The WInters Family visited the Naritasan Temple on New Year's Day and participated in the Japanese tradition called Hatsumode, which refers to the first shrine or Buddhist temple visit of the year.
If you've ever seen Kung Fu Panda, the shrine was locating like the Jade Palace way up high on a hilltop which was quite a steep drive and then climb.
On our way up we passed this statue, which is supposed to bring good luck to couples hoping to have a new bundle of joy in the new year. I took this picture from afar and tried not to get too close :)
Next, you wash in what I guess is equivalent to our holy water.
Now, we were ready to climb the stairs to the shrine to get our fortunes for the new year and make a new year's wish!
Our fortunes held this little Bubda-like charm. Unfortunately, we grabbed from the wrong bin and didn't get the English translations.
But, Michael is a big believer in making your own destiny so it was all good. We tied our predictions to a rope lining the shrine with all the others.
We had worked up an appetite so it was a good thing there was festival-style food at the bottom. We had some of the best yakitori (meat on a stick) that we've had so far on the island. Michael was also adventurous and got something that ended up being squid, and I got yakisoba (noodles).
As I say good-bye to 2010, I think of all that it held for our family. It was a fairly quite year in our household. Our travel stopped as we welcomed our second little man into the world. We've spent the year enjoying the little things in life like having daddy home for lunch or an afternoon at the park. We've made some good friends in the absence of family, and I'm grateful for that. Our second year in Okinawa is almost at a close, leaving just one more to go. 2010 also held some big milestones as Michael and I both turned 30 and celebrated half a decade of marriage (8 years together). All-in-all the year of the tiger was good to us.
We look forward to 2011, the year of the rabbit, which I've read is supposed to be quiet, positive, and inspiring. Sounds good. Bring it on!
Happy New Year!
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