FMF: Speaking Japanese, Driving, Beauty Schools and Non-American Holidays

It's been another long week over here at ONK and there has been a lot of preparation taking place therefore I apologize for not being as on top of things as I usually am. With that being said let's go into today's topics.

"Do you speak Japanese?" 

I can speak some Japanese but not as much as I would like to. I can also read and write but my vocabulary is very limited as far as understanding most of what I am reading although I am improving every day through lots of tedious practice. I have a few different blog posts about this but I also plan to discuss more about this in the future in a video.

"Is it difficult to learn the ways of the road?"

Learning the ways of the road are relatively easy. We do drive on the "wrong" side of the road here although that is super easy to get used to if you focus on driving. The road signs are relatively easy to learn also because in my opinion they are straight forward, although, you can and should go online and study the signs especially because you will be tested when you arrive here in you choose to drive.

So what else is there to know about driving here. . . . there is a lot to talk about here and so I might not be able to cover every detail in this particular post or in the corresponding video. Let's see if I can go through a number of these without going  into too much detail and if you have any further questions please let me know and I will ensure that I get your answers to you as soon as possible.

- Call Phones: Put them down. It is illegal to use your cell phone while driving in Okinawa and you'll need all of your attention on the road anyway.

- Motorcycles and Scooters: They're out there and they use the road so be aware of them. They will also share a lane with cars from time to time which is perfectly legal.

- Three Car Rule At Lights: It is not uncommon to see up to three people run the red light before they are considered out of line. I would not advise doing this yourself because it can be very dangerous but it is something you should be aware of.

- Speeding when cops aren't around isn't necessarily the best idea because Okinawa is equipped with speed cameras which will take a photo if you are exceeding the limit and have a ticket mailed to you. Yes even if you are American. And they are not always obvious as they are in some of the US locations where they have been installed.

- There is a lot of traffic here and therefore you are significantly closer than you would be in your home town so be aware of this and pay attention to the road.

- There are stickers which indicate when a driver is over a certain age (very old) or a new driver. Be aware that if you strike one of these drivers you will most likely be at more fault for not keeping an eye out for them as they have stickers displayed.

- Everyone involved in an accident is responsible to some extent. Period.

- Don't drink and drive. They take that very seriously here not only for you the driver but everyone in the car and even people who sent you on your way knowing that you had some drinks.

I hope that this is helpful.

The last two topics I am not going to discuss because I have already made previous blog posts about them due to the involvement I wanted to provide in the answer. Thanks so much for reading and again please let me know if you have any other questions.

Viewer Question: "It Takes A Village".

Today a post was made both here on the blog and over at the OkiNinjaKitty Channel. Here's the video if you wanted to take a look:

Not long after the video posted a comment was made which asked me the following:

"Have you read Hillary Clinton's book, "It Takes A Village"?? If so, do you think her theory that everyone is responsible for the village children would work in Okinawa? If not, would you agree that Okinawans "parent" their own children starting at home and do not expect the village to do the "parenting" out on the street or at the mall?"

This is a great question! I wanted to respond right away but because of the character limit on YouTube comments I took some time in order to organize my thoughts so I could summarize what I wanted to say all while fitting in the space provided. Then I realized. . . . I've got a blog I can use as much space as I need to answer and so here we are. Because there are a few different parts to this question I am going to take it piece by piece and hopefully it makes it easier to write about and communicate what I am trying to say.

"Have you read Hillary Clinton's book, "It Takes A Village"??"

I unfortunately have not read the book "It Takes A Village" but I am very familiar with the concept that the book is said to discuss.

"If so, do you think her theory that everyone is responsible for the village children would work in Okinawa?"

The more that I examine this part of the question the more complicated my response becomes so hang in there with me for a moment here while I try to take what is in my head and communicate it with words that people other than myself will understand. In many ways I believe that this "it takes a village" theory is very much in place here in Okinawa but not necessarily in the way that we might envision it as Americans. What I mean by this is that here in Okinawa it seems as though the "village" is the family. Children are taken care of my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great great grand parents (it is Okinawa after all), aunts, uncles and other family members who may be part of the large family structure which seems to be common among Okinawa's families. It is common for families to also do things together so in short there is always someone to keep their eye on the child. For example if you go to a local shopping center mom may be doing the groceries but the child is upstairs in the children's area with grandpa. I have also known people who feel that their children are not quite well enough behaved to bring into public situations and therefore they choose to have a grandparent babysit while they are out and about.

Now I realize that depending on your views you may feel that this is not necessarily an illustration of the "it takes a village" theory but let me explain for a moment what brings me to feel as though it is. Based on the experiences that I have had with some of Okinawa's families there is a lot for the children to learn within the family structure.   Discipline, recreation activities (playing, gardening, cooking) and how to conduct yourself in social situations all seem to be learned through interaction with different members of the family structure. This is enforced when the family comes together and eventually when families spend time in more social situations with outside groups (being in public). Each and every family member has something to offer and therefore this brings me to my observation that this theory is very much practiced here in Okinawa.

"If not, would you agree that Okinawans "parent" their own children starting at home and do not expect the village to do the "parenting" out on the street or at the mall?"

Even in the case of the family being the "village" yes I would agree that most Okinawans "parent" their own children starting at home. There is a certain level of discipline that the child must have before going to a grandparent's house so that the grandparents are not burdened. There will eventually be another level of discipline that a child must have before going into public/social situations so that others are not burdened. Remember people in Okinawa are relatively non-confrontational and have a certain respect for the people around them. If there is something that they as a parent do not feel is acceptable the prevent it from happening, even if it means removing a child from a situation completely, before a stranger has to mention it to them.

As always I do need to stress that there are people out there, as there are anywhere else, who do not have the same feelings towards respecting others and avoiding confrontation. for the most part, however, they seem to be far and few in-between. There is always an exception to every rule. With that being said I hope that I was able to offer an answer to this question. If there are any other ares that you feel I need to clarify on please let me know.

Kids Will Be Kids: Being in Public

This is not a rant nor is this an anti-child proclamation or how you can be a better parent so if you happened to see the title of this post and thought to yourself that this would be the perfect place to spew your frustration please take a moment and relax before proceeding on. For the rest of you who are reading this because you are wondering about what to expect when you make your way over to Okinawa I apologize for the blunt introduction.

Now that we have gotten that out of the way let me explain why I am writing this post and what you can expect from the content. I was recently asked a question from a reader who had previously read a post where I explained that here in Okinawa we use out indoor voices even when we are outside. She explained that she has a young child who enjoys yelling, running and playing and wanted to know whether or not people in Okinawa would actually get angry at this occurring. In this post I am going to offer my observations both from what I see, what I have experienced speaking with various people from Okinawa and Japan. Before we begin there are a few things that I want to make clear that may give you a bit of perspective from where I am coming from. I have been working with children and their parents for over 12 years now. The fact that children can be difficult is not lost on me but neither is the fact that nothing is impossible with a lot of hard word, consistency and dedication. Again this is not a parenting guide, all I am offering is words of encouragement for those out there who might be reading this feeling like ever gaining control of their child is helpless. The second thing to make clear is that I am offering your real life answers to your questions. I'm telling it how it is. If you are looking for someone who is going to tell you that even if your child hurls food across a restaurant regularly you should still take them out because the staff and other people won't mind this is not going to be the post for you. Finally I ask that, as I do for all my posts, you read this with an open mind and an understanding that when coming to Okinawa you are entering an entirely different culture. Regardless if we are talking about children, food or driving in your car some changes to the way you look at things are ultimately going to have to be made. As always my goal here in to inform so that you don't have any surprises. I hope that you find this post beneficial and of course if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to leave them in he comments or email me at okininjakitty@yahoo.com.

"Using Indoor Voices" 

As I had said in the post that I had listed above it is common practice for people to use their indoor voices throughout Japan, even when outside. Let's talk a little bit about this. American's are loud, there's no way around it. The kids are loud, the adults are loud the cars are loud. . . . . we're loud. In Japan, and particularly Okinawa this is not the case. It's quite here which is why you see me say that using your indoor voice is "common practice" and not "common courtesy".  Again (I know I have talked about this in other posts but for the sake of ensuring I am consistent) it is about the culture. This is a laid back relaxed quiet culture and does take some adjustment when you come here. There is also a different attitude when it comes to being out in public places (which we will get into here in a bit so keep reading). Some places are for relaxing, some places are for conducting business and other places are for having fun. A great deal of consideration is taken by all people to ensure that you are able to relax, conduct business or have fun at these various facilities and therefore I believe it is safe to assume that everyone, including foreigners, have the same type of consideration when out in public.

"Kids will be kids" 

It's no surprise to me, or to anyone else in my honest opinion, that kids have their moments. After all they are still learning how to handle themselves in public situations, control their emotions and overall function as a part of society. There are going to be up's and down's and yes from time to time dreaded center of the aisle tantrum. That's life. Are the people here in Okinawa going to get angry with you? To be honest this completely depends on how you handle the situation as a parent. Again, it's a different culture here and therefore some of the parenting techniques that are acceptable in the US may not be as accepted in public here. To better illustrate what I am talking about let's go over some of these techniques:

The Separation Technique- 

Ok. . . . so I don't know what you would call this but I am coining it as "The Separation Technique" maybe you have used this technique as a parent or if you are like me it was used on you as a kid. So what is The Separation Technique? This is when a child , who is of an age where they can walk on their own and/or are not sitting in a stroller, is misbehaving and/or not listening. The parent then starts to walk away from the child saying something like "Ok. . . . . . bye. . . . . I'm leaving now. . . . " until the child decides to go with the parent rather than being separated. Usually with each remark the  volume of the parent's voice increases and potentially the pitch gets higher and higher but that is depending on each parent's preference. The Separation Technique.

This technique is not necessarily one that would be acceptable to use here especially if you know that it will result in your child becoming overly upset. Remember it's quiet here so doing something that might involve you becoming intentionally loud or that might trigger your child to become overly upset is going to get a bad reaction from the people around you. This also leads us to the next technique. . . .


Raising of the Voice Technique- 

As you might imagine in a society where people are quiet raising your voice at your child is not necessarily something you might want to resort to. I won't hold it against you but trust me when I say an American raising their voice in a shopping center in Okinawa is like Zeus' thunderous voice calling down from Olympus.

Avoidance- 

If you want to know when people in Okinawa are going to become upset or even angry at the behavior of a child it is almost always when the parent is using a technique which I refer to as the "Avoidance Technique". This is when a parent completely avoids any and all confrontation with their child allowing them to conduct themselves in any manner they so choose. In other words the parent completely ignores the child altogether as well as any consequences or effects that their child's behavior may have. An example of this might be a baby in a fancy restaurant. (One might wonder why there is a baby in a fancy restaurant in the first place but we'll get there in another post.) If the baby cries and the parent tries to sooth the baby or if the crying continues removes the baby from the situation there will be no problem. However, suppose the baby is crying and neither parent makes any attempt to stop the child from crying but just allows it to happen. This would cause anger or frustration with the people around you because you are not being considerate by even making an attempt to sooth the child.

Overall what I hope that I was able to illustrate with what I have said above is that yes things are different here. You are going to have to take a few things you wouldn't normally into consideration but overall if you remember to be considerate to those people around you and try to prevent and stop situations which might disrupt people around you then you have nothing to worry about. If you, on the other hand, don't care about other people or how what you or your child does affects them than yes you are gong to cause frustration and in some cases you may even cause a disadvantage for others in the future, but more about that later.


Child Friendly Places

With all this talk about keeping in line there is bound to be places where kids can REALLY be kids right? Absolutely! In fact one of the things that I found remarkable about Okinawa is the fact that there seem to be parks (and I don't mean the ones where the old people walk and enjoy the sunshine but ones with swings and kid stuff) all over the place. Not only is there one in almost ever neighborhood but they are clean and well kept too. These are places where kids can get out of the everyday shell and just enjoy being a kid. There are usually swings, things to climb on, sand and almost always some sort of large and ridiculous slide. Not only are these fun places to take your kids but they are also nice places for you to sit and enjoy being a parent with covered tables and benches as well as usually a water fountain so that you can keep yourself refreshed.

If you are willing to pay a little bit of money to give your kid the chance to play there are various other places where you can take them for some indoor fun. Although I do not often remember the names of these places because I personally do not frequent them there is one which is referred to as the Jungle something and another one which is located in a San A in the Naha Area. There are also sometimes special performances at shopping centers and even times of the year where they set up ball pits and bouncy houses right int he shopping centers for the kids to enjoy. These indoor areas are great for air conditioned fun especially in the summertime when mom's and dad's want to avoid that summer sun.

If you want to be out in the sun there are also a variety of playgrounds, such as the one at Araha Beach, which are on the beach. The kiddles can play in the sand and pretend to be a pirate while mom or dad sits in the sun and works on his/her tan. . . we are on a tropical island after all might as well look like it. This particular playground is known for being a lot of fun among many of the military families because of it's location in central Okinawa as well as being a 1 minute walk from pirate ship to ocean with a bathroom near by (although be warned the are squatty potties) and a refreshments stand.

Of course you are going to want to be a tourist sooner or later and there are many child friendly tourist destinations as well. This would include the Aquarium and Okinawa World. These are both great fun for kids offer fun activities for children and over all are safe even if you have a child who likes to dart out of your sight.

Places Not For Every Child

Like anywhere else there may be places where you don't want to take your kids. I will maybe go over more of these places in the future but for the sake of this post and the topic that we are on I am going to take about places you might not want to take your child if they are a screamer or a runner.

The Screamer

For a moment let's go back culture (don't worry I will do my best to summarize). Here in Okinawa the outdoors are very important to people for various reasons some religious. This is why when visiting some places you may find yourself encountering people praying, shrines or monuments. These things can be found at parks (the big and culturally protected ones not the ones that I described above), castle ruins, caves and shrines. People regularly visit these locations to honor ancestors or pray and therefore when visiting these sites it is important to ensure that you are doing so with the upmost respect and consideration for the people around you. This may be a tourist destination for you but it is a huge piece of history and culture for the people of the island.

The reason that I have titled this section "The Screamer" is because for children who have an uncontrolled desire to scream and/or yell this may not be the place you want to take them. Remember this is a place of worship for many and in some cases people travel great distances (even from Mainland Japan) to worship at these sites.


The Runner

When it comes to children who run it no longer becomes a matter of consideration for other people, in my opinion, but more a matter of safety. The one thing that you will notice about Okinawa when you first get here is that it is considerably smaller here than it is in the US. In stores, for example, aisles are half the size that you might find in the US. In many cases it's just enough for two people with shopping carts to pass through and corners are very tight so the odds of your child running through the store and getting hit by someone's shopping cart or accidentally running into a display case are pretty good. This isn't really the concern though. There is a bigger concern for parking lots in which people drive considerably faster than they should most of the time. The biggest concern in my opinion, however, is when taking your children to tourist locations much like the ones I mentioned above (Caves, Shrines, Recreational Parks and Castle Ruins). Many of these places have stairs and walkways made of coral which is sharp and slick. Stairways are also extremely steep as if you are climbing a mountain (I realize that seems exaggerated but I honestly do not know how else to describe it) These castle ruins are also built on mountain tops which undoubtably mean that there are cliffs in some cases they are straight drop offs. I have seen them and yes they are there without any barrier. Again it is a matter of knowing your child and determining whether you believe they are capable of handling a trip to a location such as this.

Conclusion

With all this being said what can we really conclude here? To be honest I leave it to you. Questions or Comments can be left below or you can email me at OkiNinjaKitty@yahoo.com. If you would like more information about kid friendly activities please  let me know and I will be happy to do some research and post information. Thanks for reading and I hope that you find this post helpful.

Celebrating Non-Japanese Holidays In Okinawa

Today is the Fourth Of July and for many Americans it is a day to celebrate America's Independence. But what if you are here in Okinawa? I mean it is Japan right? So how do people celebrate Non-Japanese holidays here in Okinawa? This is actually a great topic for discussion and I think that it is one that many of you will be interested in so let's discuss.

The first and most obvious thing to discuss and understand is that here in Japan there are a set of holidays which are simply not celebrated like they are in the states because they do not hold significant meaning here. Independence Day, MLK Day, Columbus Day, Memorial Day and so on. These are the days celebrated in America because of American achievements. Naturally the Japanese don't have any interest in these holidays and therefore these days are just like any other day of the week. However, there are some Japanese companies which actor to American customs here in Okinawa that may have these days off. You may also find that if you are working on or for the Military bases you will usually observe these holidays as you would in the US but be advised that this is not always the case and you should always take special care to ask your employer or command whether or not you are granted these days off. It is also important to note that if you are American and part of the military bases you may find yourself having the ability to attend special celebrations on some of these holidays. MLK day usually has some sort of African American in America Pride/Accomplishments type seminar or event. Memorial Day usually has some type of memorial service and Independence Day has a celebration also. It used to be that the Air Base known as Kadena did a thing called "America Fest" where they would have a ton of different activities for all including the local people who were not normally allowed on base but this year they did a small cookout style event with a live performance from some local bands with fireworks.

So what about these other holidays that are celebrated by Americans?

Halloween

Kids all over America can't wait for Halloween and for the American kids being here in Okinawa is no exception. So how does Halloween happen here in Okinawa. If you are in a standard neighborhood out in Okinawa you are not going to see anyone observe Halloween. It's not something that people do here even though you might see little basic costumes out in town or halloween decorations BUT this is not the case if you are on a base. The bases do have an observance of halloween which usually consists of the camp commanders determining when children can go out from house to house and what children can go from house to house. That's right. The date, time and age of the children who can trick or treat is determined by each camp. Unfortunately this leave some kids out in the cold, for example one year if you were over the age of 12 you were not allowed to trick or treat which I found a bit silly but again that's my opinion. There are other celebrations you can attend as an adult and sometimes you may have halloween events to attend as a teen but there is usually a large gap between the little kids and the adults where there is not much to do unless you organize it yourself.

Christmas 

Christmas is one of the holidays that although you might not have the day off in a Japanese company, is still celebrated here in Japan. Unlike in the US it is not religious in nature and is more of a romantic holiday comparable in my opinion to valentine's day where you and your loved one can go on a date, do romantic things and enjoy each other's company. There are still decorations and it is a beautiful sight to see. Again if you are on the military bases you may or may not have this holiday off.


To be completely honest I can't think of any other holidays that are celebrated in America to mention. That's not to say that there re not others out there but I just don't have them to comment on right now (feel free to ask away and I will add more information). Now the question most of you are probably wanting to ask about, how do I celebrate the holidays here in Japan. Well to be completely honest it depends on what the holiday is and how much money and effort I am willing to put into it. The best celebration we have had recently was Thanksgiving last year when we went around from place to place trying to make a "thanksgiving dinner" out of random things. The word "Thanksgiving" has the link to that video so please check it out. As for other holidays we take them as they come. We celebrate Christmas be doing some fun little things but we really don't to too much as far as decorating goes because of the cost of electricity and the lack of space that we have. We do still exchange gifts though and we do maybe go out for dinner or something nice like that. Other holidays really aren't a thing though. Today for example we are just going to have another day like any other. Maybe we will do something like eat hamburgers or hotdogs which is not something we would normally eat and that will be a bit of our celebration to remind us of home but other than that it's just another day for us here in Okinawa.

How do you celebrate the holidays?

Leave me a comment below, on Facebook or email me at okininjakitty@yahoo.com

Things to NOT do in Tokyo

So you want to know what NOT to do in Tokyo?

There are a number of things that we can talk about her but for the sake of today's post let's talk about three things that I think are definite No-No's when traveling to Tokyo. Without further delay let's get right into it!

Do NOT try to imitate the fashions.

When traveling to Tokyo (or any part of Japan as far as I am concerned) it can be tempting to dress the way you see people dress in photos and on blogs. These elaborate and at times wacky outfits are fantastic, don't get me wrong, but when traveling to Tokyo I would say that they are something to avoid. The reason for this? Well it's simple. The odds are you are coming to Tokyo from another country, you spent a lot of money on this trip. Enjoy it. Fashion is great. I am a huge advocate of getting out there, expressing yourself and being who you are or even creating a you that you've always wanted. I just personally believe that comfort will ensure that you have a better time on a trip like this.

Do NOT go to Tokyo without a plan. 

There is so much going on in Tokyo that you might think it is incredible unnecessary to make a plan but the fact is there is a good chance that if you don't make a plan you will find yourself missing out. You don't necessarily have to follow the plan as if it were law but it will give you a direction to move and therefore give you the opportunity to see more. Also be sure to plan to eat. Find a few places where you might want to try in the area you are visiting and list them so when you want some food you know where they are and what they offer.  It is not uncommon for you to get so excited that you pass by a place to eat and realize that it was your only place to eat and now it is packed solid.

Do NOT rush through Tokyo. 

When I say this I am talking from the moment you get out of the plane to the moment you try and get on a train. Tokyo is much easier to get around for the English speaker than people might think BUT you have to be patient and take time to see what is around you. It is not uncommon to find English on signs at stations and airports but you may have to step back a moment and wait for them to change to your language. Also consider that there are sometimes English maps where you can check information but you will again need to take a second look for them (they are not hard to find) and then at times you may have to do a matching game with the kanji and English words so you can get on the right train. It's not hard but it does require patience. Yes people around you will be rushing and traveling quickly, they live in Tokyo they know what they are doing, but just take a slow pace and enjoy yourself.

Do NOT just travel to say you have been places. 

I will be talking more specifically about travel in another post but it is important to make sure you are traveling to do things that actually interest you. If you are not interested on going up to the tallest tower in Tokyo don't do it. If you don't have any interest in seeing the buildings in Shibuya because you live in a city, don't do it. See the things you want to see and do the things you want to do. Stay away from the travel guide books and just enjoy doing things you enjoy.

I hope that this post helps those of you who are interested in traveling to Tokyo. Please stay tuned for more information about Tokyo in the near future.

Peaceful Love Rock Festival, Burger King, American Kids Avoid Arrest, Zombie Restaurant and MORE!

It's Monday and that means it's time for a current event's blog.

If you are a follower of both the blog and the videos that I post you are probably aware that last week I did not have a proper current events video. The fact of the matter is that there just weren't enough stories to report and I didn't feel as though they were interesting enough to keep you guys entertained and therefore I had just talked about what was going on for me. Luckily this week there have been a number of stories that I can comment on and therefore there will be a proper blog and video. This week I am also going to try something a little bit different. Not only am I going to talk about some of the news but here on the blog I am also going to include some of my opinion too. I am not sure how it will go with those of you who are reading this but be sure to let me know and maybe we will continue this type of thing.

Peaceful Love Rock Festival 

Okinawa has it's share of awesome events here throughout the year but one of the best in my opinion is the Peaceful Love Rock Festival. If you are not familiar the PLRF is a two day rock and roll festival that happens in one of the local bull rings. There are a wide variety of bands from and different styles. From what I understand these bands are either invited or they audition for their slot. Tickets are about $40.00 per day which is a BARGIN for the amount of bands that you can see some of which could be such names as Orange Range who is a well known band from here in Japan.

Going to this festival is tradition for myself and my husband and we have been going each and every year. Usually we go for both days because we want to see certain bands but because of obligations and the upcoming trip that I will be taking we plan to only attend for the first day. This is an extremely enjoyable event although it can be hot and requires a great deal of preparation. So what can you expect if you want to go to this event. It is an outdoor concert and it's hot. It's also one of those venues where you are going to find yourself sitting either on the floor or on chairs if you choose to bring them. If you do please be considerate for the people around you and sit in the back so those who choose to sit on the floor are not blocked by you. If you choose to bring your kids that's fine although I would steer clear away from bringing very young children due to the heat but again that's completely up to you. There is food and drinks. Also there are most certainly alcoholic drinks so be aware of that if you would prefer not to be in an area where others may be consuming alcohol. For the most part there is an understanding that you conduct yourself a certain way and people seem to do well with this however I would not rule out the chance that there could be some sort of drunk guys stumbling around. Actually I actually guarantee it.

American Kids Avoid Arrest

Two American dependent children have avoided arrest after setting up bowling pins across the Okinawa Expressway. Bother children were under the age of 15. The Okinawa Expressway is very similar to what you would call a highway in the United States although this is a toll road. These two children put bowling pins across the expressway and therefore cars passing by hit them causing damage to the vehicles. Luckily no one was injured including the kids or the drivers however there was damage (as one might imagine) to the cars after hitting the bowling pins. The Japanese Police required the children to cover damages of the vehicles and issue formal apologies but did not arrest the children. They had explained that the children are young and therefore they would avoid charges. This, however, did not end the story for the children. Both were confined to the military bases until arrangements were made to send them back to the United States.

This is an unfortunate and troubling story for me. To be completely honest the first thing that comes to mind is that these two children are incredibly lucky that during the time that they were placing these bowling pins they were not hit by an oncoming car and potentially killed. They were also incredibly lucky that a larger accident was not caused resulting in injury and death. With these two things in perspective it is hard for me to think that the punishment they received is unjust.

Osprey

Clarification was made by the US government that the osprey will be departing from all of the military bases in Okinawa and not just MCAS Futenma. There is really not much more to say about this story to be completely honest other than the fact that this should be a concern for everyone who lives on or near where these planes will be flying. At this current time the US government is trying to deny that the aircraft is unsafe although there have been countless occurrences which go against this claim. Personally as an American I don't think that this aircraft is worth the risk both for the men and women who are on board and for the families both American and Japanese who are in the path of this aircraft.

OTHER JAPAN NEWS

Did you know that there is going to be a Resident Evil restaurant in Tokyo? That's right in fact this restaurant is opening up here on the 13th in Shibuya. For those of you who don't know Resident Evil (or as it is known here Biohazard) is a video game about zombies (and much more but I am not a gamer so please feel free to leave more info in comments below). There is also another version of this game being released here soon and therefore the best thing to do to promote that is to open a theme restaurant here. So they are doing that.

Before anyone who is reading this asks yes I will be in Tokyo during this opening but I will not be attending. Not only am I not a fan of the video game but I also am not willing to stand in the lines that are going to be outside during my trip. I will be with my mom and there are other things which are important to me so I am going to take advantage of those things rather than going to this place. Don't worry though I am sure that there are going to be a ton of other people who will be out and sending you videos and photos and all that great stuff about this restaurant.

This is basically all that I have for now. I am sorry that I do not have more and I hope that you didn't mind my opinions being thrown in there here and there. Until next time thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed!

Testing new waters: Occupations

I recently received an email from a woman who is preparing for a move here to Okinawa in the near future. She was asking me whether or not there is a esthetician school here in Okinawa. She is currently working in another occupation but it is becoming boring for her and she feels that now is as good a time as any to try out something new and potentially find her "thing". This is something that many of us go through in life but I think it is more common when moving to a new place. A new place is a new opportunity for a new start and the job seems to be the first place that we look. During this morning's routine while I was checking out my Facebook page I saw the message again in my box, I had already replied but it had made me feel as though I needed to make a more in depth post about this and eventually a video because I am sure that this is a question that is on the minds of many who come here to Okinawa and may be reading this blog.

Please keep in mind: The content of this post and video is not focused on changing your military career. I have no idea how one would go about doing that and therefore I am in no position to speak about that. This will be regarding civilians (spouses, dependents and other foreigners). As always if you have more information please feel free to share it in the comments below and if you want information please let me know and I will see what I can do for you. 

Now that you know why I was compelled to write this post let's get right into some of the issues that you might want to take into consideration when trying to test the new waters of an occupation during your time here in Okinawa.

Language:

The first and most important thing to remember when considering a change of occupation during your time here in Okinawa is that any and all schools that you attend outside of the programs offered by the military bases are going to be conducted in Japanese. Okinawa is not a US territory and the native language here is Japanese. This means that any and all classes taught in any and all schools here (other than the Japanese As A Second Language School) will be taught in Japanese. If you are a regular reader or viewer you may then be asking "How is this the case? Didn't you say a lot of people in Okinawa speak English?". Yes there are a lot of people out here who speak some English which makes a basic conversation in English something possible but that does not mean that they speak enough English to hold a class in English.

"What are my options"

When it comes to language you have a few simple options. The first is to take a class that is offered by the US Military. These classes will in English and will be conducted like any other programs that you may have the ability to take in the US aside from some time differences. This is unfortunately your only option unless you have a pretty decent command of the Japanese language in which you can read, listen, and write. If you do have this command of the Japanese language your only limit is what is offered here on Okinawa.

Limitations:

The second thing to consider is that while you are in Okinawa you are living on an island. For many Americans island life is not something we are familiar with. For us almost anywhere within the US, Canada and even Mexico is reachable by car so long as you have the resources and the will to go. This is not the case here in Okinawa. For example we do not have esthetician schools here on this island nor do we have other learning establishments similar to bartender schools, tattoo schools or other trade schools. From my understanding speaking with people at the salon that I go to if you want to study certain things you will usually go to mainland Japan to complete your study and then potential return back here or potentially get a job somewhere else in Mainland. Of course as I said this also depends on whether or not you can speak Japanese.

"What are my options"

If you can speak Japanese and have an excess of funds you can potentially commute to Mainland Japan each day and take your classes. Many people from Okinawa commute to Mainland Japan each day although I honestly am not sure why one would want to do that with the 2 to 3 hour flight and the cost of the flights. (Note: There are commuter packages which make the flights much less expensive than what you or I might pay to take a trip up to Mainland for the weekend but I still imagine that it is rather expensive.) Of course this is depending if you speak Japanese or not and I would also note that I am not sure of what schools may or may not be available in the Mainland Japan. That would require a great deal of research that I did not complete because I am here in Okinawa.

If you are only an English speaker you still have a large variety of options if you have access to the military bases. One of the things that the bases have is universities where you can study a number of different subjects. These universities sometimes offer certificate programs also which allow you to study for a short time and get your certificate in something that may start you on the track to a new occupation.

Your third option is to take classes online. This is something that many people do and it can be done rather easily and in some cases can offer you more variety than what is here on the island. This will open doors to things that you may be more interested in.

Changing occupation without schooling:

The odds of you being here in Okinawa do more than a few years are slim. It's just the way that it is here for most people so what are you to do if you don't want to complete an educational program but you can't wait to get out of your current occupation? There are some ways for you to get what you need also. If you are a US citizen regardless  your current affiliation with the military you can apply to work with the US military bases. You can also apply for jobs on the military bases if you are Japanese but that is a topic for an entirely different blog. Anyway there are tons of jobs available in different areas. Some require a great deal of experience while others do not require a great deal of experience at all. If you are determined to get out of your current occupation you can give these types of jobs a shot and may find yourself on the path to something different and also finding yourself expanding your resume which is always a good thing. For the purpose of this blog I am not going to go into detail about how to find and get a job here. This is a topic that requires a lot of attention to detail and if you are interested in hearing about it please let me know and I will go into ever detail that I can for you. For now, however, we're going to stick to the fact that there are jobs out there all you have to do is apply and see why happens.

Other options:

If you want to make a little bit of money, don't want to go through the trouble of applying for another job and don't want to learn a new job you can also go for some of the many options that you have which anyone can get into and almost anyone can do. There are various candle, jewelry and fitness supplement "party" programs out there where you can sell the products and get a profit. This is not necessarily what I would consider a reliable source of income but if you are one of the many who just wants a little pocket change once in a while you might find yourself interested in taking part in this sort of thing. To be honest I am not familiar with this type of program either because it is not something that I have done but it is something that I am sure you can find our more information about be searching online for your favorite company.

Word of Caution: 

Just as anywhere else in the world where there is a market for someone to make money there is a person out there trying to make some cash. It is extremely important to be very aware of the fact that not everyone who is offering classes, especially those who are doing it out of their home, are not always legitimate sources of knowledge and in some cases you may be paying a great deal for someone to "teach" you techniques. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't go and learn from these people. In some cases they may have developed techniques that are useful and worth paying for. What I am stressing is that you as the student understand that there is a difference between learning techniques and becoming certified. You may also find that because you have paid for these classes doesn't necessarily mean that you will have the ability to get a job at a company or organization with those skills.

 

With all of this being said Okinawa is as good a place as any to test out a new occupation. There may be limitations but if you are willing to work with your options I think that you will be capable of finding something that works for you.