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.

Living in Asia as a Western women can have its trying times. One of the more common ways it can be trying is when men think you agree with the typical Asian bar practice of accepting obnoxious behavior for money or drinks. Asian men do everything they can to promote this demeaning behavior as the “acceptable” manner in which women should act. Western men eat it up! I’m not a women libber, but I do think that the only time that gender matters is when a person is looking for a mate. Other than that, people are people (male or female- no matter what race, nationality, or social status). I don’t judge people by how much money they try to throw at me, but by their actions! (And trying to throw money at me is not an attractive behavior.) In Asia, Western men loose track of this simple, but basic, standard. The most common way to attack the nonaccepting female is with, “If that’s how you want to conduct business!” To me business is more than just the bottom line. It entails the type of people and the practices one deems as acceptable to set the tone of a business. Here are some things these “men” should consider ( since they seem to be without a partner for the night):

1) The old adage of “sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll” is a dinosaur. Anyone who hangs-on to that belief is not worth the trouble of knowing – being associated with that type of person gives a one nothing but excuses and grief !
2) If you are flirting with me you must be pretty hard-up!!! (I’m not being self-deprecating but realistic-I’m 48 years old and my husband of thirty years owns and works at the same club!)
3) Maybe you wouldn’t be partnerless if you took a closer look at your attitude and behavior-an obnoxious drunk is not charming nor cute no matter how much money the person has!
4) If you think Asian females don’t understand just how desperate you are, try a Western dutch-style relationship with them (not going to happen!!!!!!).

As a small business operator on a small sub-tropical island, one of the more difficult aspects of operation is the lack of basic supplies. A few times a year, I like to through minor surprise events which require a certain amount of decoration. We have the usual events, Halloween and New Years, and for the past two years I’ve also thrown in the Unofficial Start of Summer Celebration. When trying to order party supplies, I am faced with persons on the other end who lack international procedures. Not everyone is comfortable with using credit card information online, especially with so many security risks. Yet the sales personnel at these companies inevitably get totally confused when trying to organize a system which includes payment by international money order. With globalization through the internet, one would think it to be in the best interest of these companies to review their Standard Operating Procedures and set-up a SOP that includes the market of individuals at companies who prefer not to use credit card info over the net.

The other day the local satellite station was airing “Cocktail” and one of the characters, Brian, said something that reminded me of a question I’ve had for a long time. What Brian says is, “There are two types of people, scammers and workers. Scammers never work and workers never scam.” The question that this brings to mind is would there be such a thing as stinginess without greed? Usually a person is accused of being ungenerous when others persons are expecting something for nothing or more than what they have actually earned. If people only expected what they actually worked for and earned would there be greed? And without greed, would there be a lack of generosity or stinginess?

One of the best things I ever did for my self was getting my first computer five years ago. Life on a sub-tropical island can become pretty monotonous. It was as if a whole new world opened before my very eyes. One problem though was the lack of English language system support on the island. Somehow, my husband and I were able to stumble through all the novice mistakes without too much chaos. With the beginner’s bug at me, I decided to try my hand at a website. Now, with the help of the internet, I am finally beginning to learn html, css, and a virtual cornucopia of new terminology and techniques. I don’t know how I ever lived without a computer all those years!!!

One of my favorite times of the year is Okinawa in the middle of the night during summer. We are lucky enough to live on a hill with a decent view of the ocean from our balcony. In the middle of the night, at about 2 or 3 in the morning, there is usually a light breeze blowing away the heaviness of the humidity. A few cars are still rushing by the house, but not so many that the smell of gas fumes becomes obnoxious (which happens in the daytime). Every once in a while a fruit bat glides past a nearby tree. The lights from across the bay gleam and the stars in the sky twinkle. It is a very peaceful, but not dead quiet, time when a person can sit and let all of their thoughts just wander undisturbed. This is the time of year that Okinawan island life is at its best.

It’s July on Okinawa, which means it’s Summer Cold time! The humidity reaches such a high level that you literally need baby powder just to keep your clothes from sticking to you. Anyone from the Carolinas would feel perfectly at home here. In order to beat the heat/humidity combo, air conditioners are going at full capacity. Running in and out of the overly-temperate air conditioned buildings and contrasting that with the 90 plus heat always leads to the summer cold. Usually, I’m lucky enough to beat that dreaded illness until late in the season. But not this year, I got wiped out first round and have been spending the last few days putting lots of pocket money in the tissue companies’ owners’ pockets. The only thing good about it is that I know I won’t have to worry about catching it next month, when the heat/humidity reaches close to 100 degrees. So for now, I’ll keep my handy tissue box and trash can close at hand.

Question: How do you know you’ve probably lived somewhere a little too long?
Answer: You were there before McDonald’s!!!

It’s true; I was on Okinawa before McDonald’s, literally. I remember the first McD to hit island. It was in 1975 and located in Makimimato, or as it was known at that time Machinato. Back then, Okinawa was mainly a staging area for Vietnam and there weren’t that many dependents. However, both my father and uncle, along with his family, were stationed here. The yen rate was 365 to the dollar, most bases had limited recreational facilities, and the majority of people went off base for entertainment. There were no fast food chains on base, at that time. So when McDonald’s came to the island, all of us (father, uncle and families) headed for the Golden Arches. The parking lot was a sea of Americans. There was a half-hour wait, at the very least, just to get in the doors. Everyone wanted to get a little taste of home!!!

Oh yes it’s summertime on Okinawa! True to form the typhoon season is threatening a postponement of the Peaceful Love Rock Festival. The only reason it’s held during one of the hottest months is because prior records showed that typhoons normally don’t strike the island in July. As if previous records matter two, not one, of the blow-hards are lurking at our door (one on each side of the island). For now, there is the saving grace of a high air pressure system hanging over us and fending off at least one of the massive wind systems.