We went into Naha yesterday to finally explore a little of Okinawa.
It was pouring rain.
The roads here are different than the states, they are made from crushed up coral. When it rains, the coral becomes extremely slick and roads get dangerous. We probably should have stayed home and waited for a better day, but of course we didn't.
We took a city bus down to Naha which was an experience all in itself, the bus system is so confusing! But we made it and it was the best day ever.
We went and explored kokusaidori street, which is basically a huge shopping strip, similar to a boardwalk minus the beach, that has everything from fish markets to gift shops.
I had no idea that the japanese people loved americans so much. I was with a friend outside a shop and a group of young japanese men saw us and came over armed with cameras. They took tons of pictures of us and with us. They didnt speak any english but somehow we were all laughing the whole time. The most in depth conversation we had consisted of "soccer? japan! japan!" we cheered back and that seemed to be the response they were looking for.
One of the many times we got lost we wandered into a local restaurant that was the size of a large walk in closet. there was one man in there besides the chef, and there were no menus. They spoke very little english so our conversation consisted of pointing at pictures of food and bowing a lot. One of the girls pointed at the other man's food and said "I want that please" to order and the man thought she wanted his half eaten rice dish. He started to hand it to her before we realized what was happening. We managed to convey she didn't want HIS, just one like his. I am still not positive what we ate but it was amazing. Our chef was the cutest old man I have ever seen and he was so excited to have americans in his restaurant. One again we were asked to be in pictures (for his facebook) with one request: we must make the peace sign. Next, the other man in the restaurant wanted pictures of us for his facebook. Basically, we are almost japanese facebook celeberties at this point After lunch the chef serenaded us with his guitar in japanese and gave us cupons for next time.
When we went into a clothing shop two small japanese children came over to us and tried to talk to us. they spoke zero english, but seemed captivated by the fact we were american. they kept giggling and laughing whenever we tried to talk to them and they would answer in japanese. We figured out the girl was 7 and the boy was 5. Since we couldn't communicate yet they clearly wanted to interact with us, we spent about 15 minutes high fiving, fist bumping, blowing up the fist bump, and making silly faces at each other. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life. They look us back to meet their parents who were in a completely different section of the store and they were so kind as well. Once again, a lot of pointing and bowing.
One of the best things about being here is everyone is so kind, trusting, and helpful. Many stores are left unattended, children run around far from their parents, and people help strangers. The trust they have in each other is inspiring. I am so used to stranger danger, metal detectors, and kids on leashes it's almost foreign to me to be so trusting. In america we automatically assume the worst in others, here is the exact opposite. I've never felt so safe in a place where I know no one.
The other thing that became so apparent yesterday is that laughter is the universal language. I can speak a total of three phrases in Japanese, yet I was interacting with people all day. We were laughing and pointing and miming. They were the best conversations I've ever had and they didn't even include words. I will post pictures soon of our day in Naha, but if you're on facebook you can see most there.
Tomorrow is my first day at the center with camp and I couldn't be more excited. My name is now Miss Bumblebee and we have 57 kids registered for camp. I'll update soon to share how it is!
Much love
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