Nothing gets me more excited than an authentic Okinawan experience. Living, working and shopping on base has me occasionally forgetting that I live in ASIA of all places... Due to overly American weeks, Ben and I have recently been more and more interested in Okinawan and Japanese culture. That desire brought us to Naminoue Shrine in downtown Naha (Okinawa's largest city) this past weekend. Unfortunately, like most other historic sites in Okinawa, Naminoue was completely obliterated during the Battle of Okinawa. Fortunately, like most other historic sites in Okinawa, it was rebuilt! The new and improved Shrine is absolutely stunning (as you'll see in the pictures). The bright red structure was a shocking contrast against a rare bright blue Okinawan sky. Gold ornaments shimmered in the bright sun and the intricate details of Naminoue were as clear as day. Okinawa spared no attention to craftsmanship when rebuilding this shrine

Recently, I decided that it was time to knock off one much-anticipated tourist attraction off of my Okinawa bucket-list: Pineapple World. "What on earth is Pineapple World?" You might ask, well, it is literally a theme park about Pineapples. If there is one thing I've learned about Okinawans, it's that they are very passionate about this prickly fruit.