Kadena Cicadas and Other Tales of Import

by Pa Rock
Cultural Explorer


One of the first things I noticed when I arrived on Okinawa was all of the noise, and a good part of that noise, at lease on Kadena Air Base, was provided by nature.  The cicadas (I always called them locusts, and my father used to refer to them as "jar flies") were everywhere on base.  Their noise died off after I had been here a couple of weeks, but I have noticed in the last day or two that they are back.

I read once that Japan intentionally imported a plane load of lightening bugs from the United States.  I don't guess they made it this far south, because I have not observed any on Okinawa.  That leads me to wonder if cicadas are native to the Orient, or are they, too, imports.  Kadena has hundreds of pine trees which were supposedly brought in by some American general in an attempt to make the base feel more like home - his American home.  And, of course, many cherry trees in America were imported from Japan.  Man, whether of the western or eastern persuasion. seems to love messing with his environment.

If we could just learn to import and export peace and love - instead of promoting war and international arms sales - what a wonderful world this would be!

More of the Same, with American and British Overtones

by Pa Rock
Cultural Explorer


The weather is still drab and dreary, causing me to remain inside feeling sorry for myself on the third day of the holiday weekend.  I'm sure that things will be bright and sunny tomorrow when I am safely back at work!

I am cooking today in an effort to create a comfort zone.  There is a nice roast in the crockpot along with a side of new potatoes.  The whole thing is simmering under a gravy of garlic and mushroom soup - and it smells warm and wonderful!  I have also hooked up my new television, the one that I bought strictly as a DVD player, and have popped in the first episode of BBC's Hamish Macbeth,  a quirky detective yarn set in Scotland and starring Robert Carlyle - way before Trainspotting and The Full Monty made him famous.  Hamish Macbeth is some of Carlyle's finest work.

Home is where we make it.

Dreary Holiday Weekend

by Pa Rock
Cultural Explorer


The typhoon didn't materialize, but the rains came.  Today has been bleary, dreary, and rain-soaked.  I called each of my kids and my sister this morning - even managed to use the unreliable Magic Jack on a couple of the calls - and then went back to bed and read.  Finally this afternoon I decided to challenge the rain and drove over to Camp Foster where I bought some groceries at the commissary.  (I work for the Army on an Air Force Base and shop at a Marine Corps Base - quite ecumenical!)

The post exchange and commissary at Foster are much smaller than those at Kadena, yet they seem better stocked. I think they handle things that they know people will want, and leave the extraneous crap to the bigger stores.  Anyway, I am glad that I live so close to Camp Foster because shopping their is quicker and much more convenient.

There are no Wal-Marts on Okinawa.  That is a good thing.

I miss the sunshine!

Another Fizzle

by Pa Rock
Cultural Explorer

Mike's Tex Mex - One of My Neighbors

The current attempt at a typhoon has fizzled.  Oh, it's been cloudy, dreary, and even rainy, but the winds just never materialized.   In fact, it has only rained twice today, both times when I happened to be out puttering around the island.  The last I heard, this "typhoon" which never even garnered a name, has been downgraded to a "tropical storm."

Friends and I were going to an Okinawan drum festival tonight, but it has been kicked back one week due to the unpredictable weather.

Ishigawa Kitchen - Another of My Neighbors
(Note Their Matching Scooter!)

I spent today nesting.  All of the drapes are up, and that has left my apartment feeling much more private and restful.  Next comes the rugs!

I also bought a television for my study that's only purpose will be to play the DVDs that I brought from the states.  I bought several series before relocating to Asia - including Hamish Macbeth, Tales of the Gold Monkey, BBC's Sherlock Holmes, Jeeves and Wooster, and Northern Exposure.  They will go a long way in supplementing the crappy local channels.

I got a lot of stuff put away today, and could be ready for visitors in just a couple of days.  Come see me!

More of the Neighborhood

by Pa Rock 
Cultural Explorer

Stand of palms at the beach

It's starting to get sticky and cloudy on Okinawa, good signs that tomorrow's anticipated typhoon may actually be heading this way.  Today as I was shopping for drapes at the Base Exchange on Kadena, I had a visit with a local national lady who works at the Exchange.  She said that Okinawa had not had a typhoon in the past three years, and now it looks as though the island will have had two in one week!  I told her that I had been here for a big one in 1972, and we decided that I must be somehow responsible for this fearful weather!

Ice cream stand  near beach with windows boarded up in
anticipation of Typhoon Kompasu

I did find the drapes - but not at Kadena.  I needed four identical panels, but Kadena only had three.  I found better ones at the Post Exchange on Camp Foster, plenty of them, and they were cheaper.  It pays to shop around!  The two big sliding glass doors (one of which covers the entire wall of the living room) are now draped.  Only two more windows to go - and then I move on to rugs!

Attached are a couple of views of my neighborhood taken last Tuesday a couple of hours before the storm.

Let's Have Another One - Just Like the Other One!

by Pa Rock
Cultural Explorer


As I was preparing to leave work today, an email came around advising us to unplug and wrap all of our computers, telephones, and electronics in plastic garbage bags.  The reason:  another typhoon is expected to hit the island on Saturday evening..  Apparently Okinawa has not experienced any typhoons for a couple of years, and it is now literally "raining" typhoons.

Maybe this one will prove to be more exciting than the last.  I at least hope that it has a better name!

The movers returned and hauled off all of my empty boxes today, so now I officially feel at home.  Project for this weekend, barring a typhoon, will be to buy some long draperies for my patio sliding doors - two sets - and possibly a couple of nice rugs.  Nesting!

All Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

by Pa Rock
Cultural Explorer

Typhoon Kompasu has come and gone, and as typhoons go, it was fairly lame.  The winds roared, I don't know at what speed, but I had occasion to step out onto my back balcony a couple of times and did not blow away.  This morning it was calm, with a light rain, and the birds were chirping.

Typhoons are unpredictable.  There is no way of knowing exactly where they will hit, or even if they will hit, until just before the event happens - and severity or force is also a crap shoot.  This one was a dud, but the next could make international headlines.  The best plan is to have a plan and be prepared.

I benefited from Typhoon Kompasu much as someone benefits from a drill.  I got to see firsthand how the military prepares and reacts, and I took a walk through my community shortly before the weather got dicey and saw the ways the local nationals got their homes and businesses ready to face the typhoon.  It was a good education. - one that could be of great importance sometime in the future.

There was no local damage.  I will try and post a couple of photos of boarded-up businesses tomorrow.