The month of November usually conjures images of Thanksgiving dinners, football and first snows in the United States, but in Okinawa where the temperature hasn’t dipped much below 70, it also marks the start of ball season to celebrate the birthday of the United States Marine Corps. This year marks the 232nd anniversary of the Marines, and Matt and I attended two of the over 50 balls held across the island.
Since the balls were formal events, I had to find two formal gowns to wear – no easy feat since that meant ordering from a selection online and crossing my fingers that they would 1. get here in time and 2. fit based on the measurement charts. I think I lucked out with the gowns I selected (with much online advice from friends back home :) ) and I was very pleased with the results. However, our pre-ball dressing plans weren’t without some complications – one of my dresses took over two hours to steam and iron and although Matt only had to wear his dinner dress blues, we discovered hours before the first ball that they WERE NOT IN OKINAWA (actually, we aren’t sure where they are!).
Like the Navy Dining-Out we attended in Portsmouth, the Marine Birthday Balls are steeped in ceremony and tradition. At both events, there was the presentation of the colors, music by a Marine Corps band and marching horns and percussion and the entrance of the enormous Marine Corps birthday cake. There were also birthday messages from Marine leaders across the globe, a video montage depicting a brief history of the Corps and distinguished Marine speakers. My favorite traditions were the presentation of the first slices from the giant cake to the oldest and youngest Marines present and the empty table set to honor and remember fallen Marines. I think I really liked the Marine ceremony and history because it made me think a lot about my uncle, Colin, who was a Marine.
Dinner, set at tables with beautiful island flowers and patriotic themes, and dancing followed the ceremony. At the second ball, for the 3rd Marine Logistics Group, there was also a karaoke room, and I got talked into singing Paula Abdul’s “Straight Up” with another officer’s wife while Matt was outside smoking a cigar with some of the guys (he came in right as I took the mic). Thankfully, there were probably only about ten other people in the room at the time and my microphone was off for the first half of the song, so it wasn’t too traumatic of an experience. Oh, oh, oh!
1 comment:
Awesome! I really like the empty table for fallen commrades. That's such a sad, but very sweet tradition!
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