7/16 Farewell Miyagi Minshuku, Hello Okinawa Hai Gals!
I’d checked out of Miyagi Minshuku last night and said my goodbyes to the Miyagis and the other guests. For four nights of wonder, breakfast and dinner included, my bill had been 24000 yen, roughly $240.00, a bargain!
Klaus and Lina had set my cell phone alarm for me last night to ring at 6 today, but I woke earlier and was able to turn it off before it went off. I’d told Naomi not to expect me for breakfast, but when I had the car loaded, I knew she’d be up in the kitchen already, so went in to say goodbye one more time. She presented me with a sandwich on French bread she’d made and wrapped in cellophane to take on the road. I was so touched I cried. She also gave me their card with her daughter’s phone number in Sapporo on the back. I hope our school exchange group will go next year and I can call Momoko then. I can’t imagine how fascinating the offspring of Naomi and Masa must be.
I was underway to my friend’s house by 7. She had planned a party day for me and the ladies from Okinawa Hai. I’d been reading their blogs and contributions and entries and seeing their photographs for about two years on the Okinawa Hai site. I was so excited to be meeting the beautiful, smart, funny women and couldn’t wait to get there!
I was going down the west side of the island on 58, which runs along the coast for the most part and had to stop for a photo of a magnificent rainbow. I got back underway and there was another one. Then another!! I think it was a lovely thing to be able to see in the early morning as I left Kunigami and took it to be a good omen.
Part of my directions said to get on the expressway, which I had not ventured onto before. I stopped at the gate and yelled “Sumimasen” to the attendant several lanes over. He smilingly came to my car and helped me with what to do between my Japanese and his bit of English, and I took my ticket to proceed to exit 4, where I paid 700 yen for the quicker ride, worth it, as the trip ended up taking 2 ½ hours in all, even with the expressway.
My friend and I visited and caught up with each other and our past few days and soon she and I and her precious little daughter were off to the base where I would go to the phone store for my phone’s 10 day check up and to the ATM with English for some yen to get me through the next few days, or the end of my trip if I was lucky. We passed the dental clinic, still in the same place as when my mother volunteered there through the Red Cross 35 years ago! We made the turn and I said that I remembered a chapel being at the top of the hill and sure enough, there it was. The PX was exactly where it had been when we lived on this island, except the commissary wasn’t at one end of it and the mall area was more congested with vendors. The theater was right across the street where I remembered it! We took care of business and were off and running to our gathering where I would meet in person some incredible women and their children.
Storm clouds were gathering in earnest by the time we left the base and to say they were black would be an understatement. Those clouds were seriously dark and angry looking, but we were not bothered by them in the least and we proceeded to the little shopping center where we would meet the ladies and have lunch. This would be the first real rain I’d seen since I’d arrived as the only other rain had happened in the evenings at Miyagi Minshuku. A little early, we stopped by the Uni Qlo store, a kind of Japanese Gap my friend told me, where they had really adorable t-shirts and clothes for men, women and children.
I spied some things I wouldn’t mind having, but will have to go back because it was time to go to our restaurant in the same center. We walked across the parking lot, umbrellas open to the rain by then, to our restaurant to find most of the women and their children already there and I had the oddest sensation of seeing celebrities I’ve ever felt. It was really like seeing Hollywood celebrities, as I’d read about these women and their lives and read their stories about all things Okinawan and felt I knew them, even called them by name, and couldn’t believe I was meeting them in person at long last!! My friend had given me a priceless gift and I wonder if she knows how much it means to me. We pretty much took over the tatami room of this little restaurant and that was perfect for our assemblage, as the kiddies were at home and comfy and we could visit and be comfortable, too, and the food was delicious to boot! I had a yummy Okinawan soba and a fried chicken cutlet.
My batteries for my camera chose then to call to be changed, and I’d just changed them the day before AND the day before that and mentioned it to one of the women in attendance with her precious baby and she offered me the use of their battery charger, as I’d fried mine with non-rechargeable batteries back on my second day here. The Japanese batteries I’d bought weren’t lasting any time at all. In addition to offering me the use of her charger, she invited me to dinner at her home where I’d later get to meet her gorgeous 3 year old daughter and her wonderful husband in their lovely home. She prepared a feast, not only delicious, but beautiful, and she and her husband were gracious and generous hosts and I had a wonderful time with them and their girls.
I am truly touched and amazed by being so cared for and taken care of by such lovely people as these Americans so far from home on this little island.
From our restaurant, our group moved on to the wondrous and fabulous 100 Yen Store in the same center!! You might think the 100 Yen Store is like our dollar stores, but it isn’t. The 100 Yen Store is so far superior to a dollar store, you can’t even compare the two and I’m not just saying that because I love all things Japanese. The selection, for one, is vast and varied and there is tons of it. The quality is incredible and I was able to buy all kinds of things to take back that I will appreciate for their value and quality and so will others. These are the kinds of purchases that are fun to make and sure to please. I was able to find everything from Hello Kitty for my girl and her friends and my niece to snacks to a book to practice my hiragana to souvenirs. I’d be in some serious trouble if I lived here and had access to the 100 Yen Store 24/7, but I’d be organized, too, as there is everything in the world for getting and keeping you organized!
Two of the ladies from Okinawa Hai and their children met the rest of us at the 100 Yen Store and these are two ladies who are preparing to leave the island this week to go back to the US. I, a mere reader of their entries, am sad to see them leave, and I can only imagine how much the other women left here will miss them and how much they will miss their friends here on Okinawa. I think there is a special bond, formed quickly by necessity when life can be nomadic, between the wives and families, and the relationships forged can be sustaining in a place where things are so foreign and husbands are often absent in service to our country. It can be difficult when you are always either leaving or being left by your friends. I know that myself. These fabulous “girls” and their beautiful children are close and it is easy to see how much support for each other and affection for each other there is in this group. I sat and just observed this group, chatting away, their children playing together, and I knew I was seeing the definition of friendship and love played out in front of me and I was so happy to be a part of things, even for a little while. Thank you, girls, for coming out with your little ones on a rainy day and allowing me to be a part of your fellowship!!
By the time my friend and I left the store, we were on our own, having shopped a marathon shopping session as I got the tour of the store by a seasoned professional and my friend pointed out things to me I might not have seen and made suggestions only someone who knows could make. She has totally immersed herself in this culture and embraced it and is oriented like a native. I left the 100Yen Store with two big bags of goodies and we wrapped the breakables at the fabulous wrapping station together.
Once done there, if it wasn’t apparent before, it was apparent now, I needed another bag that I could check for the trip home. The two bags I’d brought with me were full when I got here, so my friend took me along to another store she thought would have the suitcase I needed.
We went to a Sanne store and it is a little hard to describe because we don’t have anything I know of in the US to compare it to, like most of the stores here. It is a department store of sorts, but also a supermarket, but also a bakery and a series of restaurants and food vendors.
Once parked, at the top of the escalator, we found a little vendor that sold zen zai, a marvelous concoction of finely shaved ice, topped with those wonderful azuki beans in sweet syrup and then further topped with mochi. My mouth is watering just recalling it and I’m already thinking about where I can get it today!! It is almost cruel to be introduced to something that is that delicious and addictive that I don’t know if I can get anywhere in the states. I’ll have to eat it as much as possible while I’m here and then just go cold turkey when I get home.
My friend patiently and lovingly gave me the tour only professional shoppers can give, going from one department to another. There are clothes of every sort – a professional women’s section with all black, a kimono section, lingerie, children’s, mens, restaurant with artificial food samples in gleaming glass cases sprinkled in among them. There is a section for housewares and linens and we arrived at the luggage area and were able to find a good sized bag on wheels for 7900 yen and I took it, happy to know I could take my things back! Then we went down to the supermarket area where there was gorgeous produce, all kinds of meat and fish and beverages and snacks and essentials and my friend found her favorite version of her favorite cookie and we both bought them!
She had phoned her husband that I needed another international phone card and when we arrived back to her wonderful apartment with its fabulous view and within stone’s throw of the seawall, he was there with my card!! I will never finish thanking this family for everything they mean to me and for everything they’ve done. Her husband had even gotten a bumper sticker, I heart Okinawa, for me that I intend to put on my Honda Pilot as soon as I get home!! Thank you so much for everything.
When I said goodbye there to my friends, I was off with directions to the home of another new friend, the one who’d offered me dinner and the use of her battery charger. The directions were great and I drove right up to her beautiful home in Yomitan. There, I was met by this lovely family and a simply beautiful dinner in their beautiful home. I thoroughly enjoyed our time together and the meal was delicious, a wonderful aromatic soup, mounds of picture perfect sushi, vegetables and seaweed wrapped onigiri she’d made…I had such a lovely time with this family and their two little girls, but tried not to overstay my welcome and said goodnight with a heartful of thanks and the knowledge I’ll get to continue to see them in their great blog!
I drove north on 58, now comfortable with it and how to get to Nakadomari. I don’t have any reservations for the rest of my trip, as I’d left the last reserved place that morning. I decided to go back to Yamauchi Ryokan, as I loved Nakadomari and am comfortable in this place. I drove up to hear Mr. Yamauchi outside playing his sanshin, the plucking of the strings so beautiful and so distinctly Okinawan sounding it pulled at my heart, and I felt I could not have been in a more right place at that moment.
Mrs. Yamauchi came back with fresh linens and I was right back up to my old room, #1, on the third floor. It felt like home tonight, but I was too tired to think about carrying my 50 pound suitcase up the four flights of stairs, so I just picked out some pj’s, undies and toiletries and went on up. I fed the A/C 100 yen and lined up several other coins on the windowsill for later and made my futon on the floor and went soundly to sleep. This day had been a perfectly lovely one and I gave thanks for everyone who made it so.
Comments
Robin, at the Yamauchi Inn, you can "overfeed" the A/C unit! If you put in 800 Yen it will run 16 hours!
Hope that helps!
~Jeff