JET Programme Series: Life in Tropical Okinawa - Shanaz Karmally
2023/12/22
JET Programme Series: Life in Tropical Okinawa - Shanaz Karmally
Have you figured out my placement? It's beautiful Okinawa! Wow! I can’t believe it’s been a couple of months since my arrival in Japan. It feels like only yesterday I was packing, unpacking and repacking before my flight. It’s been an absolute delight being in Okinawa.
Okinawa is a known tourist destination among Japanese citizens. With its tropical temperatures, you can best believe I’ve been enjoying the sunny days. Like Tobago, it’s full of tourists both local and foreign coming here all year round. I once asked when the tourist season ends in Okinawa to which I got a chuckle and was told, “Every day is tourist season” and then proceeded to point out every tourist and local that we saw. Eventually it became a game to pass the time.
Coming from the village of Gasparillo, I didn’t know what to expect living in a city to be like. Let me tell you, I live extremely close to the heart of the main city of Naha where all the tourists come for souvenirs, food, karaoke etc. This heart is called Kokusai Dori which reminds me of a clean High Street. Here, you’ll find so many things to do you won’t know where to begin. There’s always something new to discover. For example, every Sunday I kept hearing the beating of drums. It reminded me of home where a couple houses down, I’d hear one of my neighbours beating African drums with his friends. So, feeling nostalgic I followed the sound of music until I came upon a street performance and what a performance it was!
I’ve not explored many places in Okinawa yet but I’ve met some amazing people so far. There’s a really sweet old lady that’s always willing to help me despite our language barrier. We communicate through short phrases and words that I’ve learnt and she always encourages me to keep doing my best (she also gives me random snacks and fruit 😀). At work, the teachers are super nice and always willing to help me with my Japanese or otherwise. The students are still shy at times but are always willing to learn more about Trinidad and Tobago.
I’ve been to two beaches on this island but I hope to visit more in the future as well as travel to the outer islands one day. Of all the places I’ve been to, Shuri Castle is my current favourite. The castle caught fire a couple years ago and seeing the efforts to help rebuild the castle has been very inspiring to witness. My preferred area of the grounds is a little away from the castle where there is a pond filled with ducks. There’s a small building on a man-made island that at first looked haunted but I later learned it was actually a Buddhist Temple Hall called Bezaitendo. There’s also a high-arched bridge called the Tennyobashi Bridge that links the temple hall to the main pathway.
I’ve also had the pleasure of taking part in the Great Tug of War (Naha Ootsunahiki) event which brings A LOT of people from around the world to tug on a giant rope. It was amazing. If you love tug of war, you’re going to have a blast at this event. Well, that’s it for now but who knows what my next post will be on. Maybe I visited Kansai, maybe I tried making doubles.😀
JET Series: Life in Tropical Okinawa (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives
Okinawa is a known tourist destination among Japanese citizens. With its tropical temperatures, you can best believe I’ve been enjoying the sunny days. Like Tobago, it’s full of tourists both local and foreign coming here all year round. I once asked when the tourist season ends in Okinawa to which I got a chuckle and was told, “Every day is tourist season” and then proceeded to point out every tourist and local that we saw. Eventually it became a game to pass the time.
Coming from the village of Gasparillo, I didn’t know what to expect living in a city to be like. Let me tell you, I live extremely close to the heart of the main city of Naha where all the tourists come for souvenirs, food, karaoke etc. This heart is called Kokusai Dori which reminds me of a clean High Street. Here, you’ll find so many things to do you won’t know where to begin. There’s always something new to discover. For example, every Sunday I kept hearing the beating of drums. It reminded me of home where a couple houses down, I’d hear one of my neighbours beating African drums with his friends. So, feeling nostalgic I followed the sound of music until I came upon a street performance and what a performance it was!
I’ve not explored many places in Okinawa yet but I’ve met some amazing people so far. There’s a really sweet old lady that’s always willing to help me despite our language barrier. We communicate through short phrases and words that I’ve learnt and she always encourages me to keep doing my best (she also gives me random snacks and fruit 😀). At work, the teachers are super nice and always willing to help me with my Japanese or otherwise. The students are still shy at times but are always willing to learn more about Trinidad and Tobago.
I’ve been to two beaches on this island but I hope to visit more in the future as well as travel to the outer islands one day. Of all the places I’ve been to, Shuri Castle is my current favourite. The castle caught fire a couple years ago and seeing the efforts to help rebuild the castle has been very inspiring to witness. My preferred area of the grounds is a little away from the castle where there is a pond filled with ducks. There’s a small building on a man-made island that at first looked haunted but I later learned it was actually a Buddhist Temple Hall called Bezaitendo. There’s also a high-arched bridge called the Tennyobashi Bridge that links the temple hall to the main pathway.
I’ve also had the pleasure of taking part in the Great Tug of War (Naha Ootsunahiki) event which brings A LOT of people from around the world to tug on a giant rope. It was amazing. If you love tug of war, you’re going to have a blast at this event. Well, that’s it for now but who knows what my next post will be on. Maybe I visited Kansai, maybe I tried making doubles.😀
JET Series: Life in Tropical Okinawa (Japanese Embassy's Facebook)
JET Programme Series Archives