Hai, 2009 Calendar!

The Okinawa Hai 2009 calendar is about to brush it's shiny hair, straighten it's tie and come knocking on your door! Let it in, won't you?

Our goal was to share glimpses of OUR everyday Okinawan moments in these 12 categories:

Foliage
Graffiti & Rust
Transportation
Okinawan People
Fish
Animals & Bugs
Beaches & Sunsets
Music
Streets & Houses
For Sale
Food & Drink
Okinawan Icons

We definitely covered all that ground. With the spectacular submissions we decided to make four-picture collages for every month. We're talking 48 amazing photos that taste, smell and feel like the Okinawa I left behind less than a year ago.

Also, we marked all the American AND Japanese holidays so you can play along like a local.

Go on ahead and get your very own calendar for 20 bucks plus 3 for shipping. They should make it to you before the holidays if the postal system cooperates with us!

SOLD OUT.

Without further ado, here are the photographers that made this happen. Arigato, new and old friends. It's been a pleasure!

Abbey Bertolone feels like all she does is look for the new CARS characters.

Amy Longhenry is dancing in the falling pixels.

Aviva Bowman is ready for coffee before the flight! Kyoto here I come!

Cathryn Jensen is enjoying her extended family vacation here in Okinawa!

Courtney Talltree is spending time with her awesome family and crazy puppy while enjoying life in beautiful Okinawa, the place we call home and love more and more every day.

Jason Arbogast cycled 313 KM in the Tour De Okinawa only five hours after shooting 191 formal portaits at a Marine Corps Ball.

Jeremy Kiyoshi says: nan kuru nai sa!

Joe Garcia's thinkin' about fishin'.

Julia Chen misses sunny Okinawa and cheap yet delicious sushi. She consoles herself with coffee ice cream...lots of it!

Katherine Brown is craving a bottle of Shikuwasa. Anyone, anyone?

Kerry Mills is excited about the launch of her new photography website!

Kimberly Mitchell feels a little guilty about calling up her Christmas playlist already... but she's doing it anyway!

Nathan Keirn is eating tasty Dugong.

Pamela Oliveras sings and dances to the wiggles, hi-5 and kids bop. And that's as close to going out partying as she's getting for now!

Robert Mallon is originally from San Diego, California. He's been living in Japan for approximately 10 years (2 years in Okinawa). He's an IT systems admin and a proud father. He became interested in photography when he started snapping pics with his camera phone a few years back. His interest escalated after the birth of his daughter. Since then, he has become somewhat of a photography nut. He's looking forward to seeing the calendar! We have such a nice collective of photographers on the island, he's sure it will be great!

Tara H. was born in Arizona in 1975. She stayed in Arizona till she was 20 and has been to various countries and states since. Tara loves Arizona but doesn't want to live there when they retire. She thinks maybe other states might be nice as well.Tara should also add she has never been to the Grand Canyon. Though she has been to Mexico more times than she can count. I mean hundreds of times. Una cerveza más, por favor.

You know you want one.

Comments

[Staci]

Goregous photos! So cool! Am excited!!

[Stephanie]

I totally do! Are they mailed to us or do we come pick them up?

[Heather N.]

Ohhh yes I do want one!!

[Tara H]

who wrote that long status message? OHHH that was me. hahaha
Thanks for getting it all put together ladies. I know it was a lot of work!

[Kerry Mills]

I can't wait to get my copy!! I've given the link to this page on my blog and also explained "how I got that shot" for my photo.

[Pamelala]

Fab photos everyone, makes me want to live in Okinawa, OH, I already do, whooopppeeeee!
I can't wait to see the calender either :o)
Great going Meredith and all who put this together.

[Joelle]

Stephanie,
It will be mailed to you -- here or Stateside (if you are ordering for gifts).

[sarah r]

I'm PCS'ing in Jan. & this is just what I need to remind me of my beautiful Okinawa! Fabulous!

[Lan]

Just ordered mine and can't wait for it to get here! what a lovely christmas present for myself and our family - we'll enjoy remembering if we saw any of those places and things that the photos depict.

[Ed Loy]

Great going Meredith, and also to you others who are behind the scene on this calander project. I have ordered a copy for myself here in the States and also ordered a copy for my step-daughter, Kristyn, who is in Oki.

[Julia]

Love the photos! I can't wait to see the whole calendar!

[Erika]

Soooo excited to see Abbey and Aviva are going to be in the calendar ..I have loved the school children photo since I first saw it on your blog, Abbey! :o)
And what a great reminder of such a Beautiful place... since I am in KS now...Thanks to all who have helped with it!!

[Dasha Gariepy]

Can't wait to see it hanging on my wall! :-) Great Job, Mere!

[Ashley]

WOW! This is beautiful! I'm so proud of all of you! Congrats on a great keepsake.

[Matt Nisenoff]

These pictures are amazing. Congratulations on an excellent calendar. Get two.

[Rachael McCarty]

the pics are great! I am going to order for my grandparents and gradparent-in-laws.
Great job all!!

[Meredith]

Get an eyeful of April and our pretty red spiral!

45 calendars still up for grabs!

[Joelle]

The calendars arrived on island on Wednesday. All ordered calendars have been sent to you!!! They should arrive this weekend!!

[catheron pate]

Can anyone tell me how I can get this calendar, this web site does not allow fpo ap addresses, how do I get one shipped? Or, where can I go to pick one up?
Thanks!

[Meredith]

Catheron,

I'm sorry you're having trouble ordering to an FPO, AP address. I'm not sure what is happening because most of our orders are to these addresses.

If we have any calendars left we hope to sell them at Market Day on the 20th. If you want to arrange a pick-up before then with JOelle you can contact her at advertising@okinawahai.com.

I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Let me know if I can be of any help. My e-mail is meredith@okinawahai.com

[ash]

I just ordered a calendar off of the site. How long does it take to get shipped here? Just wondering. Thanks!

[Meredith]

Ash,

The calendars are on the island so it'll be in your hands by next week!

Happy 2009.

[Ed Loy]

In the States, I received my calandars yesterday (Saturday) They are great. Thank to Meredith, Joelle and the photographers for making this project a success. One of the calandars will be going to my grandson, who teachs HS history for his classroom. During 2009 part of his world history class will be the history of Japan.

[courtney]

I am anxiously waiting to find my calandar in my mailbox (well, I should say, the special yellow slip) hurry calandar, hurry!!!!!!!!!!

[Leroy]

I thought submissions were limited to 5 per photographer, how did Aviva end up with 18 in the calendar?

[Meredith #2]

I received my calendar and it's beautiful, BUT it was sent MPS in a manilla envelope and lovingly shoved into my 6-inch box!!! I thought the price included postage so this wouldn't happen. Hmmm. I guess beauty (on my walls) doesn't always come easy.: )

[Meredith]

Leroy,

That's a fair question and I had to think about how that all came to be!

Originally, we imagined the calendar would have 12 pictures. One picture per month kind of deal. After our first round of submissions we thought it would be fun to have themes. Also we thought it would be easier for people to know what we were looking for in a picture. There were some great interpretations of the themes which led us to decide to do 4 pictures per theme.

Unfortunately, the amount of appropriate and usable entries per theme was insufficient. By that I mean there were issuses with content, resolution and/or quality of many of the submissions. So I had to draw from the sources that were appropriate and from those who were willing to donate when the deadlines were breathing down my neck. It was important for me to have the calendar available well before Christmas.

Aviva and Jeremy both have amazing photos that fit our immediate needs. They were understanding of our use of their photos and were perfect matches for the calendar. I apologize that the parameters changed as the clock ticked.

In the end, there are sixteen wonderful photographers represented in the calendar that display a wide array of taste and talent. I am super pleased about that!

I hope that answers your question.

Meredith,

I'm so sorry that your calendar was stuffed in your mailbox causing damage! The postage you paid was used to send the calendars to the island. Again, I'm sorry that a busy postal worker didn't treat your package with more respect.

[Dee]

I for one have not seen the calender yet, nor did I enter. But from my understanding there were 5 submissions allowed and it became more on each page because you had over 200 entries.
What is happening here is that you are promoting and favoring one person.
You chose to favor one because she was originally going to do the whole calender. She even helped do the calender.
You technically gave 13 other submissions to Aviva. Why?
And the truth please. Not the above excuse. That is just not how it is. I am sure many others are wondering too.
Aviva is a business, what about the regular amateurs out there? Or even the other pros? She is not the only one on this island that can take an amazing photo. I can name a few. If you wanted it to be for professionals only you should have made it that way. This isn't a way to gain trust and respect from your readers. This is about doing favors for friends and making the rest of the people look like fools for trying to be in your cliquey calender.
I don't know if you will post this, I hope you do. Others should give their feedback too.
D

[Meredith]

Dee,

I am sorry you are unhappy with the calendar. We have been very excited to create a calendar that represents the Okinawa that our readers see. To do that we chose the pictures that spoke to our panel of judges.

We had an overwhelming amount of contributions. That was fantastic. No one was made the fool for joining a contest. Some pictures worked and some didn't but they were all a joy to look at and many were stunning but didn't work for a variety of reasons. I don't know many of the sixteen photographers that are in the calendar. Some run businesses and some don't. The contest was open to everyone.

Aviva is a part of the team and is a close friend of mine. When I needed help pulling this calendar together so it would be available for the holidays, she dropped everything and helped. Originally, the calendar was going to be ALL her photos because there was a great response to that idea in a poll on the blog.

We went in a different direction like I stated before in the previous response to Leroy. I agree that I changed course without telling everyone as I should have. The time crunch got in the way of doing it exactly as I should have. That is my lesson here and I take it to heart.

We thought the calendar would be fun and clearly I made some mistakes along the way. Ultimately, I am happy with what we created. Again, I'm sorry that you are not.

[Snuff]

We are talking about a calendar right? Paper with dates, pictures and such. I just want to make sure I didn’t misunderstand anything. We’re not talking about anything serious like life or death. Just a calendar…

From someone who DID enter the contest and DID purchase a calendar, I say WHO CARES how many times someone was included.. Each month has great pictures and I love the idea of "themes" for each month.

I submitted 6 pictures and only 1 was selected. Are my feelings hurt because I'm not part of some mystery "clique" and all my photos weren't selected? No. ("Cliquey calendar", now that’s funny.) After looking at Aviva and Jeremy's work, I'm glad their photo's were included and not my crappy 5. Seriously, who wants to buy a calendar full of my crap pictures?

I'm sure the staff of OkiHai put forth a lot of effort and work to put this calendar together. And I'm sure they didn't intentionally put all the "cool" kids on the calendar and purposely exclude us "uncool" kids. But, if given the choice, I'd rather have a calendar full of good photos taken by all the “cool” kids, then my “uncool” 5.

By the way, got the calendar yesterday and it too was unlovingly shoved in my 6" mailbox. But it still has the months and all the pretty pictures intact. Thanks for the hard work Okinawa Hai!

[aviva]

Over a year ago, in August of 2007, I befriended Meredith, and several other incredible people who I am lucky to still call friends, through Okinawa Hai. I wasn’t a photographer, though I had a camera. I was an island newbie – I had never lived overseas in my life, and I was worried about how I’d fit in. Upon trying to Google everything about moving here, I found Okinawa Hai (which was about a year old at the time) to be a place where there was a community of people helping each other. There were no advertisements on the top of the page. There were no rules about appropriate comments. There were no t-shirts with cute sayings for sale. There were restaurant reviews, there were shopping suggestions, and there were pictures of government furniture. I helped those incredible people, from every branch of the military, DOD, and civilians, who made Okinawa Hai what it is now – I helped to redesign the site and to brainstorm ideas about what could make it better.

Then, by total coincidence, I got a job as a photographer working for Serena Nicole – and I worked with Meredith. We took portraits of people, side by side, as first and second shooters. And Okinawa Hai grew – which was amazing; that was HER baby, and it was growing and getting better – and people loved it. Last year there was a poll – it asked if people would like to have a calendar with my photos in it, and for some reason (I still honestly cannot even remember why) the idea was out there but it was dropped.

On October 7, 2008 (I still have the email) – Joelle emailed me to ask what ever happened with doing a calendar. I told her I’d be happy to donate photos for a 2009 calendar. Meredith, who was in on the discussion, immediately stated that because I now have a portrait photography business, it wouldn’t be fair for me to be the only one in the calendar. We should open it up to everyone. I told her I’d help in any way I could, but if she’d have a contest I wouldn’t be helping to judge the winners, and I would contribute like anyone else.

I didn’t really know the rules, admittedly I was busy and didn’t read them. I just sent over some shots I thought they might like to include, some favorites of Meredith’s and of the other girls I’d worked with that had helped me and encouraged me in growing my business. As other photos came in, Meredith thought multiple photos per page would be a good idea because then we could have categories and include more entries.

As I stated, I was busy – I dropped other things and took my time to assemble the pages for the calendar and help my friends at Oki Hai out with getting this sucker done in time to have it here for Christmas. The team who writes for Okinawa Hai looked at all the photos. I did not see all the photos, I was given the ones that made the cut for the calendar. Some of the photos they received were not high resolution. Some were snapshots of things that didn’t really fit in the categories. All I knew was that there were 12 categories and we were down to the wire to get them printed and here in time to give out before Christmas and we didn’t have enough entries that were appropriate for each page. So I started rifling through mine and filling in. Meredith and others did ask several of the contributors if they had anything else (i.e. Kerry, Jeremy, Katherine Brown, Abbey Bertolone, and other people I know personally, both professional and amateur) but nothing else came. Rather than scrap what I’d already worked on, I added my photos. If I had read the rules when they were posted, I might have thought differently about that and I apologize. What was happening was that I was helping a friend – who was now out several hundred dollars for pre-ordering calendars and trying to hold a contest in Okinawa from Norfolk, VA – to finish this calendar and get it out. I think it looks great. I think it’s a good representation of a lot of photographers, both professional and amateur.

I’m certainly not the only person on the island that can take an amazing photo. If you knew me, you might realize I am not “cliquey” either and I was gloriously surprised by the amount of amazing people I met on this island and bonded with in a way I never had before when living in the states. Amazing people like Meredith and Joelle and Julia and Kaho and Kelly and both Heathers and Lan and Kandy and Kimberly and Staci and Dasha (even though I haven’t met her in person) and Diana and I’m sure many more that I’m forgetting so please forgive me. Amazing people like that – who I plan to know and stay in touch with for many years to come.

I truly hope that is truth enough for you and anyone else, Dee. And thank you too, Snuff – I would love to see your other photos if you’d show them to me. This IS a calendar. Happy holidays, happy new year, and thanks for reading all that.

PS: I got 2 calendars because my husband also contributed a photo that was published. Meredith #2 - if your calendar is unusably crushed, I'd be happy to give you my 2nd one.

[Meredith #2]

Aviva and Meredith, thank you so much for your concern over my calendar. It will be fine. My comment was just that, not a complaint. The calendar is gorgeous no matter who submitted what pictures! Like Snuff, I purchased the calendar for the beautiful pictures of Okinawa, NOT the fine print names under each photo.
Kudos to everyone involved in the process. Bumps and bruises along the way only lead to a better product. I'm already looking forward to my calendar in 2010 when I am (sniff, sniff) back in the states.

[Dee]

where are the comments? I want to read them, why are they taken down?

[Meredith]

The comments were not taken down. Typepad is making changes and cut off comments after 25. We reset it to cut off after 50 until we can fix it. There are lots of posts with way more comments than that and they will not be visible either.

Sorry. Will fix soon.

[carolined]

hey ~ i am scum and ordering my calendar is STILL on my 'to do' list. i think it's really cool that people were able to voice their opinions and concerns and get some feedback. cool, cool. nice putting it all in perspective snuff. it is just a calendar, after all, huh? :) thanks for all the hardwork that went into it, including all the people who entered pics.

[Kandy]

I love the calendar regardless of the fact that my 3 submitted photos weren't included. Especially because I still HAVE my own photos on MY computer and now have even more beautiful photos all wrapped up on a CALENDAR when I feel like reminiscing memories of Okinawa. Kudos!

[Dasha]

Snuff, right on! Dee, I'm sorry you are so misguided in your feelings about this calendar. You are making a pretty whacked out assumption to say we are a "clique" - I'm an editor here and don't hang out with any one from Okinawa Hai. I've only met a couple of ladies personally from Okinawa Hai, one other editor, one form the scrapping group and a couple from the knitting group. I was one of the judges for the calendar contest. When it came time to pick pictures I had no idea who took what picture, they were just numbered. I didn't know any of the photographers. I picked the photos that "spoke" to me, the ones that moved me. I wanted to meet ALL the photographers who submitted pictures that were judged because I'm in awe of their photographic abilities. You ask Meredith to be "honest" - I think you need to come clean yourself and be honest about what your beef really is about this calendar. Did you submit pictures that were not chosen? Do you have a friend who did who feels slighted? Because I want to know what in the world would cause you to make such outrageous accusations against the wonderful people who put this calendar together.

[Robin]

I can't believe I'm jumping in here, but here goes. I'm laughing out loud from reading the clique accusations, as I know from personal experience how ridiculous that is, at least with this particular group of exceptional women. Aviva reached out to me, a total and complete stranger, when I was planning to make my dream return trip to Okinawa, a place I fell in love with almost the way you can fall in love with a person. I'd been gone from Okinawa since 1975, when I was a freshman in high school and I was being pulled back by some force. Aviva reached out to me. So did Meredith. They moved outside themselves when it would have been easier not to bother, but they bothered. They made a difference to me, a stranger. Meredith and I missed each other by a matter of days, as she was leaving the island as I was arriving for my 3 week visit.

Who offered to pick me up at the airport and take me for a meal and then on to my hotel? Who was it whose offer was so genuinely made that I accepted it? Who was waiting there, sweating with a "Local Guide" t-shirt on and a precious 6 year old daughter at her side and a bottle of cold water in her car when I got off the plane, and later toured me around, took me to her home, arranged a rental phone, traipsed around Naha on my last day there and called my husband to tell him I was fine because I was a 48 year old woman halfway around the world on a lark? Who arrange a party for me to meet the other Okinawa Hai women and their children whose names I already knew because I'd read their blogs and we sat on tatamis at a restaurant and I revelled in the fact that it was really them?

It was Aviva.

I don't like to get preachy or sound pretentious, but I learned one thing really well while I was on my solo magical mystery tour back to Okinawa and that is this:

You get what you are looking for.

I was looking for good and I found it everywhere I looked, with every person I met while I was on Okinawa.

If you are looking for evidence that one person is more represented in a calendar of photos of Okinawa and take time to count those photos, you may think you've found evidence. If you are looking for evidence that a group of extraordinarily busy women, many of whom are likely stressed by the demands of their lives and anxious about the possibility that their spouses may be deployed in their service to our country, but decided to step outside themselves and take creative initiative, with no malice in their hearts whatsoever, to produce a product, a pictoral calendar, for people like myself to treasure and enjoy, then that is what you will find evidence of.

Back in Atlanta, I'm trying to remember my lesson to look for the good. I'm inspired by the generosity of Aviva and all my Okinawa Hai friends. I'm trying to reach out to other people when I can. Even when it feels easier not to bother. Especially when it feels easier not to bother. Because others bothered to be kind to me.

[Lan]

Hear, Hear, Robin! I agree with you wholeheartedly. Sitting here in frigid St. Louis, I'm so warmed by your words. Okinawa Hai was created by Mere and friends to be INclusive, not the other way around as someone so ridiculously suggested. That is and remains to be one of my fondest memories of our time over there - the way that people reached out to each other, that there was always someone to say "Hi!" to at the commissary or BX, and that when you needed help, there was always someone to turn to. I still haven't had a chance to look at my calendars yet (Christmas present to myself and hubby), but I know that all those photos will look beautiful and take us back to a time of good food, good weather, and esp. the goodness of people like Aviva, who personifies acceptance of others and always took the time to talk to this shy mommy at the bus stop! Kudos to Mere and gang for all the hard work, money, and sleepless nights putting together this calendar. I can't wait to open mine on Christmas morning!

[kellyerace]

Robin, what a wonderful commentary. I wish I had gotten to meet you. Thank you for giving us something positive to take away from this. I love the lesson you share with us here!

[aviva]

My husband woke me up this morning with, "You HAVE TO COME READ OKINAWA HAI!" And I was crying tears of joy in my coffee. Robin, you sweet wonderful woman, thank you. I'm lucky to know you. Lan - I know from several friends who've left that the transition back is hard after being here, and I understand even more now how Robin feels about this place and what she misses. Hugs all around.

[Heather Hansen]

I was going to stay out of this because it’s none of my business. I had nothing to do with the calendar, but after reading Robin’s post (which made me cry), I want to say something too.

Aviva’s one of the sweetest people ever. I have yet to meet her in person (so obviously the Okinawa Hai girls are not cliquey – however, I would love to meet her!)… I was having a really rough day a month or so ago. Aviva knew it. She took time out of her day to write me an email that made me smile. She didn’t have to. She doesn’t even know me, but she did because she genuinely wants to help people.

The thing that bugs me the most about this accusation and other complains of this nature is that – we do this FOR FREE. It’s our gas money that gets us to the places we write about. It’s our money that gets us into the sites. It’s our time being spent writing articles and putting together projects like this calendar.

We do it because we want to help people transition to the island. Or maybe help someone who has lived here a while to reignite that spark for how great Okinawa is. We do NOT do it for recognition or pats on the back, or “doing favors for friends and making the rest of the people look like fools for trying to be in your cliquey calendar,” and to imply that we are is, well, rude.

Personally, it hurts my feelings when one or all of us is accused of doing something nefarious.

[Heather N.]

I love my calendar and I am so glad I will have it to hang up and see all the beautiful pictures next year. Plus my hubby is glad I didn't get another "stupid baby" (Anne Geddes) calendar for the wall! LOL!

[Charity]

It seems the old adage is true: you can't please ALL of the people ALL of the time. No matter what, someone will always find offense no matter the intent. Every contest I have ever seen has a note to remind the person entering that "rules are subject to change without notice". It happens. I've only met a few of the women I have spoken with on OkiHai, but they have all been truly wonderful people. I have yet to feel anything but welcomed by everyone even people no longer on the island. The pictures are beautiful, the people who took the pictures are beautiful and the people who judged and put the calendar together are beautiful. That's all there is to it.

[Downtown Julie Brown]

I will second everyone's thoughts and just say that my hands down favorite thing about Okinawa Hai and everything connected with it is that everyone who is involved in it does it for the sheer LOVE of it. There is NO MONEY and very little recognition. NO one babysits for you while you write articles (usually at midnight). It is truly an altruistic venture. This is not big business we're talking about. Its about helping everyone enjoy Okinawa. Thank you to the Mere, aviva, and all the ladies of Oki HAI for all that you do. BTW That is the first and only time anyone has ever said I was in a clique! You know all those cool cheerlading girls in high school? Yeah, I'm the nerdy one in the science club that they wouldn't give the time of day to!

[courtney]

Woohoo! I got my calendar! love it!

[Joelle]

HUGE thanks to all of you who came by today to introduce yourself and say hi to Kelly and me! It was so nice to meet you and now there are only SEVEN calendars left -- so order fast if you want one!!

[Meredith]

I wish I could have been there to meet everyone and to hang out with you, JOelle and Kelly!

And thanks to so many of you supporting us!

ALSO, I have SEVEN calendars left too! 7 on OKinawa. 7 in the States!

Giddyup!

[Kristin]

LOVE LOVE LOVE my calendar and I bought three others as gifts for family back in the states. I love the fact that they'll be able to see the beauty of Okinawa everyday!

[Liza]

I ordered my calendar 2 weeks ago, when should I be expecting it in the mail?