Riyo Mori of Japan wins Miss Universe
At the weekend, Miss Riyo Mori, from Shizuoka, won the Miss Universe crown at a glitzy competition held in Mexico City. Although not expeceted to do as well as last year’s entrant (Kurara Chibana, incidentally from Naha), she won the prestigious event with contestants from Brazil and Venezuela coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. And here is a picture of her as Donald Trump, the smooth operator that he is, moves in for the kill!
A is for apple, B is for ball, C is for… cosplay???
I’m back in Okinawa now after a really good weekend in the big city of Tokyo. And I’m happy to report I didn’t get too lost (although my friend/guide had much to say about that!) and wasn’t too scared by the bright neon lights and flashing sounds. It was actually a really refreshing trip and a great way to recharge my batteries in the middle of this rather mammoth working stint. I got to see a few new things and take in a few new experiences, which is always good for the soul too. So without further adue, I will begin…
Flew out of school as soon as my classes finished and headed straight for the airport. I got into an immensely rainy Haneda Airport (complete cloud cover up until about 150m up) at 7:10pm and got straight onto the monorail into Hamamatsuchou (one of the many business districts in the capital). My friend was running a little late, so I arranged to meet her in Saitama, in the North West of Tokyo. While I was on the train, I realised how much the concept of distance has changed for me since I’ve been in Okinawa. The train ride was about 30-40 minutes, which is considered nothing around Tokyo. That, for me, can mean travelling almost half-way up the island if I go on the expressway, and it was strange to hear people saying that any journey of less than an hour is “short”. I suppose it’s like that in many big cities around the world though, and I’ve just got used to small land masses. Let’s face it, prior to Okinawa, a long route in Maldives would result in a 4 minute walk across my island rather than a 3 minute one!
I made it soon enough and met up with my friend. I was a little weary after travelling, so we went out for a quick dinner before heading back and relaxing for the rest of the evening. We were both pleased to wake up on Saturday morning to bright blue skies and literally no clouds visible. It was a beautiful day and would have been a waste to stay indoors, so we elected to head to one of my favourite haunts in Tokyo… Harajuku. Although 
Saturdays attract eccentric fashions much less than Sundays, there were still a fair few impressive looking folks out. Quite a few were looking warm in the 29C sunshine, but other still managed to keep a very cool looking exterior. As we walked from Harajuku up to the designer boutique area of Omotesando and back again, it occurred to me how many foreigners I noticed around me. The foreigners in Tokyo are also much different from the average (i.e. military foreigner) here in Okinawa. That’s not to say they’re better or worse in any way - just different. You see a much bigger range of foreigner in Tokyo. You get the “gap-year” looking students, the rich, self-proclaimed beautiful people walking around with their Prada shopping bags, the English teacher (getting more easy to spot these days), the foreign tourist to Tokyo (looking quite bemused and struggling to take in everything around them), just to mention a few.
No rest for the wicked…
… and it seems I must have been bad! Am about 23 days into a mammoth 70 consecutive days of work (with one minor break this weekend). Mondays to Fridays is my main job of educating the Okinawan masses, in the form of teaching debate, drama, and Model United Nations. And then on weekends I am dive instructing, and I’ve got quite a few courses to teach over the next couple of months. Some new students have just signed up for Open Water courses, and other courses have still to finish. My workload is increased a little more as a couple of the courses have gone on longer than I thought (due to students not getting through the workload or weather conditions). I have learnt from it though and for my next courses I am going to write up a contract detailing what the cost of the course includes. If students need more time doing one part of the course for whatever reason, extra costs may be involved.
The good news though is that I have certified another 2 PADI Open Water divers in the past 7 days, with the parents of the family I started to teach (the one I initially found a big challenge). 
The father had no problems and with the mother it was simply a case of her doing the mask skills (mask flood & clear, and mask remove & replace) once and realising there was nothing much to it. I think they have both learnt a lot from the course, and realised that diving is not something to be taken lightly. That seems to be one minor gripe I have with many of the training agencies at the moment - how easy they portray diving to be. About 20-30 years ago, diving was considered a very technical and specialized activity. I mean, what sane person would want to strap a steel tank filled with compressed air onto their backs and jump into the ocean (see left)? But then PADI started to open up the industry and throughout the 80s and 90s it became increasingly popular. A number of other training agencies started up and diving began to be promoted as a pastime for the masses. The problem now seems to be that they are suggesting that absolutely anyone can do diving. While this is true and diving is more accessible than ever before, it must never be forgotten that diving is an extreme activity and does require a certain amount of mental and physical toughness. Not only do you have to carry a steel/aluminium tank on your back when getting in and out of the water, you also may have some weight to carry, as well as they other equipment. It is a physical activity and you need to be in reasonable shape to do it. Which is why I am now asking to meet all of my student before the course begins so I can just assess them and get an idea of how they may perform as divers.
Diving is a religion!
This, just forwarded to me from my buddy, Brian. We have always said that diving is our religion, and that the ocean is our church where we wash away all our sins. And here is some of the proof that venturing under the waves isn’t so far away from visiting your local church/mosque/synagogue, temple, satanic meeting place!
Diving is like religions because:
1. There are mainstream religions: PADI, SSI, NAUI, YMCA, etc.
2. There are fundamentalists: GUE/DIR.
3. There is the CREED: The NDL tables, slightly different for each religion, but essentially the same on how you use it.
4. There is a GOD: Air.
5. There is the GREATEST COMMANDMENT: Thou shalt no run out of air.
6. There are religious fanatics: The Scubaboard addicts.
7. There are priests: Dive instructors.
8. There are deacons: Dive masters.
9. There are wisemen: The old geezers.
10. There cults: Cave, Wreck, Pink.
11. There are public stoning: When a troll is caught.
12. Rites of initiation: 25 meter one breath dive, OOA drills, mask clearing, etc.
13. Saints: Jacque Cousteau.
14. Martyrs: I will not name names for the sake of the family.
15. Pilgrimages: Famous wrecks.
16. Donations: At least 15% of your disposable income yearly.
17. Holy wars: Do a search on PADI bashing, start a thread on using spare air.
Haebaru City to open WWII hospital trenches to the public
This is taken from the Japan Update website, but I think that anyone with an interest in Okinawa and its history would be moved/intrigued by this. Haebaru City are going to open some of its hospital trenches, where the so called “Princess Lily” or Himeyuri Girls had to work in literally hellish conditions. If you get the chance, you could do a hell of a lot worse than visit these hospital trenches and pay your respects. Here is the full story from Japan Update: