Mar
18
Okinawa, Okinawa
Filed Under Newspost
“We have long lain dormant, and the time to awaken has come.”
Spring Break
Our eagerly awaited Okinawa trip that I had taken no part in organizing began on the Tuesday of our one-week long Spring Vacation. We had agreed to meet at Hirakata station at noon in order to have enough time to transfer to Kansai Airport to catch the flight to Okinawa at 15:05. We had an international party of five people: me, Tim the Doitsu-jin, Chicago no Ryan, Ryan’s friend Jeff and Ryan’s Japanese girlfriend Sayumi who had planned the whole trip alone, withheld all the information about what was going to happen as well as our plane tickets, and who was 40 minutes late. I have absolutely no problem keeping my cool in force majeure situations, but just thinking about missing the highlight of my spring break made me break into a cold sweat and I promptly collapsed on the floor crying like a baby. Maybe. I felt almost ashamed when I saw how the others didn’t seem to be bothered at all while I was in an inner turmoil trying to hold myself back from spouting something nasty. Apparently there was nothing to worry about.
And in the end there wasn’t. We were at the airport a bit later than what we were supposed to, but luckily, so was the plane. After meeting our gaidaisei friend and Okinawan native Yuutatsu by accident at the gates and getting a few tips about where to go, we boarded the plane around 15:30 and spent the following two hours hoping for a meal that never materialized. Short story shorter, the plane ride was boring.
The airport and the Laugh & Peace Festival
Okinawa Drift
Once at Naha Airport, the first logical step was to find the car rental where we were supposed to get our motorized carriage for the few days to come. Casting away all thoughts of hunger or hurry, we first proceeded to be mesmerized by the small aquarium situated in the arrivals lobby. Remember, tourism starts at landing, and real tourists take pictures of airport aquariums.
Airport Moray was not impressed...
We got a bus ride from the airport to the rent-a-car and after a bit of paperwork were able to get our hands on the cutest green car I’ve ever ridden in in Okinawa. As Sayumi was the only person with a Japanese driver’s license, she was appointed as the driver, while us other small gaijins (average height 185cm) had to stuff ourselves in the bright green sardine box and prepare for what was to come. In order not to offend anyone I will not comment on the two-hour road trip to the cottage we had rented, but instead, I will leave those acquainted with Azumanga Daioh with one last thought: Yukariguruma.
Sayumiguruma
Thanks to the GPS that seems to be standard equipment in all Japanese cars, we were able to get to the cottage on time to get the keys. We were physically and mentally exhausted from the trip, but decided to go to the nearby Lawson to buy some drinks and walked to the nearby beach to enjoy them. We didn’t get to see much of Okinawa on the first day, but the fun was just beginning. How lame was that for a last sentence, huh?
The cottage was incredibly spacious for a Japanese building
From left to right, party people
(All the names mentioned in this article were changed and then randomly changed back to their original form in order to preserve the privacy of the people in question)
-Antti