As an American in Okinawa

As an American in Okinawa, Japan

When I think of the people from each country that I have lived in or visited I find myself thinking that they are extremely nice to me.  They go out of their way to make this foreigner feel comfortable.  Well, the people in Okinawa, Japan are by far the most genuinely nice that I've met.  They are nice in a different way than any other cultures engage others.  They take intense pride in being kind to others.  From my point of view I was wondering if they wanted if they wanted a tip or something after doing a good deed.  I was just taken aback quite a bit while I was there.  As far as ever leaving a tip for them, say, at a restaurant, forget it.  They take that as an extreme insult and cut your arm off with a katana!  They're that nice.  I'm serious. 

One such story takes place on the day that I was leaving.  The fact that I was in a busy airport and they weren't going to ever see me again is what makes this story so shocking to me.  I got my ticket from Naha, Okinawa to Tokyo and then L.A., but that was it.  The desk clerk told me I would have to have get the rest of my tickets when I landed in the crazy LAX airport.  I wasn't too happy about that because I was still new at flying by myself and LAX is the size of Disneyland, only instead of a princesses, clowns, and some roller coasters rides it has gypsies, con artists, and buses that try to run you down.  I said "Whatev" and went through to catch my flight.  After I took my seat and the doors were about to close, a stewardess found me in my seat and handed me the tickets all the way home to Louisville, Kentucky.  The only thing I think that could have happened is that they saw the disappointment on my face when they originally said they I would have to get the rest of the tickets in LAX.  Wow!  What?  I was dumbfounded.  Up till that point, all I saw from any airport staff was some everyday kindness with the attitude of processing people in and out.  

I have to throw in the fact that I was one of thousands of U.S. Marines occupying the island, as Marines have since WWII.  The Okinawans have dealt with the good, bad, and the ugly of us over the 6 decades that we were there.  The whole time I was there I was only directly shunned once.  That was the time I was kicked out as soon as I entered a photo shop right outside of Camp Hansen.  The man gingerly came out of the back room and got meaner than a hippo on her period when he saw that it was an American.  It was scary.  I later found out that he had problems with Marines getting stupid in his store and supposedly he was close to one of the young girls who was raped on the island a couple years earlier.  

Dating was very difficult for me there.  For one, I just don't have game.  For two, I was 19 years old and it seemed like every girl I met at a club looked 18, but was actually 28 (even after a year I could never guess a girl's age there, so I went around assuming everyone was 10 years older than what I thought).  For three, how do you read someone who has almost no expression on their face most of the time and rarely ever looks you in the eye?  I will say though, that they still showed utmost kindness even while being awkwardly approached by an insecure skinny round-eyed boy.  Kudos to them.  Luckily for me there was a naval and an air force base on the island with equally insecure round-eye girls.

Food there took a little getting used to because it was... you know... healthy.  If I wanted to cheat and go to the JapDonald's then I was going to pay $3 for a hamburger almost as small as a White Castle.  It was a benefit in disguise.  These Okinawans live the longest of anyone in the world for a reason.  They live healthy; especially the older generation, which is a pretty old generation.  I saw or heard of so many people over the century mark or close to it.  The wouldn't hesitate to tell you that its not good for you to smoke or eat McShit.  They said Wendy's was cool to eat though (not really, but I gotta give props to the fresh patty place I love).  Most of them were still practicing some form of martial arts or yoga.  Just being around them made me feel like I knew absolutely nothing about how life should be lived.    Oh, and I keep calling them Okinawans instead of Japanese because they are about as Japanese as Hawaiians are American.  Okinawans might be  Japanese, but they have a separate set of traditions and culture.  

Overall, I would say that Okinawans would love to have their whole island back, but I only saw a couple instances of rudeness towards us Americans while I was there.  The air there was made up of pride, respect, and peace.  This was in a place where people were stacked on top of each other, it was ok to pee outside (if you were drunk outside of a bar), they served saké from a jar with an entire dead snake in it, they have sweet potato ice cream,  and there is a spectacular banana show (that you must see).  

All joking aside, this is one place that I wish I could have appreciated more while I was there and I would recommend anyone to go.  I'm basing this off of the fact that the people make the place.

SAYONARA