We arrived on the island in Okinawa, Japan a little under three months ago. After spending two weeks in quarantine and a month and a half in a house on base (working to get approved to move off base) we’re officially moved in (and almost settled). Between Covid restrictions and our own busy body lives, we haven’t yet gotten the chance to experience the full wonder of the island and have only explored minimally (as much as we can which hasn’t been a ton). Therefore this post is not meant to serve as an island expert imparting her wisdom on the masses, (though hopefully, those posts are in our near future) but instead, this post is a new girl’s highlight of her first impressions of this beautiful island.

The Landscape.

An obvious first point. The island is beautiful! It feels like the whole world is at your fingertips here, and around every bend, there’s a new adventure waiting to be found. There is so much to see and do, such a variety of locations and because the island is about 2 and 1/2 hours from top to bottom exploration seems relatively attainable.

The beaches boast dazzling blue waters! Where the sea hits the land varies from soft sand beaches to rocky formations, to tidal flats, and probably more. I’m a huge beach person! I love the water and I love the sun but every once in a while you gotta switch it up. In North Carolina, it is about 6 hours to get from the sea to the mountains. Well. from where I currently live on the water, it takes about 4 minutes to get from the sea to the [jungle] mountains.

As blue as the water in Okinawa is, the jungle is greener. The rolling green hills, mountains, whatever they technically are, provide a refreshing break from the hot summer heat. Hiking is huge around here and big on my to-do list! There are waterfalls, caves, mountains, and cliffs. I am constantly in awe looking at the nature around me and all the adventures that await! But nowhere can be perfect, right? There are lots of bugs! In the evenings, the mosquitos are killer (especially after it rains) and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t normally get bitten. There are ginormous brown spiders (huntsman spiders) that we’ve already found three of in our home. Plenty of cockroaches, but that’s to be excepted around the water (a familiar problem from the NC coast). Then there is the poisonous snail, which I’m pretty sure I’m the only one worried about them, but I’m terrified! They’re called Giant African Land Snails and they’re an invasive species. They can cause meningitis if you lick them (sounds like no big deal but I have babies who put everything in their mouth). As obnoxious as all the creepy, crawly, slimies are… the island is worth the pests.

Another huge downside for most people is the humidity. Luckily, and I’m definitely in the minority on this one, I’m a big fan of humidity.

The Language Barrier.

This was something my husband and I did not prepare for like we should have. When we first got orders we started trying to learn Japanese. Then someone (I can’t remember who) told my husband that we didn’t need to learn Japanese and we took that at face value and stopped doing our Japanese lessons. Big mistake. I guess I thought that since there was such a huge military presence out here, that perhaps it was like when we lived in UAE. There, it was very westernized, and almost everyone spoke English. It definitely is not here. While I have found that a lot of Okinawans speak English, there are also a lot that don’t. Again we haven’t been here long so I can’t speak generalizations or guestimations but I do know that there are plenty of times where I’ve yearned to know Japanese. I’m currently using Duolingo and hope to become fluent in Japanese before we leave but I’ve only just brushed the surface. I love learning languages though, and generally pick them up pretty quickly. The different writing system makes Japanese a little more intimidating than other languages. Especially when you’re surrounded by it and have no idea what anything says. However, I have determination!

Food and Groceries.

The food out here is amazing! So far everything that I’ve had to eat out in town has been delicious! Unfortunately going out to eat has been on and off the table because of covid. Nonetheless, we’ve been to a few ramen spots, a sushi place, some American-style restaurants, some Mexican-style restaurants, and a few taco rice places. Of course, all the restaurants we’ve been to and intend to go to in the future deserve their own post (or a couple posts) that you can expect in the future! I will say though that I was surprised by the food options out here. I thought sushi would be a lot bigger than it is. It seems that ramen and soba (which I haven’t tried soba yet) are more popular than sushi is. I also expected there to be a lot of American-style restaurants, but what I didn’t expect was how big both Mexican food and Indian food are here. Taco Rice is also a very popular menu item out here, however, I wouldn’t consider it to be Mexican food (like the name might suggest) though. Imagine if the whitest person you knew made tacos, put the meat and toppings on a bed of rice, and that’s taco rice. Still really good though!

Another aspect of our new lives out here that deserves its own post in the future is the grocery stores. Weirdly, I love grocery shopping. So having my grocery experience completely turned upside down was pretty stressful and mostly overwhelming. One of the big things is that everything is in Japanese. Using the google translate app though helps a ton! You can use the camera option to translate which is super helpful. The translations don’t always translate well. So, occasionally you just have to guess and try things out.

Not only is everything in Japanese, but the food options are very different from the states. Most of my go-to dinner options had to be modified. Even the on-base grocery stores only bring a slight bit of familiarity to the shopping experience. After being here for a few months I’ve definitely gotten more comfortable in the off-base grocery stores but it might take a few dozen or thousand more trips before I’m actually confident.

Driving.

Driving out here is/was the most stressful adjustment. I would say at this point I’ve mostly got it down but I still don’t feel comfortable driving casually with my brain on autopilot like I might in the states. I’m always on full alert when I’m on the roads here. In Okinawa, the wheel is on the right side of the car and you drive on the left side. The biggest thing for me is that I have terrible depth perception and I am probably almost always about to clip something with the left side of my car. You can’t honk at people (which means people also don’t honk at you to let you know you messed up…which, I could probably use from time to time), you can’t turn left on red (which would be like turning right on red in the states), AND the huge one is that your BAC can’t be higher than .03. The saying on-base is “not one drop”. Obviously, I’m not here to advocate drinking and driving but .03 means you can’t have a drink with dinner without risking a DUI. I’m not really in the business of having more than two drinks outside of special occasions right now anyway, as I’m still exclusively breastfeeding my second born. I just really enjoy slowly drinking that one alcoholic drink when we’re out and about to feel like I’m part of the adult world (probably because I’ve been pregnant or breastfeeding since 2018). The bases will randomly breathalyze at the gates so it’s really not something you want to risk. Especially for the people in the military because a DUI will really mess up their career. This is a huge reason why I was so happy for us to move off base and within walking distance of the beach. Besides the obvious appeal of living almost on the beach, it’s nice to be able to have a beach day and have a beer or two without having to worry about driving. Obviously, taxis are an option but with two kids it’s just easier for the breastfeeding momma to be sober sally. Anyways, that was a huge Debbie downer when we first moved here that we’re learning how to navigate.

The Quiet.

It’s very quiet out here. Even though our house is on a main road it feels calm and peaceful where we live. The same was true when we lived on-base. Even though there plenty of cities and densely populated areas, there isn’t the normal hustle and bustle of, say, an American city. There aren’t sirens wailing or horns honking or loud music playing. I’m kind of going off of hear-say here, but I’ve heard that the locals prefer it and it’s intentionally this way. I love it! I think we might disturb the peace once we have a group of friends and are able to host parties again but hopefully, our house is isolated enough not to be a nuisance to the locals.

Kid-Friendly Environment.

One of the most heartwarming things about this place is how kid-friendly everything and everyone is! There are so many activities for kids, even in the current locked-down state. On top of that, all of the locals are so sweet with children. Okinawa is a very safe place for kids. I also never feel like my children are a burden on society like I occasionally do in the states. I’ve had so many strangers be helpful and kind to my children and it just warms my momma heart! Even with the military population here, I feel like they’re also more kid-friendly than the average person is stateside. I love that I don’t feel like my children need to be glued to my hip and that when Waylon is inevitably in someone’s way or throwing a fit, I’m met with smiles instead of judgment. Definitely makes being an occasionally “single mom” easier. Oh! Also, there are vending machines everywhere that have juice for the babies and cold coffee drinks for the momma! This place is genius!

The general consensus (and by that I mean my overall consensus) is that while there are a lot of challenging aspects of living in a new country, that has a lot of cultural differences from what you’re used to, Okinawa is an amazing place! I’m so excited for the island to open back up and to be able to experience this place in its full glory! I was never super interested in Japanese culture before coming out here (not out of malice just out of lack of exposure), however, it’s only been three months and I’m already in love! I love island life and I love Okinawan culture, and I’m currently really into Okinawan fashion! I look forward to making this island my home for the next three years. And come on, how could you hate living on an island!