece of the meal was one of the three pieces of tempura. One was a banana slice, I was told. Another was sweet potato (Yea!), and the third was what looked like parsley. Fried parsley. Being from the southern part of the U.S. I have seen many things fried that took a lot of pondering to figure out, "yep, we should fry that sucker." Never before had I seen fried parsley, though. It's possible it wasn't fried parsley. It's possible it was some Okinawan vegetable. However, even the people around me couldn't figure out what it was. But yes, I still ate it. Behind this less than tasty establishment was what was worth the price of eating the meal. They had a beautiful view of jungle? forest? What is the difference? It was beautiful whatever it's called.
After lunch we were supposed to go pick tankan. Tankan is a citrus fruit. The skin is as thick as a grapefruit's. It is very hard to peel as the skin is thick and tough. The fruit itself tastes similar to a tangerine or Clementine. I know I wasn't in the mood to pick tankan, although I would have appreciated being able to take home a bunch of them to eat, and it seems the rest of the group wasn't in the mood. We passed tankan picking place one after the other until we arrived at the Ocean Expo Park in Nago. I asked if we weren't going and was told no and that we were going to the Expo Park instead. That suited me just fine and I fell in with a group of teachers and walked toward Churaumi Aquarium. We were able to see the dolphin show. They were amazing. They can jump so high. After the show, my teacher friend and I walked down to the beach. I found myself wishing I had more time to just relax on the beach and swim in the water.
I'll definitely need to take advantage of being on an island paradise once the weather turns warmer. After the park we rode home. I know I dozed off a few times but I was able to take several pictures of the coast as we drove by. All in all, I had a very good time.
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