With our first real visitors arriving next week (YEAH!), I’d like to go ahead and set down a few “rules” for ALL our visitors.
Things to expect when flying in:
--The flight and time change are gonna suck; you’ve probably
already considered this but I thought I’d mention it, just in case.
--If you fly into Naha (most of you will), the drive between the
airport and the base will not be what you expect. There are
sections of Naha which look a little like a cheap, concrete
Vegas. This floored me when we first arrived.
--ALL the buildings are concrete and most of them are fairly
unattractive. Also, 90% of the signage is, predictably, in
Japanese (the other 10% being in both Japanese and English).
These two things combine to make your initial views of the
island a little overwhelming.
It’s okay though; it all gets better! You’ve seen a lot of those better parts here and we’ll make sure you see a bunch of them in person :)
To make your stay more comfortable:
1. Driving Rules of the road differ significantly here from what you are used to in the States. It’s not just a matter of being on the other side of the road. You will routinely see things such as:
--Cars parked on the side of the road, blocking half a lane of traffic and moving vehicles swerving into other lanes or even into oncoming traffic to go around these stopped vehicles.
--Cars driving in the rain or dusk without their lights on.
--Children riding completely unrestrained, climbing around the inside of the vehicle, hanging out the windows, etc. They do have car seat laws; they just aren’t enforced. (Car seat laws ARE enforced on base, however, so Logan and any visiting children will be buckled in.)
--Motorcycles and mopeds “white lining” in traffic. This is not illegal and is widely practiced.
--Cars failing to slow down for yellow lights and a sort of “lag time” applied to red lights where two or three more vehicles might try to squeeze through the intersection.
--Cars sitting patiently waiting to turn left on red (left on red being the equivalent of right on red in the US). Turning left on red is illegal here.
--An utter lack of street signs. Major roads are numbered and intersections are named, but that’s it. You get used to navigating by landmarks and counting street lights.
--Surprisingly few accidents. We’ve only seen two since we’ve been here.
Moreover, you can expect us to follow many of these same practices. When in Rome . . . If this is going to make you uncomfortable (i.e. instigate driving tutorials, grabbing of the wheel, stomping on the imaginary brake pedal), we recommend you sit in the back seat and close your eyes if necessary.
2. Toilets Just as a reminder, we only have one full bathroom in the house, along with an inconveniently placed single toilet off the laundry room. Obviously this isn’t a huge problem, but Sunday morning might be a little tricky. We appreciate your flexibility and cooperation :)
For the women: public toilets are generally squat-style, meaning a porcelain hole in the floor. They are not hard to use and are almost always cleaner than American public restrooms, but they are different than what you are used to. I can give you a quick primer if you have any questions. Actually, I’ve gotten so I prefer the squat-style because it’s easier than hovering.
3. Mold Mold, unfortunately, is a fact of life around here. It’s an island so it’s humid and the house is rather old. We do our best to keep it under control obviously, but it’s a never-ending battle. I originally thought that it was a relatively simple matter of dusting: where there was dust, there was mold. But I have since found mold on places where no reasonable person would ever consider having to dust, such as the underside of the desk. If mold is an allergy issue for you, we apologize and recommend you bring a supply of medicine. If you see any while you are here, please let me know—I won’t be offended at you “critiquing” my housekeeping and I would rather clean it up as soon as it’s discovered.
To make your stay more fun:
1. If you are so inclined, there are a very few words of Japanese that you will hear frequently and which you may wish to use to ease your way around.
Konnichiwa (cone knee chee wa)—hello/good day
*This is the best all-purpose greeting, but there is also Ohio
Gozaimasu—good morning and Konbanwa—good evening.
Sumimasen (sue me mah senn)—excuse me
*This word is EXTREMELY useful and can be used as a polite
lead-in to an English question. “Sumimasen, where is the
bathroom?”
Kudasai (coo dah sigh)—please
*You can use this to order something by simply pointing at
the item and saying “kudasai”.
Doumo arigatou gozaimasu (doh moh ah ree gah toe go zigh
mas)—thank you very much
*Variations of this phrase are abundant and
include “doumo”, “arigatou”, “doumo arigatou” (like the
song, Mr. Roboto) and “arigatou gozaimasu”. Any of these
are acceptable.
Kawaii (rhymes with Hawaii)—cute
*You won’t need to say this one so much, but you’ll hear it
quite a bit in reference to Logan or any other children
(particularly blondes) that may be traveling with you.
2. Bring your spirit of adventure. We have had a wonderful time trying new things since we’ve been here and we HIGHLY recommend you do the same. You’re not in Kansas (North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Hawaii) anymore, so don’t expect it to be the same; try not to make comparisons, just appreciate it for what it is.
On a similar note, we’re not going to do anything to intentionally try to scare you or gross you out, but you can expect us to eat/do many of the things we’ve become accustomed to and encourage you to do the same. Relax, the food is good, Japan is extremely safe, and chopsticks are fun!
3. Lastly, if there’s anything in particular you’ve seen pictures of here on the blog which you would also like to do while you are here, let me know and we’ll do our best to accommodate you. Parks I can promise you; cherry blossoms I cannot.
We are REALLY excited to start having visitors. We’ve already envisioned showing you around and frequently say to each other “Oh, so-and-so would love, laugh at or have a comment about this!” Call for room availability and weather updates before you come (summer=hot), and we’ll see you when you get here! Hope the list of “rules” is helpful to you!
Shuri Castle courtyard
