First Impressions Of Okinawa

[Cable Guy]

I don't know about you but...

Before I came to Okinawa I envisioned monkeys and houses with straw roofs. That was a while ago.

I remember that first bus trip from Kadena after we landed. I remember looking out the window and seeing all the weird cars. I'd never seen such small cars before. We were driving on the left side of the road! It was amazing. My first time in a different country.

At that time I was thinking about how I could ever fit, learn the language, and meet these new people.

When I look around now?

I see people just like me complaining why don't they speak english? My life here sucks. The AAFES doesn't have my favorite food or clothes. "Do You Know Who My Husband/Wife Is?"

I forget where I am sometimes. I am not in America. This is a beautiful place!

[EmbOKJ]

You have the right attitude. I never understand why people go to other countries and expect them to be like hometown USA. Even when there's a base or a lot of amcits - Oki is not the US of A. Get off the base and explore the place, and enjoy (responsibly of course........).

[Sif: wife of Thor]

I have been here for almost 7 yrs...I love this place...the people, the food...the beaches....it's a beautiful place!!

[Black Orchid]

i thought i was very pretty very much a culture shock because everthing was in japanese and ppl wre driving on the other side of the road .. lol

[Courtney]

I was SO excited to come here that I resurched the place like crazy! But i was still not prepared... The first time being a passanger in the car, i was a little scared...lol but now im imagining going back home and im sure it might feel a little weird driving on the "right" side of the road/car...
We have only been here since november 07, but I am already in love with this palce! I am a little nurvous about exploring deeper into the island, mostly beacuse we have stayed in our little bubble, which is about 10 miles around the outside of the base...lol...mostly because of hubbys work schedual, i wont go to far alone, untill i know the road #'s better!

[okisteve]

Courtney, you sound like a very cool mom, and have fun exploring your new home.

But maybe you shouldn't try to teach your kids spelling ;)

[TheLastDon]

Courtney, you sound like a very cool mom, and have fun exploring your new home.

But maybe you shouldn't try to teach your kids spelling ;)

Ouch Okisteve!:argh3:

[DoctorP]

First impression? Kinda like WTF??? All of the buildings were bland concrete, and pretty much run down. Even downtown areas didn't look appealing. It was hot, and sticky (humid) and reminded me of Louisiana! Yuck!

The tarmac was blazing hot and we had to walk from the plane to the bus.

First time riding in a car scared the hell out of me...kept pumping for brakes, then realized that I wasn't driving! Kept holding the "oh shit" handle. Constantly walked to the wrong side of the car to get in. Turned on the windshield wipers more times than I want to admit while trying to turn.

Overall the place looked dirty to me, but that was just all of the concrete...I guess I've gotten used to it? But in all it doesn't seem the same to me now as it did then.

[proudtobnotpc]

I don't know about you but...

Before I came to Okinawa I envisioned monkeys and houses with straw roofs. That was a while ago.

I remember that first bus trip from Kadena after we landed. I remember looking out the window and seeing all the weird cars. I'd never seen such small cars before. We were driving on the left side of the road! It was amazing. My first time in a different country.

At that time I was thinking about how I could ever fit, learn the language, and meet these new people.

When I look around now?

I see people just like me complaining why don't they speak english? My life here sucks. The AAFES doesn't have my favorite food or clothes. "Do You Know Who My Husband/Wife Is?"

I forget where I am sometimes. I am not in America. This is a beautiful place!

You seem to have great outlook. IMO Okinawa is what you make of it- get off base and make some friends with the locals then you will see a different world:thumbup:

[okisteve]

Ouch Okisteve!:argh3:

LOL (I think).

Yeah - there are so few arenas where I can say "let he who is without sin cast the first stone", that I try to cast out the sins of bad spellers. (I have special permission from the Vatican now, No. 833768.)

I think we had a short thread about this. I know that many browsers don't have spell check so I never expect perfection, but I was surprised to see so many misspellings in a short post, especially because Courtney hasn't done that badly before.

I once expressed my view that doing your best with a post is a sign of respect for the readers, which I admit is not always everyone's intention on the JU forum. But there's no other good excuse, and "I'm just not a good speller", doesn't work. It's never to late to improve. Even most Japanese, who can barely speak an English sentence, are good spellers.

[socalheart]

My first impression of Okinawa that I can recall was, "ew! snails!" I first came here at three years old. I also vaguely recall eating sand at the beach and crying when it went into my pants. (Don't say it, Pchan; I was only three years old remember. :p )

[Rashae]

My first impression... I first arrived at night and the drive up 58 through Naha surprised me because all of the lights. I'm from a teeny town in Indiana and I guess I just didn't expect it to be like a "city". Then my next impression was when I saw Oki during the day... the buildings all seemed dirty and old, almost abandoned. It wasn't a good sight according to what I recall. Now though, I guess I'm used to it because I love Okinawa. I love the sun, the respect from the locals, the beaches, the food, there's something for everyone here!

[Muku]

When I first got married and my wife and I were in the states this is what everyone thought Okinawa was about back home......

http://www.koinovacance.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/karate_kid_ii_cd40414.jpg

You should have seen the looks of shock when we started pulling out pictures of Naha etc etc etc. Popped quite a few bubbles back then.

[socalheart]

ohmigawd. I had to do the same thing. All my friends thought you could just walk up to the Kadena flightline like that. They all thought I knew karate and Mr. Miyagi. I had to explain that the only palm trees I saw were on the beaches and highways, I knew five Mr. Miyagis, yes I knew karate sans the car waxing, no you can't just walk up to the flightline like that and no I don't even know what that stupid drum toy is.

[SPMF#1]

I envisioned paradise; vacation, vacation, vacation!! Well I was right about the paradise part. The ops tempo here is pretty intense for alot of down time. My family is having a real blast though!!:) It is alot more modern than I envisioned, but I have been very happy here and will at all cost make time to get out or this office and see the island. Okinawa rocks!:thumbup:

[SPMF#1]

oh yeah, I didn't spell check on purpose...

[Tony Stacks]

Well before I got here I'm at MOS school and chose to come to Okinawa, JAPAN thinking it was part of mainland. I did'nt know it was an island and was a little shocked when I came here and found out.

[Muku]

ohmigawd. I had to do the same thing. All my friends thought you could just walk up to the Kadena flightline like that. They all thought I knew karate and Mr. Miyagi. I had to explain that the only palm trees I saw were on the beaches and highways, I knew five Mr. Miyagis, yes I knew karate sans the car waxing, no you can't just walk up to the flightline like that and no I don't even know what that stupid drum toy is.

I'll give you three hints at guessing my wifes maiden name? :-|

My family teased her about it for what seemed like forever.:argh14:

[Muku]

Well before I got here I'm at MOS school and chose to come to Okinawa, JAPAN thinking it was part of mainland. I did'nt know it was an island and was a little shocked when I came here and found out.

I had friends that thought Okinawa was someplace in California:-|. We actually had to go to the library to get one of those huge ass atlases out to show where the damn place was because all the maps we had at home only showed a big space of ocean between mainland Japan and Taiwan.:o

Hell the letters on the map spelling out Okinawa were bigger than the damn island on the map too:-|

[GODH8SU]

LOL (I think).

It's never to late to improve. .
If you're going to bitch about spelling, then grammar has to be included TOO.

[Lursyobwoc]

My first trip here was for an IT implementation back in May 2002 timeframe. At that time, I was here for 2 1/2 months TAD. I had the best time, got scuba certified first week here, and won $500 on a nickel slot when I only put in about $2. Had a blast.:thumbup:

Got back to the states at the end of June and talked to my wife, girlfriend at the time, and asked her how she'd like to go to Okinawa. At the time, we were going through alot with her ex dragging her to court every time we turned around so we decided that going to Okinawa would be the thing. 7 days later I had orders in hand and we arrived (married) in March of 2003. Because I got promoted, we had to leave 1 year early and went back to the states in March of 2005.:(

I actually had a retirement date of Aug 2007 but the possibility of being able to get back to Okinawa came up (along with a few other things) so I rescinded my retirement paperwork and we got back in July 2007. The family is all glad to be back and we really missed it for the two years we were gone. :thumbup1:

[gunny8511]

My first impression was "holy crap; how am I ever going to learn my way around without getting lost?" Of course, it's difficult to get lost when the island is the size that it is, but driving on streets that seemingly had no names was intimidating.

When most directions amounted to, "when you see the sign with the cartoon cat on it, turn left, then, just after the 15th Family Mart..." and similar stuff, I had to wonder how long it would take to learn my way around.

[okisteve]

If you're going to bitch about spelling, then grammar has to be included TOO.


Too-shay!:star::star:

[TheLastDon]

My first impression of Okinawa was base, base, base, beach, base, and some more beach.:thumbup1:

[Courtney]

Ok, im bad at spelling! SO SORRY.... =p
Im sure it's my nightly drinks dont help...no, I think its more that i dont give a crap! LOL
If it really bothers you, i can try and be more careful....=) lol HA

[okisteve]

Ok, im bad at spelling! SO SORRY.... =p
Im sure it's my nightly drinks dont help...no, I think its more that i dont give a crap! LOL
If it really bothers you, i can try and be more careful....=) lol HA

And my first impression of Okinawa was how polite the locals are.

[applejacks]

First Impression of Okinawa... OMG!! They're driving the wrong way! Crap! I am driving the wrong way. They want how much for a car? How old is it? Really???

I love Okinawa, the food, the weather, and the people. We've only been here a few months but it's great. I can't imagine people just staying on base when there is so much to do. I have been trying mystery food from Justco, some good, some I will not pick up again, but it's all an experience.

[proudtobnotpc]

First Impression of Okinawa... OMG!! They're driving the wrong way! Crap! I am driving the wrong way. They want how much for a car? How old is it? Really???

I love Okinawa, the food, the weather, and the people. We've only been here a few months but it's great. I can't imagine people just staying on base when there is so much to do. I have been trying mystery food from Justco, some good, some I will not pick up again, but it's all an experience.
you seem to have a great attitude and you will learn allot about the true Okinawa.:thumbup:

[Oxmix]

I had a pretty good idea as to what to expect. One of the guys in my company had been to Okinawa. He showed me the pictures that he had taken and told me his Okinawa stories. I wasn't disappointed, everything was as he said it was. Okinawa at the time was rather rustic, not as fancy as the pictures I see of the Island today.
I keep hearing it said that the pace is slower on Okinawa. I didn't notice that when I was there. Everyone was charlie hustle. There were lots of Americans and lots of money to be made.
I don't think that tourism was very big at the time, although I did see a sign in a window while riding the bus on Moromi St. that said vacation in Minnesota. :)
Things were set up for us to have a good time and I felt that more Okinawans liked us than disliked us. I actually talked to my Okinawan friends about how we were perceived by the Okinawans.
You might say I went native while I was there and enjoyed myself to the max. I didn't have any problem adjusting to Okinawa, but I felt out of place when I returned to the States.

Regards

Ox

[okinawa]

I expected Karate everywhere cause of Karate Kid 2. Pepole with really slanted eyes. Straw homes. Poor village folk.

19 years later. I still love it.

[Lursyobwoc]

But maybe you shouldn't try to teach your kids spelling ;)

And my first impression of Okinawa was how polite the locals are.

I'd have to say that I agree. The locals really are polite and I've found they really don't care much about speeling. ;)

[okisteve]

I'd have to say that I agree. The locals really are polite and I've found they really don't care much about speeling. ;)

Glad you found that too. And they don't try to zing you 3 ways when they say "sorry", either.

[afansi]

Sorry to drop a rock in the touchy feely pool, but this island has been hijacked to create war in the interest of the US of A. Wherever you go to explore - on or off base - let's not forget about that little detail.

[OkinawaStud]

Sorry to drop a rock in the touchy feely pool, but this island has been hijacked to create war in the interest of the US of A. Wherever you go to explore - on or off base - let's not forget about that little detail.

Troll much?

[Lursyobwoc]

Sorry to drop a rock in the touchy feely pool, but this island has been hijacked to create war in the interest of the US of A. Wherever you go to explore - on or off base - let's not forget about that little detail.

Hi. Welcome to Earth. :D

[gunny8511]

I think a urinalysis is in order for that one...

[Muku]

Sorry to drop a rock in the touchy feely pool, but this island has been hijacked to create war in the interest of the US of A. Wherever you go to explore - on or off base - let's not forget about that little detail.

Can I have some of what you are smoking? :thumbup:

Sounds like you been bogartin'

[Isaak Brodsky]

I seem to remember after Afansi was fired from the Elliot Spitzer (Client #9) campaign for re-election, he did talk about a second career in freelancing for Oprah and The View.

[afansi]

Troll much?

I'm not much of a stickler myself when it comes to English spelling, and anyone who lives around here has to learn to live with all sorts of weird and wonderful renderings of English words.

Still, it took me a while to realise that OkinawaStud must have meant "stroll much?"

Of course I do like to get out for a walk once in a while, though living in Ginowan, I don't find it altogether relaxing, especially since I might have to dodge falling helicopters.

[quiltpig]

I'm not much of a stickler myself when it comes to English spelling, and anyone who lives around here has to learn to live with all sorts of weird and wonderful renderings of English words.

Still, it took me a while to realise that OkinawaStud must have meant "stroll much?"

Of course I do like to get out for a walk once in a while, though living in Ginowan, I don't find it altogether relaxing, especially since I might have to dodge falling helicopters.

Oh for the love of Pete!! Could you possibly be any more dramatic? :rolleyes:

[Jazz]

First impression?
First time riding in a car scared the hell out of me...kept pumping for brakes, then realized that I wasn't driving! Kept holding the "oh shit" handle. Constantly walked to the wrong side of the car to get in. Turned on the windshield wipers more times than I want to admit while trying to turn.
.


Funny, I've only been here going on 6 years but I forgot how I used to do all these same things the first few yrs. I seem to have broken those habits without realizing it........

[Jazz]

I'm not much of a stickler myself when it comes to English spelling, and anyone who lives around here has to learn to live with all sorts of weird and wonderful renderings of English words.

Still, it took me a while to realise that OkinawaStud must have meant "stroll much?"

Of course I do like to get out for a walk once in a while, though living in Ginowan, I don't find it altogether relaxing, especially since I might have to dodge falling helicopters.

HMMM, I automatically thought he meant trolling as in (fishing) through the forum for igorant negative ways of replying to otherwise enjoyable discussions........

Would have to agree on the helo comment though. Futenma sucks and needs to move A.S.A.P. I also used to live in Ginowan on the 6th floor of a 6 story building. Every time I'd here the helos approach I'd brace for impact!!!