Okinawa

So, I made a trip to Okinawa recently over one of our three day weekends. It was exciting! Before I get into the details, I want to get my one disappointment out of the way. I went in the middle of winter thinking it would be a nice getaway from the cold and snow…and it was, BUT it was not the tropical vacation I was hoping for. For one, it was kind of drizzly and overcast when I was there, and secondly, although it was a lot warmer in Okinawa than Osaka, it was still not warm enough to swim in the ocean or sunbathe. I didn’t need a coat, and I could still sit on the beach and watch the water…and even put my feet in. It just wasn’t that warm. So I recommend going when it’s hot if you are looking for the lazy beach experience. I did still have fun though!

Okinawa is a tiny island way out there!

I took Peach Airlines. It’s a new discount airline in Japan. I got round trip tickets to Okinawa for under $300! You get what you pay for, though. I would describe Peach as charmingly ghetto. For one, it was located in a weird terminal that you had to take a bus to. There weren't any gates. You just sat in a big waiting room until they said you could walk to the plane. Yes, walk. There was no walkway from the terminal to the plane. You had to walk outside to the plane and climb stairs into the plane. There were no free drinks or snacks. When I got to Okinawa, it was the same thing; weird terminal, no gate, long wait for a shuttle bus to the main terminal. The up side to peach was that the workers were nice, the plane is pink and cute, the flight attendants are wearing the cutest uniforms, they plane J-pop as you board and get off the plane, and you had the option of buying food that actually looked really good. I got there kind of late at night around 9 pm on a Friday after work. I checked into my hostel. I booked a tiny little one person private room for one night…it was only $30! I decided to go out and look around a bit after checking in. I went to Kokusai-dori (International Street) which is the main drag in Naha, Okinawa. Naha is the main city in Okinawa. It was all lit up, and even though I have never been to Vegas, I feel like maybe that Kokusai-dori would be comparable to Vegas because it was warm, there were palm trees, everything was bright and flashing, the streets were packed, and the atmosphere was very lively and playful. There was a really touristy feel to it too. I just walked a little, overwhelmed by the new sights, and even though I wanted to eat some Okinawa food for dinner, it was pretty late at night, and I wasn't sure what restaurants were open…and I didn't feel like sitting down and eating a nice meal alone at 10 pm. So I went to McDonalds, a little disappointed in myself. I tried to make up for it by finally ordering the ebi filet (shrimp filet) that I had been meaning to try. It was not as good as I hoped, but I was glad that I tried it. By the way, I was expecting to see a lot of American military men out and about, but was surprised to see none. I later found out that recently the curfew was pretty early due to reasons you can probably guess. I’d rather not get into that because it upsets me. In any case, it was strange because I didn't get many glances like I do in the mainland, and when I went to order my food at the counter, she didn't even give me a chance to start speaking Japanese, she just started talking to me in English…guess they are pretty used to Americans in Okinawa not being able to speak any Japanese. Before I move on to the next day, I just want to say that my overall impression of Okinawa that I formed starting from the first night was that it was like there were a bunch of Japanese people vacationing on a tropical island. I say this because it didn't really feel like I was in Japan exactly…it was more international feeling. However, there were Japanese people everywhere (and also some people from other Asian countries who obviously were tourists). The area was very touristy, giving it a vacation-y feel, and I was, of course, on a tropical island. Hence, my impression of Okinawa was such.

Peach airlines.

My hostel the first night: Grace Inn.

Kokusai-dori (international street).

 The next day, I checked out of my hostel and began exploring the main street and its offshoots in depth. I had lunch at an Indian restaurant which was delicious. I had truly spicy food in Japan! I decided to head to Shuri Castle (one of the main sights in Naha), before continuing to explore. The castle looked different compared to many other castles in Japan. One of the highlights was that I paid 300 yen to enter the tea room in the castle. I got all you can drink, delicious, high quality jasmine tea and a variety of tea cakes. Also there were workers there who explained the history of the castle and the sweets. From the castle (which was on a tall hill/mountain) I could see the ocean for the first time. I was really excited about that! When I was leaving the castle, I had one of those truly priceless moments; the ones you don’t expect, but turn out to be one of the most memorable moments. I was walking up some stairs outside when I saw what looked like a family up ahead. There was an older man and woman, a little girl, and a puppy. The woman and the girl were looking around in the grass while the man sat on a stair playing the guitar and the puppy sniffed around (it was tied to the handrail). It was a really cute baby yellow lab, so naturally, as I approached I smiled and asked if I could pet the puppy. We said hellos (they spoke a little English with me), and the man continued to play the guitar. I decided to sit down and chat with them. The little girl and the woman were looking for four leaf clovers. The girl found one and handed it to me. I wasn't sure if she was showing me or giving it to me so I handed it back, and she told me to keep it as a present. It’s moments like this that I cherish most. I thanked them, and left feeling refreshed. The train in Okinawa is actually a monorail. Very simple. I sort of felt like I was in Disney World haha! I took the monorail back to the main strip, and continued my exploring. Some staples of Okinawa which I discovered were habu sake (sake with a whole dead poisonous snake in it D:), Shisa (the dragon-dog looking mascot of Okinawa (they usually are in pairs-1 boy and 1 girl)), beni-imo (purple sweet potato treats), glassware, bouncy balls that looked like breasts :S, taco rice, sea grapes (a type of seaweed), little treats shaped like privates :S, chili sauce, coin purses made out of a dead/dried frogs, shamisen (Japanese instrument), and more that I’m probably forgetting.

Shuri Castle

Nice tea and sweets at the castle.

The four leaf clover.

Breast bouncy balls. :S

Penis candies. :S

Habu sake.

Umi-budou (sea grapes).

Glassware.

Shisa.

Beni-imo.

Taco rice.

Later in the day, I met up with an Okinawa JET who is also from the Chicago area. We met before departing for Japan. She was kind enough to host me for the rest of my trip. We actually stayed at her friends’ apartment (another JET) on Saturday. Her friend lived right in Naha. That night we basically met up with a bunch of Okinawa JETs and got dinner and drinks. We ate at a place called Picnic Land, I think. The service was unbelievably slow, but it was kind of a cool place. It was fun talking with other JETs. From there we went to something called a “snack bar” where one of the JETs performed some songs. That was entertaining. Then we did karaoke at the same place. There was one guy there that looked like he was just tired and sleeping, but when we eventually got up to leave, we realized that he was like blackout drunk and couldn't even stand on his own two feet. That was kind of creepy. Some people took him back to his hotel because he is actually from an outer island of Okinawa. We went to my friend’s friend’s apartment and went to bed.

On Sunday, we woke up and began the journey to my friend’s town, Yomitan. It’s north of Naha past some huge American military bases. I never realized how many bases there were in Okinawa. I just thought there was one or something, but there are several kinds all over the island! We made it to her town. Her apartment was so nice and big!! One thing I noticed was that the two bathrooms I saw (hers and her friend’s) had no bath. I guess it’s probably always too hot to bathe. I was very excited for this day because I was going to get to go the beach finally: the thing I was most excited for! We took a bus from her town to another town called Chatan. In Chatan, there is American Village. It’s actually very legit compared to the one in Osaka. We spent the whole day there. There was live music, stores, restaurants, beaches, and other entertainment. First, we ate at an awesome Mexican place called Obligado’s. The portions were huge! The first beach we went to was Sunset Beach which was kind of small, but I enjoyed putting my feet in and playing in the sand. Then, we shopped around, listened to some live music, did purikura in a huge arcade, and ate ice cream before going to a larger beach. We went to Araha Beach which was absolutely beautiful! The water was turquoise! I played in the waves and the sand, watched and listened to the water, and searched for seashells. The shells on the beach were amazing! There were so many different shapes and colors! A lot of it was bits of coral too! Araha Beach was by far my favorite part of the trip. We returned back to my friend’s apartment. I slept very comfortably that night (she had 3 huge couches in her place!).

Obligado's.

We ran into some of Gina's students at the arcade.

They were playing this game hardcore! This is an

example of Japanese culture at its best!

American Village a night.

Sunset Beach.

Araha Beach.

Araha Beach.

Listen to the water. :)

The shells/coral I found.

The next morning, I started the long journey back to Naha airport. Do you know A&W? Like the root beer? In America, there are some A&W restaurants, but they are kind of old and going out of business, I think. Well, in Okinawa, they were all over! I ate at an A&W in the airport before flying back to Osaka. Root beer isn't that common in Japan, so it was so good to taste it again! I got curly fries and chicken nuggets. Despite the lack of ketchup, I must say that they were seriously the best chicken nuggets I've ever had in my life! A nice old lady saw that I still had some root beer left after I finished my food, so she gave me two Okinawan donuts (another staple I forgot to mention) and told me that they went well with root beer. They did. Japanese people are so nice and give you stuff all the time. That basically sums it up! It was a good trip. If I ever go back, I’ll make sure to go back when it’s hot, and I will lie on the beach and snorkel the whole time!

A&W. Best chicken nuggets ever!

Okinawan donuts. Thanks nice lady!

Christmas

So, as you all know, if you read my posts, I went home to America for my two week winter break, and I don’t regret it in any way! Some people travel to other countries during the break or save a bunch of money by not traveling, but I am so happy I went back home! I was at the point where I needed to see my friends, family, and boyfriend, and I was definitely at my Taco Bell breaking point! The two weeks went by really fast as I expected. I didn't really have a lot of down time because I was meeting friends and family day after day, but I’m not complaining. I got to see pretty much everyone! I will admit that I completely stuffed my face with delicious American food the whole time I was home. I was so sick of Japanese food at the time. Currently, however, I am completely fine with Japanese food after having a break. I don’t think I was every hungry once when I was home because I was always eating… I ate Taco Bell, Hooters, Buffalo Wild Wings, Lou Malnati’s Chicago deep dish pizza, California Pizza Kitchen, Casey’s Taco Pizza, and of course, a bunch of delicious homemade food…including me favorite: taco salad. I’m sure I left out some places too, haha!

Hooter's buffalo chicken and shrimp and curly fries with cheese
dip of course.

California Pizza Kitchen's pear, gorgonzola, arugula pizza...
you won't find anything like this in Japan. 

Taco salad! My favorite!

Crispy potato soft taco from Taco Bell. Dear Lord Jesus!

Lou Malnati's Chicago deep-dish pizza.

I got home late on Saturday December 22^nd. The flight itself was fine as far as I can remember…I think I slept a lot. I saw my teacher on the plane and we talked a little. Things got really stressful, though, when I reached San Francisco airport. I had to recheck my bag (and there was a problem with a broken conveyor belt or something so I waited in a huge line of people trying to transfer planes), go through customs and security again, and switch terminals…all in like an hour. By some miracle I got on my plane 10 minutes before it was supposed to take off, but then of course, we sat on the plane for like two hours before it took off because there was a problem finding all of the baggage. So, when we finally took off, they gave us a reassuring “We think we have all the bags now.” Of course, when I landed in Chicago (my parents had been waiting for me for hours in the parking lot…and they hadn't gotten dinner yet because we planned to go out), it was about 10 o’clock at night, and they lost my bag. I was so tired and upset, I had my mom come inside the airport and talk to the worker about how to get my bag. It was kind of an underwhelming welcome home. So, we stopped at Taco Bell on the way home, and I felt much better haha! My dogs were really excited to see me. My parents got a new dog, too, while I had been gone. I was excited to meet her, but she didn't ever really warm up to me until it was time for me to go back to Japan :/ The 23^rd, my mother and her friend planned a scrap-booking night at our house. I was really excited! We made a lot of food, but unfortunately, my mother’s friend forgot to bring her pictures, so we couldn't scrap D: Instead we ate the food, drank Rumchata (I missed that, too), watched a movie, and chatted with my mother’s friend’s sons, and an Indian exchange student who was living with them for Christmas. That was fun! Now I want to go to India even more!

Moguls

Mia

Our new dog, Eevie! Plus snow! I missed not having
snow in Japan.

The next two days were Christmas Eve and Christmas. On my first full day home, my sister and I decorated one of our Christmas trees together which is a tradition in our family. I love it so much! We always have a big family Christmas party on Christmas Eve. We exchanged gifts, caught up, and of course, ate! Then on Christmas morning, we opened gifts from Santa and ate cinnamon rolls which is also a family tradition. My friend, Mitch, came over on Christmas night, and we caught up. He came to visit me not long after my Christmas break.

EXCITEMENT!

The day after Christmas, I believe, my boyfriend from Minnesota flew in to see me. That was nice! We spent around 5 days together. We relaxed and watched movies, and we went up to Chicago for a day which is something we like to do together. It was really nice seeing him, and it wasn't too hard to say goodbye because he was coming to Japan in a few months (he’s here now!!).

In front of "The Bean."

Huge Christmas tree in front of the John
Hancock building.

The rest of the time spent after he left was meeting friends and family, shopping, appointments, etc. I was not ready to leave when it was time to go back to Japan…but luckily, one week after returning to Japan, Mitch came to visit from America. That helped me ease back in to Japan life. It’s hard because I won’t be going back to the U.S. until next Christmas…I can hardly believe it L At the same time, I know that my time in Japan is short (even though I did sign up for another year ;) ). I love living in Japan except for missing home. My time to be back in the U.S. again will come.

I took my mom and sister out for a last dinner together at The Melting Pot,
my favorite restaurant. My Dad had to work, but he saw me off the next day.