Okinawa Driving Lesson

Driving in Okinawa is nothing like driving in the states (and not just because you're driving on the wrong side of the street and your steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car).  

I decided to share just a few of the things you will need to know while driving here. 

Speed limits here are super slow.  Most roads are only 40-60 kph, which equals 25.85-37.28 mph.  The fastest you will ever see is 80 kph (49.7 mph) and that is on the expressway.  The expressway is a toll road though, so we only take it when completely necessary.  The reason they're so low is because most of the streets are tiny, with homes on both sides, lots of curves and mirrors so you can see cars coming, so you can't really drive fast anyway.  

When you are turning right with no turn arrow, you will realize you're out in the middle and the cars coming at you have stopped.  They now have a red light and you can continue....or just sit there because you're completely confused.  

No turn on red, anywhere, is a law here.

There are really no shoulders here.  Also, there are not really any parking lots here.  So, when an Okinawan needs to pull over, they do just that, pull over.  They will pull over to go into a store, to get food, to get on their phone and it will most likely be in the worst possible spot ever!  They will however put on their hazards to let you know they are stopped.  You will always have to get into the other lane, so you have to constantly be paying attention.  No playing on your phone or with the radio or turning around to kindly tell your children to stop fighting.   Not only do you have to watch for this on the left hand side, but if you are on a 4 lane road, you have to watch for those turning right in the right lane, because there are no turn lanes either.  (Well, there are some, but not always).  

It's literally a constant frogger game. 

 I was once behind an old man, who decided he need to pull over to the left, on a curve, put on his hazard, only to get out and walk across the street to a vending machine!  I guess if you're thirsty, you pull over.  

And since there are no parking lots, the sidewalks become a place to park.  Literally all of the sidewalks have flat spots in the curb, so that you can pull up onto the sidewalk to get out of the way.

Here's a good picture of a car on the sidewalk and one pulled over 

(notice the mini shoulder, which a lot of cars fit into).

There is a law that you must have your child in a car seat or seat belt, but this will never be enforced and you will see kids bouncing around the inside of a car like they're playing on a trampoline.  Also, infant car seats in the front seat is ok!

Merge.  What is that?

Okinawans do not know how to merge.  We were even told this at our drivers test.  They will come to a complete stop when they need to merge and you will be frustrated because they could have merged 10x already!

All cars make the beeping sound when backing up.

If an Okinawan turns on their headlights by the time the sun has gone down, count yourself lucky.  No cars (that I know of) have daytime running lights.  If it gets dark, you have to remember to turn your lights on.  If it's raining, they will not turn their lights on either and a friend even told me that she was flashed a couple of times to let her know her lights were on during the day.  

Like in CA, there are a lot of mopeds and motorcycles.  They will always speed up between you and another car, so you have to be paying attention.

This is a postman.  There are a lot of other businesses that use mopeds for delivery too, like Domino's down the street.  

Driving gloves are very popular here.  I will see a lot of people wearing them.  Maybe I should try them out.  Long gloves are very popular here for keeping the sun off of you.  Only women wear them and I why wouldn't you need full arm driving gloves too?!

(Photo of arm savers - I don't even know what to call them.)

You must always be looking for kids when driving.  They will just run out into the street, at crosswalks, and will let you know they're  crossing by holding up their hand.  They've been doing this since they were born, I think.  We have witnessed 3 year olds walking down the street by themselves - and I am serious about that!

Driving in Okinawa is always an experience! 

September OIWC Luncheon

"Bringing the world closer one women at a time."

The Okinawa International Women's Club is an organization made up of women from all over the world who gather at monthly events to promote friendship and cultural exchange while at the same time raising funds and awareness for different charities all over the Pacific Realm.  The OIWC is a non-profit organization that has been around for 60 years.  In those years, the organization has donated food, clothing, money and many other items to those in need.

I decided the best way to immerse myself into the Japanese culture would be to join or attend as many groups as possible.  I am taking a week long language class next week and yesterday I attending my first Okinawa International Women's Club luncheon.  They urged you to wear a Yukata (summer kimono).  A lot of the local stores carry them and there are actually lots of accessories to go along with them.   I only purchased what they lady told me to buy (numbers 1, 2, 3, and 6).  There were some beautiful yukatas and the one I really wanted was 17, 400 Yen ($155), which was for the yuk at and Obi only, but I figured I would probably only wear this a couple of times, so I opted for a much cheaper one.  

 I arrived an hour and a half early to get in line for help getting dressed.  There were about 10 Japanese ladies helping us put these all together.  The yuk at is super long, but they hike it all up and fold in down with the kosihomo ties.  My bow was remade, but they would tie your obi if you needed made into a bow.

You were supposed to wear your hair up off of your neck and lots of other women had really pretty bows and flowers in their hair.

I know my scoliosis is bad, but every so often I can really see just how off my hips and shoulders are.

I was actually pretty comfortable, but after eating a bit, you could tell it was feeling tighter.

 The meal was brought out and set on a lazy Susan for easy access.

Salad with seafood on top.  

All of the dishes had special names and I wish I would have taken a picture of the menu.

 Sliced chicken over potato salad with mango sauce

 Some kind of fish in tomato sauce.

 Vegetable rice pilaf (in the back, I forgot to get a picture) and ground beef wrapped in chicken with vegetables.  

 Benimo cheesecake and coffee.

 This was our table of ladies.  

 We were entertained by a flower dance and then they taught us all a  dance .

I am looking forward to being placed into a culture group.  Out of all of the members of this group, they try to place you into small groups according to where you live.  They will be made up of half Japanese, half Americans.  You will have fun together, eating out, learning crafts and volunteering in the community.   

Memorial Day Weekend

We tried to be in the water as much as possible during the long weekend.  Shawn got the smallpox vaccine right when we got here and wasn't allowed to get in any water until it healed up.....which took forever!  Friday night after work, we headed back to Camp Courtney (Shawn's base) to do a little snorkeling.  What we didn't know was that it was super rocky and not great for swimming.  The plus side was that all of the rocks house tons of fish!  So it was perfect for snorkeling and I'm pretty sure we'll be going there a lot!

(No pictures because we were having too much fun!)

The kids have been asking to go to the Okinawa Comprehensive Water Park (where the "jackpot playground" is) since we went to the playground.  So, Saturday morning, we headed to the waterpark.  If a waterpark looked like this in the US, I think it would get bad reviews.  Grass and weeds everywhere.  The waterslides are old and dirty.  Everything in Okinawa just seems dingy.  But in an environment like this, I don't see how you could keep up with making everything look good.  There is a huge lazy river, 3 water slides, kiddy area, bridges to connect everything, shaded areas, snack shop and you can rent almost everything there. It cost us around $25 to get in.  Total!  You can't beat that!

 Here comes Amelia down the slide.

 And Caleb.

 The water in the lazy river was so warm it wasn't even refreshing.  I kept trying to get the kids back to the kiddy side where the water was cold.  This mister ball thingy would freeze you out!  It was awesome!

 Kiddy slide.

 Caleb coming down the tube slide.

 Big splash!

 Here comes Amelia. 

 Baby splash :o)

 Sunday after church, we decided to head to Surfer's Point by our house to do some more snorkeling.  The waves were pretty choppy and it wasn't really a great day for it (or maybe it was just the area that day, who knows).

 We walked out on the rocks to try to get a better look at all the tide pools and saw crabs, tiny fish, and sea cucumbers.  We also saw a few jellyfish with no tentacles.  I'm not sure if they can still sting you, but we decided it was time to go.  

(Not to mention, our friends' little girl got stung by a jellyfish here - I didn't mention that to the kids).  

 Sea cucumber.

Almost everyone here likes to go to the beaches that have nets around them.  I didn't know what that meant until someone mentioned the jellyfish, which I guess are bad there.  The nets keep the jellyfish out of the swimming areas. Also, the box jellyfish is like the most poisonous thing on earth and they inhabit the waters here.  (I might be exaggerating a little bit, but they say if you don't seek immediate medical attention, you might die, so....).

We're going to try not to be afraid and still get in the water as much as possible.

Bulls on the Beach

It's not everyday you get to see bulls being walked on the beach!

Bullfighting is a very big sport here and they treat their bulls like pets.  We had heard they walk them around town, like you would a dog, but until this night, we had never seen it.  

 They were even throwing kids up on top of them to give them rides.  We opted to stay out of the way!

 Taking the bull for a swim.

If you'd like to read about the bullfighting here, check out this website.  We hope to go see one in October.

okinawa-bullfighting-ushiorase

Weekend Before School Starts

Shawn found out that there was a FC Ryuku soccer game the Saturday before school started.  We couldn't really find any info about it, so I posted it on the OkiPeeps Facebook page and everyone started responding that it was free for US citizens that night.  A free soccer game?  We changed out clothes and headed out the door!

 A rainbow appeared just as the game started. 

 They had cheerleaders and dancers and their mascot is the whale shark.

 We got poured on for a few minutes, but it felt really nice.

 We had a great time and I'm really glad we went.  I'm sure it won't be our last one!

On the way home, we turned the corner to get to our house and saw some Eisa dancers.  We hurried up and parked the car to get out and see what it was all about.

This same weekend was Obon.  We had been hearing about Obon since before we moved here.  I found an article that I have just copied and pasted for you to read.

OKINAWA, Japan -- Americans living and working in Okinawa will notice a change in the atmosphere during a few days in mid-August, as normally-packed local businesses and restaurants are idle, yet the streets have more traffic than usual as families take their special annual commute. The first couple of days are quiet, then on the evening of the third, tight-knit communities become electric with song and dance as the observance of Obon draws to a close. Obon is one of the most sacred traditions many of the almost one-and-a-half million people here celebrate.

Deeply rooted in Buddhist history, the Okinawan observance of Obon runs from 13-15 July on the traditional lunar calendar, which corresponds to around a month later on the Gregorian one. During Obon, families invite ancestral spirits to visit their homes, and it is very important as a time when people celebrate together before their kins’ spirits return to the other world. The eldest living sons’ households maintain the Butsudan altar, so many families will travel throughout the three days: Unkeh, Nakabi, and Ukui as the “welcoming, middle” and “seeing-off” days, respectively.

Obon concludes with the impassioned singing, dancing and playing of Eisa groups performing throughout their towns and villages. Every community has unique customs and traditions, but generally the groups will march through the streets as families gather to bid their ancestors’ spirits a farewell until the next year. During this final Ukui evening and late into the night, Eisa will add to the celebration and many people will gather in their central crossroads, so be aware of the activity and if observing, ensure to be properly respectful of the tradition.

During Obon, be mindful to show respect for those honoring their tradition and ensure your actions are in keeping as members of our shared Okinawan community. Understand that many local restaurants and businesses will be closed during these three days, and that there will be increased traffic as families are travelling to share this season with their relatives all across the island – use the opportunity to learn more about unique Okinawan customs and traditions such as Obon.

On Friday night we could hear the drums and singing while sitting out on our patio, so we were pretty excited to actually see them on Saturday night - and so close to our house.  

One of them let Amelia beat on the drum.  I didn't take to many pictures, but I did take lots of videos.  It is probably one of the coolest things to see!

Shawn had to go into work Sunday after church, so the kids and I took a bike ride to the beach.  

 Another rainbow. 

We see rainbows a lot here.

 On our way back, again just around the corner from our house, we saw more Eisa dancers.   There were no drums this time, just men dancing.  We followed them, along with a lot of other neighbors, for awhile.  

If you want to hear what they sound like or see their dances, you can google or youtube it and find some there.  It is pretty awesome!