My first 2 weeks in the foreign country of Japan..

Top 10 Biggest Adjustments:

1.       Driving on the other side of the road.  Steering wheel on the right…driving on the right...and LEFT turns on red are 3 things that are definitely unnatural to us US drivers.  During the first couple of days in Okinawa, I was terrified of a head on collision...the idea of another car crashing into us wasn’t appealing to me at all.  I also have the habit of going to the driver’s seat whenever I call shotgun which everyone from Okinawa finds amusing.

2.       Chopsticks! I bought a toddler chopstick from the 100 Yen Store. It’s the same kind that parents purchase  for their kids so they can learn them to hold them correctly…I plan on being a professional chopstick user by the end of summer J

3.       Eating sushi and Okinawan Soba.  I’ve had at least 7 of my swim lesson kids tell me that their favorite food is sushi; that’s definitely not something I’m used to hearing from 5 year olds! My first experience with raw food went well. I stuck with some generic crab, shrimp, and some sticky white rice. The Soba was delicious and I successfully maneuvered the chopsticks.

4.       JAPANESE. My vocabulary has expanded to about 5 words. Give me about a month and I’m sure I’ll be fluent ;) However, we LOVE Japanese junk food. The nutrition label isn’t in English so as far as we know, there aren’t any calories.

5.       No shoes, no chairs, good service. I can honestly say that until this week I have never walked into a restaurant and had to take my shoes off at the door…. then proceed to sit on the floor at a child’s size table. The waiter only spoke Japanese but every Okinawan I’ve met so far has been remarkably friendly and helpful.  I feel like Okinawans take much more pride in polite customer service than most places in the US. My experience at the Japanese Starbucks was phenomenal; American Starbucks employees should take note from my man Gjen.

6.       100 SPF sunscreen applied between every 45 minute swim lesson AND still get a sunburn. Needless to say, I’m gonna have some wicked tan lines when I get back to the states. The other day, an Air Force dad came up to me and my extremely fried roommate with a bottle of sunscreen, and the sarcastic greeting of ‘Welcome to Oki.’

7.       Yen. The exchange rate isn’t great but Yen seems more fun to spend than US money. A lot of places in Kadena accept both forms of payment but many off base stores and restaurants only take Yen…I find myself spending Yen much faster than dollars because 100 Yen coins are equal to a little more than a dollar BUT they look like a nickel. It’s very deceiving.

8.       Aquarius and Georgia = my two new favorite drinks. 1 is similar to Gatorade and the other is a canned coffee drink found in all the Japanese soda machines. The rumor is that Georgia puts nicotine in their drinks; I thought it was a myth when I first heard it but now I’m not so sure…

9.       Daily maid service. My roommate and I share a suit at the Shogun Inn and we’ve really become accustomed to our beds getting made and our bathroom towels changed on a daily basis. However, we think Yoko (our maid) get upset with us if we leave our apartment messy because on those days our beds aren’t made when we get back at night. Plus we don’t get mints on our pillows anymore… Slightly disappointing.

10.   Sexy bike helmets. I’m one of those rebel Americans who has never in my entire life used a bike helmet on a regular basis. Obviously my parents didn’t care about my safety but here on Kadena everyone HAS to wear them.  (Police can pull you over for not wearing proper protective head gear.)..watch out Oki, we look goooood in those helmets.

So far my trip to Okinawa has been AMAZING. I’ve explored Kadena Air Base, some beautiful, white sand beaches, downtown Mihama, and even made it up to Okuma for a day. My two co-CampA’s on Kadena and I have ventured far enough on our bikes to cause us enough physical pain to require a day off the pedals, and felt the burn at a kickboxing class while being shown up by all the military wives. I put on flippers and rocked some goggles while snorkeling off a boat in the Pacific Ocean, and even got whipped off of a banana boat into the salty water at Okuma Beach. I jumped off a kayak into an ocean scenery that looked like something out of Gilligan’s Island. My diet has included some items that I never dreamed I would try…sushi doesn’t seem quite so foreign now, and I even tried some Japanese Mexican food which I didn’t even think existed. We celebrated a 21st birthday in a place where the legal drinking age is 20 by breakfasting at dunkin' donuts, dining on delicious seafood, and heading to Yogurtland for icecream rather than a bar for drinks. I have bought groceries at the Commissary, shopped at the BX, and entertained some military kids at Kadena’s ‘Splash-tacular.’  The last 2 weeks have been incredible, and I can’t wait to find out what else Okinawa has in store for me! Sayonara for now!