沖縄 Adventures

This past weekend, a few of us decided to spontaneously buy plane tickets to Okinawa. When I came here, I didn't think of Okinawa as a place that would be on my travel list. After this weekend though, I believe if there is any place in "Japan" i would like to move to, it would be Okinawa. It reminds me alot of San Diego, but a foreign country other than Japan at the same time. It has its nice ritzy looking places and its rastafarian worn down places just like SD has LaJolla and Ocean Beach.

The people here are different too. They refer to themselves as Okinawans and they move at their own pace. Some two hundred years ago Okinawa used to be called RyuKyu until Japan took it over, but alot of their original culture still exists. Something about living in a place where the weather allows you to wear shorts while the rest of the country is wearing double layers of jackets might have some affect on the personalities of these people. Though it was only a short weekend, It was great to learn about Okinawa and its people. Its definitely a different side of Japan. While people in the main islands are "go go go" these guys are laid back and seem stress free. Their families are bigger and they never seem to be in a hurry.

Anyway, I really hope that anyone who has the chance to visit Okinawa takes advantage of it. The most expensive part is transportation to get there (200USD). One there, you can find a number of hostels for 12-18USD. The whole trip was a little less than 4,500yen. About $500.

Aquarium with the larges fish ive ever seen!

These things are called Shisa. Every Okinawan home has two of these guarding each door.

Life Aquatic!

Look! You can see other islands depending on what part of the coast you stand on.