Thursday, May 7th--It was time to leave. We all felt a jumble of emotions as we packed everything up and got ready to get to the airport. The nice taxi driver from yesterday picked us up. One thing we have learned on this trip is that if we ever make it back, we need to do what it takes to get our international driver's license beforehand and rent a car. It would have made such a big difference for this trip! We learned that if we can't rent a car, taxis are the cheapest and most convenient way to get around on this island. And, no one cared whether or not we had enough seat belts for everyone so we could all squish into one taxi cab. We appreciated that.
The morning was overcast, which fit our mood. We got checked in and found our gate. We had a little while to wait before we could board, so I went in pursuit of lunch (found some onigiris) and a treat found only on Okinawa that we all wanted to try and as of yet had been unable to....
benimo tarts! These are very common and popular in Okinawa and are made with Okinawa's famous purple sweet potato, or benimo. We couldn't wait to sink our teeth into one. They are so pretty.
The benimo tarts are buttery on the outside and purple goodness on the inside. They were not sugary sweet but instead had just a simple, light sweetness to them. We all gave them a thumbs up.
We boarded a bus that took us to our airplane. As we were getting ready to leave the airport, Nathan turned to the window and waved, saying, "Good-bye, Okinawa! I'll see you on my mission!" He loved this island so much he's decided that he wants to serve his church mission here.
The view of the Naha Airport--which played a pivotal role during WWII--and the capital city of Naha as our plane ascended the sky.
Our last look at an island that fascinated us and taught us a lot. We had spent a week here and had a great time, but we all felt like we had only scratched the surface of all that there was to see, explore, and learn on this small island.
Our family trip to this island was such a different experience than what we were expecting it to be. Okinawa had been described to us as "Japan's Hawaii". Because of this expression, we expected Okinawa to be just like Japan only have gorgeous beaches everywhere you look. The gorgeous beaches did not disappoint, but Okinawa is nothing like Japan. There are elements of Japan's culture here and there, but Okinawa is very much its own country with its own culture.
Another thing that surprised us was the deep anger and hurt hiding behind the island's bright face. Because of everything Okinawa went through during WWII, there is a feeling of festering anger in the air. We felt it everywhere we went. While we don't blame this island for its resentment, it was such a stark contrast to us when we compared it to what we felt as we walked the streets of Hiroshima. Okinawans have never forgiven. The citizens of Hiroshima have. We felt bitterness and resentment as we explored Okinawa. We felt peace, love, and hope for the future as we explored Hiroshima. It was a good experience for the kids to feel the distinct difference between the two. Was one tragedy worse than the other? I don't know. The war shattered this island—the Battle of Okinawa rivals the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in terms of civilian casualties, and Okinawa’s fallout of disease and poverty was just as devastating as Hiroshima’s fallout of ash and black rain. But, being able to feel the difference between these two places gave us a lot to discuss and talk about as a family. We were able to feel and see what forgiveness is like and also feel and see what happens if you don't forgive. A great life lesson for all of us.
In the future, whenever any of us have the hard task of forgiving someone, we can look back and remember what our family felt as we toured both Okinawa and Hiroshima. Do we want deep, festering anger to linger in our souls forever like the Okinawans, or do we want the peace similar to what we felt in Hiroshima? During our discussions on this, one of the kids said that if the citizens of Hiroshima can forgive, then we should be able to forgive anything that ever happens to us. Nothing in our lives will ever be as bad as what happened in Hiroshima, and so we really have no excuse not to forgive.
Okinawa is such a unique place. We all feel so humbled and blessed to have been able to experience what little we did during our week stay. I sincerely pray that we can someday have the opportunity to return. We need to spend more time here.
As our plane descended onto the Narita airport, we were surprised that we felt like we were coming home. No longer did Japan feel like a place we were visiting. Somehow, during our five months here, this place has become HOME to our family.
As we rode the train that would take us into Tokyo, we enjoyed the familiar sights of the rural rice fields. The tiny rice plants were beginning to peek out above the water. We wouldn't be in this country long enough to see the rice fields grow to maturity and be harvested. We had less than a week before we would have to leave this wonderful country that somehow has become home in our hearts.
Here's what stood out to the kids on our Okinawa trip. What they wrote down is long, but it's a whole week packed into one paragraph:
Caitlin: Okinawa was one of the best parts of our time in Japan. We went to the beach a lot, which is something I've always wanted to do. I wasn't disappointed. I saw butterflies as big as my hand. The aquarium was really neat and I got to touch a live baby shark. Then, there was the dolphin show, which is one of the best experiences of my entire life. I got to see real sea turtles, even babies. The underground headquarters was really cool since I had learned about it in school, but the whole place was kind of haunting. There was a sick feeling of agony down there, that's the only way to describe it. The giant slides were really neat, too! That was one of the highlights of the trip. When our renter was driving us around on the first day that she drove us, I was climbing into the car when I saw a spider as big as my two fists put together on the back tire. It was yellow and hairy. I showed the renter and she brushed it off and told me that it was one that doesn't bite. That scared me really bad.
Tayla: The flight to Okinawa was really cool because I could see lots of different islands on the way there. Shuri Castle was one of my favorite things that we did there. It was really cool and I especially liked the main castle because of the dragons and the design on it was really pretty and it was also very different from everything we had seen in Japan. The castle grounds were really pretty and had some cool old stuff. The castle was beautiful when it was all lit up at night and I really liked it. The beach was really fun! I liked the two shrines that we saw near the water and I thought the cave on the other side of the shrine was cool. The hermit crabs were really annoying, but cool to see. The coral, sand dollars, and other shells that we saw were super cool and I got some of the coolest shells I've ever seen. I also liked the Okinawa glass and the turquoise rocks that we found. I thought seeing the sea cucumbers in the water were cool and the bigger crabs were creepy. Swimming in the water was super fun especially when the tide was coming in and the big waves knocked you over. I also really liked building sand castles on the beach. I really liked the aquarium. I especially liked the little eels coming out of the sand, the jellyfish, the manta rays, the whale sharks, the dolphin, and coral reef. Probably my very favorite thing that we did in Okinawa was see the dolphin show. It was super cool! They are so pretty. I liked watching them do all their tricks and jumping in the air. I also thought when they waved their tales and did hula hoops on their noses was cool. It was amazing to watch. The sea turtles were cool and it was fun to see manatees. At the zoo, I thought the white peacocks and normal peacocks were super pretty, especially when they spread their feathers. I thought it was weird to see white peacocks because I didn't know they existed. The castle ruins were super cool and they were a lot prettier than I thought they were going to be and they were in better shape than I expected. The Okinawan Village was awesome. My favorite part of it were the grain shacks where they kept their food. I liked them because the stairs going up to it were fun and tiny. I want Dad to make our treehouse like that. I liked the museums but I also thought they were super sad. The memorials and caves were interesting to see, but also sad. The Naval Headquarters were really fascinating to see, but there was a weird, strange feeling there. It was strange to be in a place where so many people died and I thought the grenade spots on the wall were kind of scary. The park that we went to after the Headquarters was incredibly awesome. The roller slides were so fun to go down, especially if you went down on your feet. The dancing at Shuri Castle was also one of my most favoritest parts. It was amazing and I really liked it. I especially liked the ones with the pretty headdress and traditional outfit. The ones with the fans were also fun to watch and I really liked the last ones because they looked like they were doing Irish step dancing. I was sad to leave Okinawa.
Christopher: My favorite part of Okinawa was the beach and the aquarium and Shuri Castle and the castle ruins. I enjoyed the beach because we found lots of shells and swam in the ocean. We found lots of critters. I found around 60 sand dollars. I found a sea cucumber and little tiny fish in the water and a whole bunch of crabs. I dug up a crab on accident. I enjoyed the aquarium because we were able to touch some of the animals. We got to touch sea cucumbers and star fish. I liked to look at the fish and the different colors. I liked to see how they swam and their habitats. I liked the whale sharks and the huge stingrays because they were fascinating. The stingrays looked like they were smiling. I enjoyed the jellyfish and how they swim is cool. I enjoyed looking at the other sharks in the other tank. I enjoyed the sawfish because they were really neat and a sign next to it said it was their birthday. I liked all the fish and when the aquarium was over, I was sad. We went outside and saw a dolphin show. The dolphins had trainers and they did a lot of tricks. My favorite trick was when the dolphin jumped really high in the air and touched the stick with his nose. I also liked watching the other dolphin show, and we got splashed. The manatees were really neat because they looked like hippos. The old Okinawa village was fascinating because we got to learn how they lived and how they stored their food. To keep it from rats, they stored it up high. Depending on if you were a farmer or someone like a priest is how nice of a house you would get. I liked to look inside the houses in the village because it was really neat. The Tropical Dream Center was really pretty and cool because we got to see lots of different plants and fruit growing on trees. The caves where the boys were, that was very awesome because it was history. We were able to walk down in to the caves and see where the boys were. The museum was very fascinating because I learned a lot about the Battle of Okinawa. I enjoyed looking at all of the carp flags outside of the museum for Boys' Day, especially the giant one. The Himeyuri Museum was fascinating because it followed the girls who had to be nurses and I was able to learn about them and their lives. The Japanese just abandoned them. I enjoyed Shuri Castle because it was cool to see it restored. The dancing was really neat because it was how the old Okinawan people used to dance. The castle ruins were a lot prettier than I expected and they were really fascinating because they just piled rocks to make the walls. They didn't cut them or shape them, they just piled them. The view from the top of the castle ruins was fantastic.
Logan: I liked Okinawa because we were really close to the ocean for most of it. Okinawa is a tropical island where a battle during World War II happened. We went to the beach and we liked swimming in the ocean. We found a lot of neat shells, two sea cucumbers, a lot of crabs and hermit crabs. We found fish and some other weird creatures. The food there is really good. We went to a museum there and we learned a lot there about Okinawa and what happened there during World War II. I liked Shuri Castle because I thought it was beautiful. The throne room was pretty and I really liked the dragons on the pillars that was in the throne room. I thought it was neat to be in a place where a king and a queen lived, not an emperor. I really liked the dances that we saw there. I really liked the aquarium. I like the cuttlefish and the whale sharks were awesome. I liked touching sea cucumbers and the starfish and the shark that I almost touched. It was just a small shark. Don't worry. The manta rays and the sting rays were cool. The other sharks were cool. I think some sharks look like they are mean and some look hilarious. Seeing the sawfish was awesome. Seeing the lobsters and the big crab was awesome. The dolphin show was so neat. I really like turtles and it was neat to see sea turtles in real life. I didn't know what manatees were before I saw them. I think they are weird and ugly. They are like the hippo of the sea. It was weird because the girl manatees had a bigger cage than the boys had. They divided them into different cages so they don't have babies until they want them to. I love the cute, little baby turtles. The Battle of Okinawa Museum was fascinating. There was so much information that it was hard to take it in. Seeing the caves where the boys hid was neat and I almost fell down into a hole when we were checking out the caves. The Kenji Monument was neat and going up the long stairs was a workout. At first, I just looked up in awe of all the stairs. While we were going up the stairs, we saw a lot of other caves. When we were at the top, you could see the ocean and it was really pretty. You could see the mountains and the vines and all the trees. When we went up into the observatory at the top of the museum, it was a really pretty view. Then, we went to the Himeyuri Museum. I don't think the Japanese should have done that to the girls, they shouldn't have left them and told them to do whatever they wanted. I think the museum was really sad. The Japanese Naval Headquarters was really neat. At first, I was scared to touch the walls. But then, I touched the walls where the grenades had hit the walls. Their hideout was pretty good and it was smart for them to have several openings so that they didn't get trapped in there. The roller slides were really awesome. This one guy had a puppy with a collar and he sat down and the dog started running and made him go really fast down the slides. I fell on my face once and I burned my face and it really hurt. I really liked the park.
Nathan: At Okinawa, it was really hot. Okinawa is a place that has beaches. We found some bubbles in the sand and Christopher was really excited to get a clam, but when he dug in the sand where the bubbles where, he found a crab instead of a clam. I found lots of good shells, but there was always a hermit crab inside of them. They take all of the pretty shells for their home. It was really hard to find a shell that didn't have a hermit crab inside of it. We went to a fish aquarium, and it was close to the ocean because they needed to get lots of fish. We got to touch starfish and sea cucumbers. We saw lots of fish, but I didn't see an octopus. There were lots of stingrays, sharks, and whale sharks in a big tank. There was the skin of a shark hanging up on the wall and we could touch it. We got to touch shark teeth. The dolphin show had lots of splashing, but we weren't close enough to get wet. There was a straight stick that the people put over the dolphin and the dolphin jumped over it. They jumped up and touched a ball with their nose. They would throw out the loops and one of them got the loop and spun it around their beak. It was really cool. I learned how turtles are hatched. The mom goes onto the sand and digs a hole, lays her eggs, buries them, and then just leaves them. Then the babies hatch and come out of the sand and they go in the ocean, which is scary 'cause they could get eaten by something that lives in the ocean that eats meat.
Audra: I love swimming in the ocean. I needed to go potty, and then, there's not a potty. The boys were making a sand castle, and I was helping them with my hands. We go to Japan. We go to Okinawa on an airplane. It was fun. Fish swim with their tail in the water. We went to a castle, it was a princess castle. I had to walk. A lot. There were stairs in the castle.
