JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

And sometimes the problem isn’t you, but the sign maker or simply the font used that creates confusion!

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One of the interesting facets of life on Okinawa is the usage of English words applied to that particular culture’s philosophies. Such as this sign:

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I’m not the world’s greatest anything, but every once in a while I actually capture a picture that comes out just the I want it to. Here’s a pic of one of mama’s boys…

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When an adult (say someone over thirty years of age) spends all night partying, drinking, and neglecting the consequences of that behavior seven days a week, do you really think babying is going to help anything? When that person ends up sick, why shouldn’t he or she take responsibility and be held accountable for their own choice to neglect their health?

One aspect of the locals that most foreigners quickly notice is the “enthusiastic” and “fun loving” characteristics projected in almost every situation. But that seems to be one of the more confusing aspects of the culture as well. This animated behavior can be cute in young women up to the mid-twenties. However, the inability to communicate in a straightforward, non-catty manner after that age is less attractive, and almost ridiculous. The fact that this type of behavior is promoted in both men and women well over the age of 30 as “cute” somehow tends to undermine the ability to take anything these types of locals do or say as anything other than nonsense. Is it possible for an entire culture to be “histrionic”?

Former One Wish singer, Nancy , stopped by Live Music Bar JET this past weekend to announce the release of her new solo CD. While there, she belted out her rendition of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain”.

Well it’s official. Although the destruction of the sector of Gate 2 Street that is to house the new music Town project was rescheduled for later this year, rumor had it that Hideaway was to have its grand finale on Saturday and Sunday April, 9 and 10, 2005. Bill, house band O’Rock’s lead singer, stopped over at Live Music Bar JET on Saturday, April 16, to let us know that indeed Hideaway closed its doors for good as of Monday 11 April 2005. And so another chapter in the local music scene begins.

Every year at this time we are caught in the Julian and lunar calendar battle of when spring will actually be upon us. And every year there is a little, but significant, indicator of the actual beginning of springtime. Luckily for the past fifteen years we have been able to reserve a little patch of the true island naturalness in the suburbs of Okinawa City. Despite the constant construction, our own yard still possesses the micro ecology that allows fireflies, dragonflies, baby frogs, lizards, fruit bats, local species of birds, and even a mongoose occasionally frequented our little haven of Okinawan nature. In November each year, as the weather chills, the local birds of prey head south. And every year there are a few stragglers that grace our home with their awesome presence. This year there was a new falcon or hawk, I’m not sure of the exact breed, that provided a daily moment of pleasure as it landed on the electric wiring right outside our front door. The bird was a magnificent specimen of grandeur. As I glazed up with glee at the striking markings and ever-alert eyes, the bird would look down at me as if to say “What do we have here?” It is when these birds no longer visit us daily that I know that the weather has warmed enough to announce the true beginning of spring. To me this is one of the true beauties of life on the island we call Okinawa.

In college I majored in Asian Studies. One of the things we learned is that the local culture tends to adopt systems that meet their needs better than existing systems. In religion that seems to be the adoption of Christianity for many of the locals. However, when one adopts a system to meet needs are they really a true follower or just using the program to get what they want? Given that thought, for people who are raised with the theology does Christianity mean being naive?