JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

It’s mid-August. As summer draws to an end, the 2 to 3 a.m. calm is over taken by the annual onslaught of typhoons that “hit” Okinawa. Although typhoon season officially begins in May, rarely are we seriously affected by a large amount of major storms until the end of summer. Then we are hit with a barrage of medium to large systems until November. Yesterday we jumped from the “normal condition” watch to “it’s beginning to hit us” within a matter of minutes. The local weather bureau wasn’t even expecting any affect from the current system at all. For newbies, it can be a little daunting. But for the old timers, howling winds and dancing trees are just another part of life on Okinawa.