JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

On April 19 we lost one of our beloved pets, Twinkie. She was a mutt that had been part of our family for thirteen years. It was a difficult loss, but we knew it was her time. We have another mutt, Kato who is three. We all took some time to adjust to life without Twinkie. Around July 13, we decided it was time to adopt another pet so Kato would have a play mate. We went to Karing Kennels and found the absolutely most perfect match for Kato’s character. So, we adopted the six week old mutt. For the past few days our neighbor, who has two boys, has been eyeballing the pup. Yesterday, he was brave enough to talk to my husband about how adorable he found our new addition, Jaco. (It seems their puppy died while taking a walk.) My husband told him where they could find puppies for adoption. This morning at 8a.m. and 10a.m. I saw the man standing near our front porch, eyeballing Jaco again. It has raised a “red flag” in my consciousness. I find it a little alarming that the neighbor is so enamored with the pup that it has obviously become an object of desire. The only question that remains is will the neighbor act on the desire?

Each year the military bases try to hold “open-house” festivals to help promote friendship and sharing between the local and military communities. This year the weather just hasn’t been very cooperative. Almost every one of the scheduled festivals has had to be cancelled or postponed due to typhoons or thunderstorms. Luckily, last weekend Camp Kinser was able to hold a rescheduled Kinser friendship Fest. These festivals are especially important during this time of year because summer break for Japanese students usually begins at the end of July. The celebrations bring a much needed release for the pent-up energy of the vacationers. They also provide a brief break for the parents. And everyone usually has a good time with the limited exploration of the “unknown” territory of a military base.

With Obon approaching, I am reminded of the first time I helped my mother-in-law with setting-up the dinner table. Coming from the U.S., I am accustomed to having a dinner napkin as part of the dining set-up. Well, my mother-in-law handed me the usual paraphernalia associated with Japanese dining, a bowl of rice, chopsticks, and tea. I was setting the table, when she called for me from the kitchen. I had placed the rice and tea on the table, but didn’t know where to place the chopsticks. Since a napkin wasn’t available and I didn’t want to place the chopsticks directly on the dining table, I quickly stuck them in the rice and returned to the kitchen to further assist my mother-in-law. Then next thing I knew, there was a loud exclamation of shock being exuded by my father-in-law, who had entered the dining room. The loud yelp was immediately followed by a roaring burst of laughter from my mother-in-law who had gone to find-out what the problem was. My husband came running into the kitchen quickly explaining that the manner in which I had placed the chopsticks in the rice bowl was reserved for honoring deceased ancestors during Obon and funeral ceremonies. With the locals being as superstitious as they are, my father-in-law was totally stunned when he saw his rice. Needless to say, I have never made that mistake again.

In the summertime, one of the first mistakes new people to Okinawa make is looking for the ice cream truck. I remember my first summer here. My sister and I were on base and thought we heard the familiar sound of the bells of a neighborhood ice cream truck. Quickly, we gathered our change and went running in the direction where the sound was coming from. We looked everywhere, trying to get a little break from the summer heat. When we finally did find the truck, it ended-up being the local garbage truck. We gave each other a blank stare and disappointedly returned home, laughing all the way!

It’s August on Okinawa! This is the time of year when summer hits its full swing. Go outside at 10a.m. and you’ll walk into a wall of heat and humidity. It’s also the time of year when the night fills with sounds of Eisa drums in preparation for Obon. The drums are one of the more endearing and interesting facets of the Ryukyu culture. Almost every foreigner is fascinated by the energy and rhythm of the beat of the Okinawan Eisa drum. Thirty years ago, I wanted to learn to play the Eisa drum, but at that time, women were limited to the role of dancer. Fortunately times change and now there are programs available that allow foreigners to join-in on the annual Obon Eisa festivities. The new system also allows females to participate as drummers!

As civilized humans, most of us are raised to believe that it is the “high road” to ignore or be polite to other people’s rudeness. But what happens when you live in a society where it is expected? You end-up with a percentage of the population exploiting the good heartedness of those who follow the rule. Yesterday was a good example of this observation. We were experiencing one of the most beautiful summer days we have had in a while. While driving down the main strip in Mihama, a local female pulled out of a side parking lot into the middle of the oncoming traffic. I don’t know where she thought she was going to go. The traffic in the lane going the opposite direction was stacked-up and at a total stop. Instead of backing up and waiting for a clearance, she just sat there in the middle of our lane, blocking us and all the traffic behind us. As she sat there, all she did was flash a smile in our direction. This in itself was irritating, but within the next five minutes and four blocks two more local females pulled their cars halfway into the oncoming traffic lane, all the while just sitting there with smiles on their faces. It is almost as if they were saying, “I’m smiling so you have to excuse my rudeness!” It got so ridiculous even my husband, an Okinawan, stated “What is wrong with these women? They just sit there with smiles on their faces, every single one of them!” Has the belief that the recipient is suppose to take the “high road” given rise to a smile as the passport to rudeness on Okinawa?

On Okinawa, it isn’t uncommon for people to let their dogs run loose at night or early morning. These people do so to let the pets relieve their selves in someone else’s yard. This is one on the laziest and rudest behaviors a neighbor can perform. Because of the sub-tropic climate, most home owners spend quite a bit of time on yard work. It isn’t very amusing to have someone else’s pet dump on your clean yard. Many of the locals use pets as nothing more than status symbols. We have one neighbor that has two very beautiful and energetic black Labs. These poor animals are kept on extremely short chains on a concrete carport. Very seldom are the animals taken off the chains, and when the animals are it’s the situation I talked about earlier. If someone can’t take the time to care for an animal properly, they should really consider getting a robot pet!!!

We had a mild earthquake, 6.4, a couple of days ago. This actually was stronger than usual. Earthquakes, no matter how small, always send my heart racing. ( I was in the Alaska earthquake in the early ’60s.) Whenever we have a “tremor”, it reminds me of my first week on island. There we were, living in a Quonset hut. A typhoon was hitting the island. An earthquake hit as well. And to top things off, there was a murder of a babysitter on Kadena. Police dogs tracked the suspect through the empty hut next to ours. All I could remember thinking was, “what kind of place have you brought us to Dad!” Luckily, tremors are rare and murders even rarer. Typhoons are just a part of the yearly cycle and usually not that bad, at least not anything like Typhoon Pamela (May, 1976) which totally demolished Guam. And you guessed it, I was there!!!

Okinawans have a saying, “Once we have talked, we are friends.” The saying itself is a nice sentiment, but is it a romanticized idea. In my many years of experience, I do not think I have seen a relationship between S.O.F.A. status personnel and locals that doesn’t include some form of monetary benefit. Whether it is the ever-smiling and “enthusiastic” local girls squeezing a few free drinks from hard-up and lonely G.I.s or the ongoing “friendship” that includes a favor entailing the use of a few base privileges. The local idea of friendship is primarily a business relationship masked as friendly banter between persons of two cultures. I honestly ask if you are a S.O.F.A. status person who does have a friendly relationship with a local that never included the use of any base facility or privilege, please let me know. I would love to hear your story.