Pacific Odyssey - Leg 5

We are enjoying another day in Okinawa as the seas outside the harbor are measuring 30feet; we may be here tomorrow as well.  There is swell at the dock, far from the open sea.   Naha is becoming quite familiar and we continue to find interesting things to fill our days.   Many of us are fitting in another trip to the bathhouse, a great way to spend a few hours on a cold and wet day.  The internet cafe is another favorite place to go and it offers free drinks, ice cream etc.  There is a Starbucks here and it is beginning to feel like home as well as it has a big and comfortable sitting area where we can write letters, journal, or read.  Okinawa is known for its glass and pottery and several crew and trainees have been shopping around and are considering bringing some home.  I was with my 3 girls today at Starbucks, reading, and we met a wonderful young Japanese woman who was very interested in what we were doing and where we had been.  She was also keen to share information about Okinawa and left for 15 minutes to go to the market to get some Okinawan cane sugar candy and donuts for us to try.  We exchanged email addresses and I hope to stay in touch with her.  She is learning English, it´s quite good, but we also had paper and pen to help us communicate.  Yesterday I met a French couple and their 2 small children visiting from Shanghai.  They both work there, for 5 years already, and gave us some information on what to do, what to look out for etc.  She gave me her phone number if ever we should need anything when we´re there.  In the bathhouse today I received another back rub and this time the woman allowed me to rub her back as well.   It has been interesting trying to do what needs doing without knowing the language, i.e. laundry, making change, finding the bank, figuring out the telephone, ordering food, asking for directions, buying anything (we can´t read the labels on anything), etc.  We take communicating by mouth for granted, though it´s been amusing trying to be understood via other means . . . rather humbling.  The cooks bought yogurt for breakfast to eat with the granola.  They chose several different colors of containers, hoping to offer several different flavors.  It turned out they were all plain yogurt!  Perhaps the different colour lids had something to do with the fat content, we still don´t know.  This type of thing happens constantly and it makes for some hilarious stories.   Aruji took Jordan, Skipper, Jacob, Noah, and Simon to a Japanese restaurant for ´soki soba,´ fresh noodles in a broth with 2 pork rib sections placed on top.  The meat is incredibly tender; my kids love it. As soon as they had entered and had seated themselves on tatami mats on the floor around a low table, they were served cold jasmine tea.  After the meal, hot jasmine tea was served.  Aruji then took them all to the port where he works and showed the boys some very large ships and some beautiful models he has in his office. We are becoming quite proficient in the use of chopsticks and some of us are using them regularly at mealtime. I am enjoying the ´sing song´ voices of the Japanese women every time we enter or leave a store, bank, building etc.  It is a greeting that is accompanied by a nod and slight bow of the head.   We´ve learned very quickly to return the greeting or salutation; the Japanese are very friendly people.  We have commented on how safe we feel here; probably the safest we´ve felt during the entire offshore voyage.  We are all happy and healthy, and still enjoying Naha. Good night, Bonice.