JAWing On – Life on Okinawa

Weekly Hogen (Okinawan Dialect) :

English – pumpkin

Japanese – kabocha?(????)

Hogen – chinkuwaa?(?????)

Wednesday January 18, 2006 [C(10/365) D(5/365) LW(12/365)]

January 2006 Total:
S-sunny (3/365) C-cloudy (10/365) PC-partly cloudy (5/365)
D-drizzle (5/365)
W-windy (5/365) LW-light winds (12/365)

This Year�s (June 3, 2005 – June 2, 2006) Total:
S- sunny (38/365) C-cloudy (76/365) PC-partly cloudy (116/365)
D-drizzle (21/365) R-rainy (8/365) SR-scattered rain showers (21/365)
W-windy (74/365) LW-light winds (120/365) VW-very windy (6/365)
H-humid (68/365) SH-slightly humid (82/365)

It’s been a while since I’ve written about goings-on in the local music scene. There are two items of interest this week. First, a prerecorded radio interview by Nakao Akira with the members of JET will air on Saturday 21 January at 5:00 p.m. The Japanese language interview will be broadcast on the RBC AM radio station 738 program Okinawa Jikan. Second, the former lead singer of Marie with Medusa, Marie, opened a new place on B.C. Street. Although I haven’t been there personally, I have been told it is a compact-size club with a piano bar type of atmosphere. So if you get the chance, check these two happenings out.

Tuesday January 17, 2006 [PC(5/365) LW(11/365)]

January 2006 Total:
S-sunny (3/365) C-cloudy (9/365) PC-partly cloudy (5/365)
D-drizzle (4/365)
W-windy (5/365) LW-light winds (11/365)

This Year�s (June 3, 2005 – June 2, 2006) Total:
S- sunny (38/365) C-cloudy (75/365) PC-partly cloudy (116/365)
D-drizzle (20/365) R-rainy (8/365) SR-scattered rain showers (21/365)
W-windy (74/365) LW-light winds (119/365) VW-very windy (6/365)
H-humid (68/365) SH-slightly humid (82/365)

As I was doing research for one of my other sites, I ran across this English language website that has many interesting articles on current trends that are occurring in the lives of young Japanese yuppies (Juppies?). Although the site pertains to mainland Japan, it probably won’t be long before we begin to see some of the trends trickle down to us on Okinawa.

Monday January 16, 2006 [C(9/365) LW(10/365)]

January 2006 Total:
S-sunny (3/365) C-cloudy (9/365) PC-partly cloudy (4/365)
D-drizzle (4/365)
W-windy (5/365) LW-light winds (10/365)

This Year�s (June 3, 2005 – June 2, 2006) Total:
S- sunny (38/365) C-cloudy (75/365) PC-partly cloudy (115/365)
D-drizzle (20/365) R-rainy (8/365) SR-scattered rain showers (21/365)
W-windy (74/365) LW-light winds (118/365) VW-very windy (6/365)
H-humid (68/365) SH-slightly humid (82/365)

Sunday January 15, 2006 [C(8/365)]

January 2006 Total:
S-sunny (3/365) C-cloudy (8/365) PC-partly cloudy (4/365)
D-drizzle (4/365)
W-windy (5/365) LW-light winds (9/365)

This Year�s (June 3, 2005 – June 2, 2006) Total:
S- sunny (38/365) C-cloudy (74/365) PC-partly cloudy (115/365)
D-drizzle (20/365) R-rainy (8/365) SR-scattered rain showers (21/365)
W-windy (74/365) LW-light winds (117/365) VW-very windy (6/365)
H-humid (68/365) SH-slightly humid (82/365)

Last year I suggested that it would be nice if Oprah did a daily thirty-minute broadcast of selfless people who were trying to make a difference in their communities, if she could find enough people who fit that description that is. In a world where it sometimes feels like everyone is out only for their own good, it isn’t always easy to remember that these people do exist. This weekend, as I was going home from the club, I just happened to see one of these very seldom recognized people. What made this person, someone I do not know and probably will never cross paths with, so special is not only was the act that he was performing selfless it was breaking down stereotypes. Anyone who has seen Gate 2 Street early Saturday or Sunday mornings is well aware of the surmountable trash that is deposited by the previous night’s party-goers. Yet early Saturday morning a young GI was out on the street wielding a garbage bag in his left hand and a large tong in the right. Dressed in camouflaged hip-hop ware, he went quietly along the street picking up what others so indiscreetly tossed about in every crook and cranny. If I had not been in a car driving down the other side of the road, I would have told him “Thank you for your efforts. Right now in this chaotic world we need more people like you.”

Saturday January 14, 2006 [S(3/365) W(5/365)]

January 2006 Total:
S-sunny (3/365) C-cloudy (7/365) PC-partly cloudy (4/365)
D-drizzle (4/365)
W-windy (5/365) LW-light winds (9/365)

This Year�s (June 3, 2005 – June 2, 2006) Total:
S- sunny (38/365) C-cloudy (73/365) PC-partly cloudy (115/365)
D-drizzle (20/365) R-rainy (8/365) SR-scattered rain showers (21/365)
W-windy (74/365) LW-light winds (117/365) VW-very windy (6/365)
H-humid (68/365) SH-slightly humid (82/365)