My New Normals....

• Seeing stray cats everywhere....and I am not just talking about one cat here and there occasionally, I'm talking multiple cats. Like for instance, this afternoon on my run I counted 9 stray cats. As for those who know me, I am not much of a cat lover, so stray cats all over the place is not really one of the things I love!
• Smiling and bowing in my car on the way to work everyday! I drive the same route to work every morning and I drive past a school, so there are multiple crossing guard people at different points of the street and they are so friendly. One man in particular smiles so big and bows as I go by every morning and I do so in return. It really makes my morning happy! :-)
• Having our garbage picked up almost every day of the week.....and hearing the ice cream truck music that the garbage truck plays. 
• Doing dishes by hand....since we do not have a dishwasher.
• Driving on the right side of the car.....I've got it down to perfection....I think! Although, I still have difficulty parking the car and I used to always be good at backing up into parking spaces.....tried that today and definitely couldn't do it! Plus the parking spaces here are super narrow, which makes parking even more difficult.
• Eating the most delicious sushi
• Seeing the most beautiful sunsets
• Experiencing the local culture, like going to events such as bull fighting!
• Being an English teacher at a local Japanese school. 

With all that being said, these are things that are my new normal, but not things that I am taking for granted!! :-) Oh and on a side note, Cooper is getting groomed tomorrow for the first time since arriving in Okinawa. We are taking him to a local place rather than on base, so we will see how he looks after! I will try to remember and post some pictures!