Sunday, August 3, 2014

Reaching the Final Stretch



Things are starting to feel like a whirlwind of activity for me… In less than 3 weeks I will be home and getting ready to start another semester of college.  After a completely draining weekend, I’m starting to feel a little less confident in my ability to accomplish everything that I intend to in the next 20 days.  (insert crazy list making, for those of you who know me well)  I’m hoping that all these lists will help me stay on track and allow me to see my progress, while in the mean time trying to not get too stressed out.  I am sure wishing that I had a week or two to relax and catch up after I get home, but I will be jumping right in.  I’m praying for a smooth transition back to the time zone and into a new semester’s schedule.  That’s enough complaining though, here’s some details about my adventures this weekend!

Friday night we set up the center, as we were anticipating a crazy weekend due to Friendship Day, and because we had early curfew due to the event the following day (nights before we work we must be in housing by 10:30PM, weekends we can be out till 1AM).  On Saturday the base was opened up to all visitors.  I have no idea how many visitors came on base, but they were expecting nearly 90,000 due to a very popular Japanese pop singer who performed in the evening.  Our job was to set up and work at carnival games all day.  We started setting up at 8AM, with the event beginning a little before 10 (when the gates opened).  We moved back and forth between two different activities every hour.  My partner and I rotated between a bouncy house (there were 4) and a game where the players were attempting to throw a softball into a milk can.  We each got an hour off for lunch, and then came back and worked until 7PM, when the carnival ended.  Then it was time to clean things up.  The city of Yokosuka also had things going on, and they set off fireworks beginning at 7:15PM (which is way earlier than at home, but it almost all the way dark here by then).  We took a short break to watch some of the fireworks, then finished tearing things down.  It was a very hot day in the sun, and I really enjoyed a cool shower afterwards.  Then a group of us went out for supper at a ramen place off base, which was really good!

Sunday morning we hopped on the train and headed to Odawara for a 2 hour ziplining session, which was really fun!  Ziplining is not something I’ve done before, but I did enjoy it.  The company in our group of 9 was also good.  After ziplining, we visited the Odawara Castle before heading back to Yokosuka.




After a really exhausting week, I am hoping to manage my time well this week, allowing for plenty of time to sleep in addition to getting lots of things done!  My parents will be here next weekend and we will have a busy weekend in Hiroshima, which I am really looking forward to!  No matter how hard I try, I can’t fully explain how wonderful Japan is to you all.  I wish you could all experience all of these things I am this summer!  Please pray this week for safe (and smooth) travels for my parents as they journey here, and also for me as I attempt to accomplish lots!  Thanks so much, have a wonderful week! :)

- Becky

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