Okinawa
Question: In Japan, the school year runs from April to March. How long a break do students get between one school year and the next?
Answer: A weekend. End 4th grade on Friday, start 5th grade on Monday.
So the fact that I had a full week off from work without any classes means I had an obscenely long vacation.
For 5 of my 7 days off, I was in Okinawa. It was a gorgeous, gorgeous place. Certainly the absence of screaming, crying, crotch-poking kids had a lot to do with the solace I found there. But even so, absolutely nothing went wrong on the trip. The weather - which up to a day before my travels was going to be rain, according to the forecasts - was splendid. Sunny, mid-to-upper 70s in the day. Night time was a very pleasant 65. The water was clear. The coral beaches were gorgeous.
The food was great. Okinawans have some local specialties, which were all delicious. The local beer, Orion, was much better than the beer drunk on Honshu (where I live). The people were very nice. Sure, just about all Japanese people put on a smiley, friendly face, but there was a level of genuineness to the smiles in Okinawa I normally don't see.
Their Japanese accents were - as advertised - very different from what I am used to hearing. For example, to ask someone to wait a moment, you say, "Chotte matte, kudasai." In Okinawa, that turned to, "Choshi mashi, kudashai."
Made it to the famous castle in Okinawa - Shuri-jo. That was pretty cool. Easily the castle I have most liked since arriving in Japan.
Most regions in Japan have statues which are pretty prevalent. They appear on rooftops, in doorways, on bridges, most anywhere a protective and/or welcoming statue can go.
Okinawa has Shisa. When asked what kind of animal Shisa is, no one's quite sure. Something between a dog, a lion, and a reptile.
The hotel I stayed in had an arcade room. Straight out of Lost in Translation, I played the drum-banging game. I also got to use my American size on a game calibrated for the Japanese size. Not too hard to see why I placed 2nd and 4th on the all-time leader board for this game.
All in all, an absolutely wonderful few days. Back to real life now, though. But it's spring time. The cherry trees are blossoming - pictures to come.
Happy Passover.
Answer: A weekend. End 4th grade on Friday, start 5th grade on Monday.
So the fact that I had a full week off from work without any classes means I had an obscenely long vacation.
For 5 of my 7 days off, I was in Okinawa. It was a gorgeous, gorgeous place. Certainly the absence of screaming, crying, crotch-poking kids had a lot to do with the solace I found there. But even so, absolutely nothing went wrong on the trip. The weather - which up to a day before my travels was going to be rain, according to the forecasts - was splendid. Sunny, mid-to-upper 70s in the day. Night time was a very pleasant 65. The water was clear. The coral beaches were gorgeous.
The food was great. Okinawans have some local specialties, which were all delicious. The local beer, Orion, was much better than the beer drunk on Honshu (where I live). The people were very nice. Sure, just about all Japanese people put on a smiley, friendly face, but there was a level of genuineness to the smiles in Okinawa I normally don't see.
Their Japanese accents were - as advertised - very different from what I am used to hearing. For example, to ask someone to wait a moment, you say, "Chotte matte, kudasai." In Okinawa, that turned to, "Choshi mashi, kudashai."
Made it to the famous castle in Okinawa - Shuri-jo. That was pretty cool. Easily the castle I have most liked since arriving in Japan.
Most regions in Japan have statues which are pretty prevalent. They appear on rooftops, in doorways, on bridges, most anywhere a protective and/or welcoming statue can go.
Okinawa has Shisa. When asked what kind of animal Shisa is, no one's quite sure. Something between a dog, a lion, and a reptile.
The hotel I stayed in had an arcade room. Straight out of Lost in Translation, I played the drum-banging game. I also got to use my American size on a game calibrated for the Japanese size. Not too hard to see why I placed 2nd and 4th on the all-time leader board for this game.
All in all, an absolutely wonderful few days. Back to real life now, though. But it's spring time. The cherry trees are blossoming - pictures to come.
Happy Passover.
posted by David at 11:21 AM
1 Comments:
I've been to Okinawa; it's only 1.25 hour flight from Taiwan so a nice little weekend getaway for Taiwanese people. If I remember correctly, it was part of China not too long ago (siezed by Japan in 1879). Therefore, many of the tamples are in Chinese style (lots of red and gold) with Chinese writing and decoration. Maybe those animals "Shisa" resembles the guardian lions in Chinese culture? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guardian_lions)
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