Okinawa Did It For Me

Soooo, things were not so good for a little while there. . . kinda complicated, kinda crazy, really eye-opening. After a lot of the bad shit was ending, it was time for GOLDEN WEEK!!! In Japan, they have a string of holidays that are collectively called "Golden Week". This year, GW took place on Tuesday, May 3 (Constitution Memorial Day)/ Wednesday, May 4 (Greenery Day)/ and Thursday, May 5 (Children's Day). There was a holiday Friday, the 29th of April (Showa -the Japanese Emperor- Day), too. What a crock, no?!? If people wanted to have an actual week for Golden Week, they had to take off 2 days to do so! Well, I certainly did and spent my nice 8 nights and 7 days off in OKINAWA!


A group of us left Kochi by bus to Osaka, leaving from Toyo-cho, the end of the prefecture and an hour and a half drive along the coast. The bus ride was 5 hours, about. We had an incredible lunch at this Thai restaurant Steven and I found, then got on our plane to Naha, Okinawa. The flight was only 2 hours and we got some of the cheapest tickets out there (though the Hostel Owner told me about an airline that is even cheaper yet, so Okinawa is allll mine!)


We got there pretty late, but some of us still found the energy to go out. We put our shit down and strolled down to an international bar called "Rehab" for some booze. There, we met this hilarious trio of Japanese guys that work at the Air Traffic Control with the US Air Force guys, so they knew English really well. We played Jenga and chatted until about 3, I guess. One of them hung out with us a few days after that, too. The others claimed it was too exhausting trying to speak English so much, so they opted out. I guess they didn't expect that we knew any Japanese. Oh well, their loss.

The next day, our friend Mamiko rented a car and we all drove to the Churaumi Aquarium up north in Okinawa. The whole area was gorgeous. After we parked, we checked out this Tropical and Subtropical Arboretum. We tried to swim at 'Emerald Beach', but it was a little too cold with no sun, so we waded in the water a little. Then off to the Dolphin Show and Aquarium. After that, we headed back to Naha, stopping at an A&W along the way for root beer floats. I hardly even see these in the US, but they are EVERYWHERE in Okinawa!!! We passed what looked like pineapple farms (one of the only things I wanted to see while in Okinawa), but I guess it wasn't the right time of year to go to those yet. DAMN!

We went out dancing that night, after a little nap. The place was called "Fantasy Space". It was really fun - ladies got in free until midnight and drank free all night! They had no idea what they were mixing in these drinks (i.e. I would ask for gin and he would grab the rum, or whatever was closest. . . no clue) but it was all good. There was a DJ from NYC there, and he was great. We were the last ones in the joint, haha. I think the bartenders and DJs enjoyed having us there.

I spent the majority of the next day vomiting. Joy. The weather was shitty anyway. I did get to make it out to Shuri castle, though, which was nice (even though I got sick the whole way there). Then I slept while everyone else had food and fun. I didn't expect to spend an entire day getting sick from partying, but I guess I got it out of my system, because I didn't have that problem again after that!

Over the next few days, we decided to explore some of the smaller islands off Naha - the Kerema Islands. We only saw Zamami and Aka, but had a lot of fun. We were pretty much wet the entire time, from humidity, rain, and swimming, but it was really memorable anyway! We were seriously 5 of maybe 30 people on the island. We stayed at the Okinawa Resort on Zamami both nights. When we went to Aka, we were only there part of a day. We rented bikes and snorkeling gear and had to leave when it started pouring on us! Typhooned off Aka. That was OK. I actually freaked out a little in the water. . . the reef was SUPER close to us and I just kind of panicked. Emily and Brittany had to calm my ass down. How lame, right? Zamami was fun anyway. One supermarket loaded with booze and snacks, a slew of tiny restaurants with decent food, not much else. We really didn't need much else, though!

When we got back to Naha, we went to the same hostel we were at before the island excursion, Shell House. There is a sign out front that says "Come as a guest, go as a friend". So true!!! It wasn't the most extravagant place (the room for girls had ten beds, bunked, with bamboo posts and hand-made curtains for a little privacy), but it was just what we needed: friendly, cheap, welcoming, and close to where we wanted to be. The owner, Mori, was the nicest guy ever. He drove us to the dragon boat races one day and the airport our last day, gave us awamori (the Okinawan sake - VERY strong) and even made us food from time to time! He also just mailed me back my flip flops that I left there (idiot) and let me borrow his house shoes since my feet were wrecked from being wet and walking so much. What a sweetheart! It was no wonder there had been people living there for months. We were all glad to hear people cancelled their Okinawa trips because of the weather. . . SUCKERS!!! >_<

We spent the last days exploring and going out for great food with some locals. We met M.A. (the Japanese Jenga guy)'s friends and went to a nice place, ate mostly Italian food and checked out a fancy bar. They were siblings, a brother living in Okinawa, sister from Tokyo. She was 35, but looked about 20 and was apparently a model. They were both gorgeous. . . They told us, "We make more money than you, we're going to pay for the meal!". Awesome.

Our last night, M.A. took us to a place called "Afro Nest", which was amazing! They had a drink special: all you can drink for 3 hours for ￥2000. . . OF COURSE we did it. Before we got anything else, they gave us this turmeric drink that apparently enables you to drink more and not get sick. It must have worked, because we all housed about 10 drinks! We had jerk chicken, garlic fries, and tried the Okinawan specialty (pig ear sliced thin and saturated with sesame dressing). I love sesame dressing, but I don't even like pork, let alone pig's ear! Fucking Japanese obsession with eating cartilage! And Okinawans love their pork. Anything pig. Pig feet, face, ear, rump, whatever. . .ew! There were pig heads sold in bags, sometimes put up on a post in front of restaurants. Wow.

I've never been there, but this place really made me think of Hawaii. . . Actually, the whole time I just had this thought in my head: Okinawa definitely has some sort of insane identity crisis. They have so much culture affecting them that they can't tell if they're Japanese, American, Jamaican, Indian, Chinese, Hawaiian, Caribbean. . . a little but of everything! Just what mainland Japan is missing, and all on such a tiny stretch of land. It was fantastic! We spent too much money on clothes (that actually fit us) and souvenirs for our workplaces and families, but it was all great fun. This time really made me feel better about being in Japan. I know my mindset has been pretty negative lately, but I feel like Okinawa kind of fixed my point of view. These are such amazingly kind and fun people! Okinawa is a totally different place. When I saw photos my friends had taken from mainland Japan of other cities, I thought: 'You were just seeing more Japan. . . we really went somewhere else!'

Now, we've all got incredible memories (even though the weather sucked) and have made new friends to keep. I know this sounds like a cheesy ending to an 80s movie or something, but it's true. There were definitely a few too many gaijin (foreigners) for my taste, but it was interesting being the ones that were appreciated for knowing something about Japanese language and culture! I'd like to go back with other people, show them what it's like. Very unlike the Japan I know here. . .