Pacific Odyssey - Leg 5

This morning the cruise ship =B3Rhapsody of the Sea=B2 tied up perpendicular to us.  She carries 2200 passengers and a crew of 800; it is huge and looks like a city floating on water, especially at night with all the lights shining.  It looks quite new with a large climbing wall in the stern on the uppermost deck.  In yesterdays storm waves were breaking at the fifth level, the floor even with the foredeck.  The Captain said he has been sailing into Naha for 11 years and yesterday was the windiest weather he has experienced. It was reassuring to hear this as it confirmed all the weather reports
Skipper has been keeping up with and made us happy we have remained tied to the dock.  Tomorrow is National Foundation Day, a holiday for the Japanese. Immigration will not be open so the earliest we can leave is Tuesday, if the weather looks better, a lot better.  Today the main street was closed down to car traffic and there were street performers juggling, singing, dancing etc. as well as stations set up for kids where they could blow bubbles and draw with chalk on the street.  There were many families walking the street; it was quite festive.  Japanese television was recording and filming the events and the people taking part or watching. We´ve noticed since we arrived here that there are people that choose to wear a dusk mask over their mouth and nose.  It seems random who wears it, we´ve seen older people, men dressed in suits, women looking smart in their work clothes, and small children.  I´m not sure whether these people are more prone to allergic reactions . . . I can´t ask them!  The kids and I are trying to learn how to write several Japanese words; the Japanese writing is so beautiful.  We have chosen the words ´water´ and ´boat´ to begin with.  The cars we see everywhere are very different to most of the cars at home.  They are all small, even the work trucks i.e. the delivery trucks, the cement trucks.  They park in the smallest places and most of them look in very good condition.  They look like toy cars; it´s hard to take them seriously. We learned that Okinawa is the home of karate.  In 1609 the Shimazu from Satsuma invaded Okinawa.  A law had been passed in the fifteenth century which banned the carrying of weapons in the Ryukyu kingdom, and so the well-armed adversary conquered easily.  The Shimazu exploited the Ryukyus greedily and enforced the no-weapon law for the next 250 years. “It was during this time that the ´te´ or unarmed fighting techniques of the native Ryukyuans, began to be developed and refined in secrecy.  As the Shimazu kept up trade with China under the front of the Ryukyu kingdom, many traders and sailors from China settled in Naha, including many Chinese martial artists.  Local ´te´ practitioners had the chance to practice with and learn from these people.  Later, Okinawans headed to China to study the Chinese fighting arts. What we now know as the martial art of karate is a mixture of traditional Okinawan ´te´ and techniques introduced from China . . .  In the years before WWII karate gained increasing popularity on mainland Japan. After the war, occupying troops took the martial art home to America with them.  Hollywood became involved and karate´s popularity spread around the globe (from the ´Lonely Planet:  Japan´).”  Everyday we learn something interesting or find something intriguing to look and wonder at.  It isn´t really that difficult to keep spending another day here, especially with the kids; there´s so much to look at and try.  Susan wishes her mom a tremendous 61st birthday, February 10th. Happy Birthday mom, from Susan. Arwen wishes her best friend Jocelyn an awesome 15th birthday, February 10th as well. Happy Birthday Bob, have a great day, from Arwen.   This is it for today, until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.