Miyagi-sama's home

So as most of you know, the crane kick didn't work in the Karate Kid part 2. This point is almost completely off topic, except that the movie took place in Okinawa, and I have just returned from Okinawa. Now then, I won't bore you to death with the written equivalent of a slide show, but I thought I might hit upon a few high notes. First of all, Okinawa is really quite beautiful, sandy beaches, clear water, interesting rock formations, and coral reefs. Yes, a slice of Japanese heaven, and it was in such an environment that I was able to in some ways overcome my crippling fear of the ocean (or more specifically the terrifying, spine-covered creatures that dwell within). After spending a few hours in the water I felt bold enough to try my hand a snorkeling. So despite the sunburn that I had sustained on previous days, I ventured into deeper waters and had fun doing it. I only freaked out a few times, once when a friend tried to hand me a giant star fish (covered with spines). After that I was a bit gun shy. In fact, when the guide surface holding a two-foot long sea cucumber I just kind of swam away and circled the rest of the group until it once again lay helplessly on the floor of the ocean.

The next noteworthy experience from the trip is really not as noteworthy as it is stupid. After the snorkeling adventure we came back to the beach. Unfortunately, we were all too sunburned to stay for very long, so we retired to the pool. In the pool my friend Pat and I decided to try and swim from the wall, underwater, without kicking to this metal railing that separated the main pool from the kiddie section. I found the task actually to be quite easy, and decided to see if I could go from the rail to the wall to the rail again without surfacing. You know, one of those things you like to do to remind you why you quit smoking. So I did this easily, but this time as I was approaching the railing an idea entered foolishly into my brain. "Hey Mike," the idea said. "Why don't you try and glide gracefully between the rails, I bet you could make it." Well, this was not the case. With my arms extended in front of me I collided face first with the railing, the top rail hitting the top of my head, and the bottom rail slamming into my lower teeth. Mind you, I was 100% sober for this Darwinian moment. Luckily, I seem to have really strong teeth as they are all still in my head.

Well, there is more, but I feel that this is long enough. I will just have to keep the stories of karaokeing with elderly Japanese people, and having our pictures taken by thousands of middle and high school students at the airport for another occasion. Peace out.