9:54 – Boarding the plane to Okinawa, woo!!! Everyone pretty
much got here at a reasonable time except for two people – Hannah and Tom.
Hannah is a bit lax in her participation so that’s that, but Tom literally has
an issue with timeliness and can at times seem rather dense. But,
unfortunately, despite our program coordinator’s distinct instructions stating
not to go to Narita Airport but to Haneda and the various text messages giving
precise directions as to getting to said airport, he STILL went to the wrong
place and he is still trying to come along with the group . . . by buying
himself a ticket . . . that’s more expensive than the entire trip itself. So
sad. But aside from those mishaps, look what I saw from the plane . . . MOUNT FUJI!!!
13:45 – We have successfully arrived in Okinawa and are
currently at Shuri Castle – home of the Ryukyu Kingdoms’ ancient capital.
Before it was claimed as a prefecture of Japan, Okinawa was its own separate independent
country. Shuri Castle, a World Heritage site, has a sizable layout with
buildings influenced, in part, by both Japanese and Chinese architectural characteristics
and had many beautiful views from the highest points on its grounds. It was
destroyed after the Battle of Okinawa but restored later in 1992.
16:45 – Our next activity led us to a local community center
a short distance from the castle where we took sanshin [三線｜さんしん]
lessons. This marks opportunity #2 for me to learn a traditional (Okinawan) instrument.
And, not to brag, but I was pretty good at it! As a group we sounded so cool in
spite of our only having been learning for an hour. It was outrageously fun and
that instrument only costs about $200!!!! I’d buy one in a heartbeat if I had
the time to learn, practice and be capable of tuning it (I was never very good
at such things when I played the violin). I had such a good time reading music
again and even though it was in a different format (top to bottom and right to
left – the way books are read in Japan) I still figured it out and it really
lifted my spirits after a day of trudging through a sea of humidity (Okinawa
was super freaking hot!).
~20:00 – After we made it to our hotel we went out to the
private beach to play in the water for a while. The water is technically off
limits at 18:00 but since we weren’t swimming we were fine until 22:00 when the
beach would close. I took that time to collect some shells and coral and just
enjoy the amazing breeze coming off of the water while everyone else walked at
the water’s edge. Just before we decided to leave the beach our friend Rebekah
was standing very still in the water and something long and black was near her
legs. At first glance no one noticed, thinking maybe it was just some debris
floating along. But its movements seemed too steady, to real and then it dawned
on us . . . IT WAS AN EEL!!! In a loud shriek of fright we all ran away from
the water vowing not to get back into it at night. After gathering our wits
about ourselves a few of us girls chose to take advantage of the free onsen [温泉｜おんせん] located within our hotel.
Now for those of you who do not know what an onsen is, it is
basically a public bath in which you wash your body prior to entering it (much
like you would/should before going into a pool). The interesting thing is you
absolutely cannot wear any clothing inside the bath. It’s birthday suit all
day. Fun right? Especially if you do not know the people you enter the bath
with very well. Of course, after such endeavors we basically knew each other as
best as we ever would. Immersing one’s self into a large pool of warm to steamy
water is the most relaxing feeling ever and I was more than happy to do it
again after a three year hiatus from being in Japan. I highly recommend
participating in this activity if ever you visit Japan because it is much more
soothing than a hot tub and should actually be included in all American health
clubs or whatever places of relaxation we have.
So after all the hilarious girl talk, we left the bath and
gathered up to play Cards Against Humanity which is basically Apples to Apples
but for truly horrible people. All of the responses one could possibly use were
some of the most disgusting and despicable and awful things to say about
certain topics/historical events or people/situations. But we LOVED IT! That was
some of the most fun I’d had in quite some time with a large group of people I consider
friends.
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