Okinawa vs. Iwakuni

Note: This is the third and final installment of my first visit to Okinawa. If you haven't already, I encourage you to read the first and second posts so that more of what is written below is in context for you.

No matter where we have been stationed in the Marine Corps, we have found things to like and dislike about each place. When we ask people what they think of their current duty station, people seem to either love it or hate it. This seems to be amplified when talking to families stationed overseas. Either you love it or you hate it... a lot.

Those stationed in Iwakuni and Okinawa love and hate their temporary homes for both similar and different reasons, which I will try to address here. Now, I realize I was only in Okinawa for four days in the month of February and I have lived in Iwakuni for 18 months. These are just my first impressions, so don't take my opinions personally, I am not attacking you or your island, and remember you can stop reading this at any time.

First off, for those people who suck at Japanese geography (ahem, Americans not ever stationed in the Pacific) here are some maps for your reference. Below is a map of Japan... Okinawa is in the red box. Iwakuni is about where Hiroshima is on the main island of Japan. It took about 2 hours to fly from Iwakuni to Okinawa.

Below is Okinawa. Picture it as a lower ankle and foot bone kicking that square box with the yellow Japan. The bottom of the foot says "Kadena," with an airplane. That is roughly where I stayed while visiting. We also visited Nago, which is on the underside of the heel of the foot of Okinawa. It takes about an hour to drive from Kadena to Nago on the tollroad highway.

Weather in February

Um, yeah, this was no contest. We hopped off our C-130 aircraft from Iwakuni and stepped out in to a warm breeze. I had to take my London Fog coat off before I overheated on my way to the car. The ladies who live on Okinawa and greeted us at a military spouse function that night wore long sleeves and some of them went so far as to wear jackets. I'm sorry, but after coming from 40-degree weather two hours ago to a balmy 65 degrees, I am going to raise my eyebrow at your puffy coat.

It was the tail end of Cherry Blossom season there, and we enjoyed the last of the blooms in Nago, at the site of a former shrine and castle that are long gone.

Winter Weather Winner: Okinawa

And that leads me to my next item: Beaches

Beaches and Tanning

Iwakuni's beaches are on the industrialized side of Japan, meaning we swim with plastic bags and tires if we decide to swim. Radioactivity resulting from the Fukushima disaster is up for debate, as well. You can see my trash-riddled beach experience near Iwakuni here by clicking this link. In comparison, Okinawa's beaches were gorgeous:

The tanning was superb. Except this was my first tanning for months, so I burned first because, having come from WINTER it did not occur to me to put sunscreen on my face the first day we were there. I subsequently put on 30 sunblock every morning after, but the damage was done and I had a perpetually red face through my entire time in Okinawa. However, now, a week later, my face is a gorgeous tan color that naturally gloats to the poor, pale people of Iwakuni. Ha, ha... I was somewhere warm and you were not. Well, except for these two, my Iwakuni partners in crime. That is, if relaxing on a beach is a crime.

Tanning and Beaches winner: Okinawa

Shopping on Base

Now, if you stay on the Marine Corps bases, their exchanges and commissaries really aren't that much different than the ones we have in Iwakuni. However, there are also Navy and Air Force bases very close by. Kadena is a U.S. Air Force base that boasts both a huge exchange and a huge commissary. They even have a tiny craft store, like a small Michael's or JoAnns:

I purposely did not take a photo of the Kadena exchange and commissary. I did not want residents of MCAS Iwakuni to drool on their laptops and ruin them. I'm sure you can Google for a photo. They have a scuba shop and a portrait studio and their salon stays open until 7 or 8 p.m. I was able to find my brand of hair highlighting dye (which I usually have to ask my Mom to send me) and prices were cheaper than in Iwakuni. Oh, hey, wipe the corner of your mouth before that drips on your keyboard!

On-Base Shopping Winner: Okinawa

Big OK: Shopping and Restaurants off base

Two of the restaurants that I thought were quite tasty and a good value were The Rose Garden for breakfast and Bovinos Brazilian food for lunch. For those of you military members visiting the island, the bases also have Chili's and Macaroni Grill, both of which we ate at... and savored every bite!

Now, switching gears to shopping, I want to start this off with this bit of information: I am a large adult by Japanese standards. By American standards, I wear the average women's clothing size. That means I cannot find any clothes or shoes outside the MCAS Iwakuni base gates that fit me, with the exception of a tank top I bought in Miyajima that was on the clearance rack. I even have to buy men's fuzzy socks because my feet are about a half-size too big for women's socks.

In Okinawa, we headed to a place off base called American Village. It is famous for its ferris wheel, among other things:

Yep, you read that right. There is Climax Coffee in the shopping center. I did not drink anything there, so I can't tell you if it lives up to its name or not. We had some tasty burgers and crepes with ice cream while we were there. And then we walked around to shop. I found something I just couldn't resist:

The spouse and I have an ongoing battle: He is a master sergeant in the Marine Corps and I have a master's degree. We both claim to be "the master." I figured that once I had a sweatshirt with the title, I would win the argument. I just had to have the sweatshirt displayed in the doorway of the Okinawa clothing shop.

I walked in and checked out the sweatshirt. It looked like it would fit me just fine. The little Japanese man shopkeeper hurried up to me, smiled, pointed at the sweatshirt and said, "Big OK." Um, OK, yes, it will fit, I see that. I smiled back and said, "OK, thanks." He smiled, pointed at the sweatshirt, then pointed at me and said "Big OK." Uh, yeah, I get that I am big, but that this sweatshirt will still fit me. I pulled the zipper down to make sure it worked before I bought it. From my right I hear, "Yes, big OK." I looked at him and stifled the remark I would have laid on an American salesperson... I didn't need to start an international incident in a place where there were already people protesting about American military presence. If I didn't absolutely need to win the spousal argument, I would have walked out without the "Big OK" sweatshirt. But my competitiveness won out over my pride. I said I'd buy it and then headed to the checkout counter, which leads me to my next topic, currency.

Shopping Selections Off Base for "Big OK" People Winner: Okinawa
Politeness of sales people about not pointing out "Big OK" People Winner: Iwakuni (by default)

Ways to Pay for Stuff

In Iwakuni and outlying areas, cash is still king, And when I say cash, I mean yen bills and coins, not U.S. dollars. For those of us who automatically reach for a debit card to buy stuff, this can be quite a challenge to get used to... especially if you have already driven away from base and need to get some yen. But in Okinawa, everywhere we went, from stores to restaurants, accepted debit cards, yen AND U.S. dollars. In fact, when I went to buy my "Big OK" sweatshirt, the shopkeeper gave me a 10 percent discount because I paid in yen. It sort of made the sting of the "Big OK" go away, but not really.

Ways to Pay Winner: Okinawa

English and American Influence

Many of the Japanese restaurant waitstaff and store clerks spoke excellent English, some of them even without an accent of any kind. This is very rare in Iwakuni. Most Japanese know some English, but struggle with grammar, or simply don't feel comfortable speaking it, so they don't. This was not a problem in Okinawa. Even the toll booths gave you automated instructions in English, as well as Japanese. On mainland Japan, these same instructions are completely in Japanese, so all I can confirm is that the high-pitched voice says is "kudasai" and "arigato," which is please and thank you.

Mainland Japan does have quite a number of things in English, road signs for instance, but nothing like in Okinawa. One thing I heard from Okinawa base inhabitants is that they hardly knew they were in a foreign country. In fact, I had a flashback to my high school days in Southern California when we were at the beach. It was a similar mix of ethnicities, wearing very similar fashions. Apparently the 80's and 90's are back when it comes to Okinawan fashion.

There are a ton of restaurants and stores that have American names. I was surprised how "cool" American stuff was there, considering the mainland Japanese seem to like French things more than American ones. There were American Grills, where you could get hamburgers, tacos and Campbell's chicken soup. There was A&W. There was a Tony Romas.

English off Base Winner: Okinawa
Feeling Like You Are Actually Living in Japan Winner: Iwakuni

Protestors

Sadly, I never got up early enough to see the protestors outside of MCAS Futenma in the mornings. That base is where the controversial Osprey aircraft are based. There are two different kinds of protestors: Ones who you meet first on your way in that basically say, "G.I. Go Home!" and, a little bit closer to the base gates, the protestors who support the American military with signs that say something to the effect of "G.I. Stay Here."

Iwakuni has had maybe three groups of protestors since I moved here. They are all scheduled through the local government and we are warned not to go through the front gates of the base because they are closed. Other gates are open for us to travel through. Yes, there are some signs, and usually a bullhorn involved, but for the most part, it is very rare for us to see protests against American presence.

Good Will Towards American Military Members Trying to Get To Work Winner: Iwakuni
Protest Entertainment Factor Winner: Okinawa

Salsa Dancing

Like the spouses here, the Okinawa MACS-4 (my spouse's squadron) wives get together once a month or so for an activity. This month was salsa dancing, and the Iwakuni wives (Nilce, Amy and I) were invited to go along. Who would have thought I would be salsa dancing in Okinawa? But there is a local salsa band, which was very entertaining... with the exception of the trombone that seemed to have it's horn right at the level of my right ear drum. That's what you get for going to the bathroom at the wrong time and getting the seat closest to the front of the stage area. The restaurant/bar hosting the hour-long salsa lessons and the band was Mil Beso. Of course, we were lacking male dance partners, so we made do.

My friend, Stacey, who I originally met while living in Pensacola, is stationed in Okinawa with her husband, and is a ballroom dancing enthusiast. Poor thing was partnered with me... I have little rhythm and even less grace.

Stacey is British and I love it when she says "bloke" and "rubbish."

While the dancing and band were fun, I must say a few words about the "beverages." Below is a picture of my 900 yen margarita (about $9). My hands are fairly normal-sized, I promise.

For 1050 yen, I can get a margarita three times that big at Mike's Tex Mex, not far from MCAS Iwakuni. And it tastes better.

Salsa Dancing Winner: Okinawa (by default - I have not salsa danced in Iwakuni)
Margarita Quality Winner: Iwakuni

Fun Cheesiness

Something I am not sure I will ever get used to in Japan is the "cheesiness" of some things. Cheesiness has been defined as "unsubtle," "unsophisticated" and "trying too hard," at least by American standards. Now, I do not mean to insult the people of Japan. For the most part, they lead very serious, conservative lives, wearing a lot of black and gray. They work six days a week and don't believe in babysitters. Only family members watch children while the parents are away. And if you don't have family members capable of watching your kids... well, you take your kids with you. I think the Japanese should get their fun and splashes of color wherever they can. And usually those can be found at tourist destinations.

There is always something set up as the perfect prop for a "selfie." I sent this one to the spouse:

This is the Nago Pineapple Farm and Museum. Another perfect setup for a group selfie:

And complete with pineapple golf carts that drove themselves:

I have no idea how they drive themselves. There weren't any tracks, cables or power cords around. My guess is GPS mapped automation. Someone else suggested magnets.

Bananas at the pineapple farm.

Flowers were in bloom all around the park, which you could see from the golf carts. After the gray and brown surroundings in mainland Japan, it was nice to see bursts of color like this.

A baby pineapple is pictured below. Al least I think it is a real baby pineapple. It was clearly not pineapple picking season. There were a few random ripe pineapples, but they had been placed out in the small fields on stands, made to look like they were growing. Maybe it's the American in me, but I would rather have seen nothing than "faked" pineapples ready to harvest. We did see a number of pineapple blooms.

The activities available at the Pineapple Farm and Museum. It took us about 45 minutes to complete it all. Oh, and if you are military, ask for the military discount. We each got in for half price.

And, of course, there a gift shop about the size of the pineapple field. We sampled pineapple wine (both sweet and dry), juice, baked goods, candy, and, of course, pineapple fruit. I bought some juice and candy to bring home. More than half our time was filled with snaking through all the pineapple treats.

Clearly, Okinawa attractions follow suit with mainland ones when it comes to bright colors, cartooning and, well, cheese. And it's just something you come to expect as an American tourist. But the number of Okinawa attractions is limited, simply because of the size of the island. There is so much more to do and see on mainland Japan, that we certainly won't get to all of it in the three years we're stationed here.

Cheesy Winner: Tie

To Sum It All Up

In conclusion, I would have to say that Okinawa is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. I want to experience the Japanese culture, tainted with as little American influence as possible, and I think I've been able to experience that on the mainland, better than I would have if we were stationed in Okinawa. Also, while the weather in Okinawa is gorgeous in January/February, several months out of the year Okinawa inhabitants are preparing for and experiencing typhoons. The architecture on the island reflects this, as many of the buildings aren't much more than concrete bunkers. Even the oceanfront properties have small windows and tough-looking balconies.

On-base housing is similar, but with interesting differences: The towers are nine stories tall instead of six, and residents who live on the bottom floors are allowed to have dogs. In Iwakuni tower residents are not allowed to have dogs, which is why many four-legged friends have been left behind with family or friends in the States. I am not sure why the policies are different from one Japanese Marine base to another, but I think having your furry family member with you might help some families transition better.

This was my view from our WestPac hotel room on the USMC's Camp Foster. The two large beige buildings are family housing towers.

Overall "Where I Want to Live" Winner: Iwakuni.... Because the grass always seems greener on the other side of the ocean, but there is so much more to explore and experience on mainland Japan.

I want to thank Erin and Rebecca for being our escorts and tour guides while we were in Okinawa. Thank you so much for making us feel so welcome and making sure we could always get to wherever we needed (or wanted!) to go, even at 4:30 a.m.!

Jane Wayne Day: A softer Marine Corps tradition (Part 1)

Note: This is the second installment of a 3-part series about my four days in Okinawa. At the bottom of this post is the link for the third installment.

After being married to my Marine for nearly 14 years, I finally had the opportunity to participate in my first Jane Wayne Day.

G.I. Jessica

This is a tradition in the U.S. Marine Corps of allowing Marines' significant others (usually female significant others) to try their hands, bodies and minds at being a Marine for a day. Because the spouse's squadron headquarters is in Okinawa, two MACS-4 Det. B (the spouse's unit) spouses, Amy and Nilce (pronounced Nil-see) and I headed to the island for the event. If you haven't already, you can read my blog post about flying Space A on a C-130 here. We got the full Marine experience.

On Thursday morning, the three of us from Iwakuni woke up at the crack of 7:30 a.m. to be ready for our ride to arrive at the hotel and get us at 8:30 a.m. for the 9 a.m. event. Yes, we were really pushing the early morning envelope. My night owl self was appreciative and I made sure to drink some very strong iced tea quickly so I would not offend my two roommates unnecessarily. Necessary offenses are one thing, unnecessary ones are another. Here we are, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, in our husbands' gear... except for Amy... she is a former Marine. Cheater.

Left to right: Nilce, me and Amy.

Snapped this shot for the spouse. He SO wishes he could have been there to see my participation in Jane Wayne Day.

We had been briefed the week before regarding the schedule of events. We were getting a little taste of everything, including mess hall food for lunch.

The thing I was most looking forward to: The boot camp experience. I wasn't sure how I would react to getting yelled at repeatedly for no real reason. Or even for a real reason. I know the spouse avoids screaming at me... for good reason. The thing I was least looking forward to: The obstacle course. I am more fluffy than athletic, and I avoid pain whenever possible. I knew I was going to get hurt on the obstacle course, the question was: how badly?

But first, some more photo opps...

Badass me. The spouse commented on Facebook that he liked this one.

The MACS-4 mission. Do not ask me to explain this jargon to you. I would fail miserably.

 First things first... they made sure we signed our lives away to keep the lawyers happy.

The MACS-4 commanding officer, Lt. Col. Barry, welcomed us and let us know we are appreciated as USMC spouses. And then the real fun began...

Fun that required Kevlar and Flak, my new best friends. Kevlar protects the head, Flak, the upper body. Hello, boys. Here are all the pairs of Kevlar and Flak lined up, ready to go:

My Kevlar and Flak, especially the Flak, was stained and dirty and just... gross. I had a true "Jane" moment when I grasped the Flak in my acrylic-finger-nail-tipped hands and asked the Marine who handed it to me, "Mine has a big stain on the back. Don't you guys ever clean this stuff?" Turns out, as the Marine was quick to inform me (but in a friendly way, with a smile) that that particular Flak jacket had gotten him safely through two tours in Afghanistan. Oops... open mouth, insert foot. Well, crap. Sorry, dude. Give me that dirty Flak. It should keep me safe through the obstacle course then, right?

Before I knew how to wear the Kevlar properly.

Once we donned our day's apparel, it was time to meet the truck people, otherwise known as Motor T. The Flak and Kevlar weren't just for the "experience," apparently. Per the lawyers, or some other safety code, we were required to wear them any time we stepped foot in to our chariot, which was a 7-ton truck. Everyone called it a 7-ton, but the Marines were sure to tell us what it was really called, which was about 7 words long and came with it's own acronym. I'm sorry, I did not commit it to memory, but I am sure you could Google it of you care enough. I do not. Below is the 7-ton as we were loaded in to it. A step stool and a ladder were required.

Apparently, each 7-ton full of civilian women comes with its own two Marines assigned as babysitters. They made sure to sit closest to the open back end of the truck so none of us spouses got the bright idea to try to escape at any time.

Peace... because I really don't want to have to do this more than a day. Hopefully I'm too old and too female to ever be drafted. And I finally learned how to wear my Kevlar properly.

Each 7-ton full of civilian women also comes with its own humvee ambulance and medic, following closely behind. Good news for me if my Flak doesn't hold its luck.

First up, the Boot Camp Experience. It sounds like something Disney might host. But, instead it was a former drill instructor (the guys looking at the camera below) who did the honors:

He is actually a really nice guy, but he did single me out for persecution because I found the whole thing amusing and couldn't stop smiling. I did not get photos of the Boot Camp Experience or the Obstacle Course because I was participating. The Part 2 of this blog post will come when I get photos taken by others. I also heard rumors of a video...

I did get hurt on the obstacle course as expected. I landed wrong in the rubber pieces meant to soften the course after sliding across a waist-high log and twisted my ankle, but was able to walk it off. I also, with a little boost, climbed over a shoulder-high wooden wall, but managed to bruise my arm in the process. I like to say the wall fought back, but I won.

After the Obstacle Course was MCMAP. Nope, not lunch at McDonald's, but Marine Corps Martial Arts. Rodney is actually a black belt, so I got to see some of the ground fighting he has endured to earn that belt. All I knew about it before from him was bruises and whining. The Marine in charge of our demonstration made it in to a bit of a self-defense class, too. Watch out... my wedding ring set is a weapon!

I tired to tell Nilce that smiling when kicking someone is just... wrong.

Amy knew the moves... but she's tiny. I think I could take her. Even if she does know how to kill someone with a napkin.

This move was the most fun. We were encouraged to try it on our children when they misbehave.

I noticed that the women, myself included, kept apologizing when we accidentally hit or kicked something other than the pad. That was really dumb and jus goes to show how we've been brainwashed to behave. I am sure these guys have experienced worse, probably just warming up for our arrival. And I doubt any of the Marines apologized.

After MCMAP was lunch... and I was definitely hungry by this time! Cafeteria food is not my favorite, but, really, the selections weren't bad.

My lunch. I ate everything.

While we ate, the MACS-4 Sergeant Major read to us (famous Marine...?) Sergeant Major Dougherty's words about the culture of the Marine Corps... it is the one U.S. military branch that recruits people specifically to fight. Think you misread that? You didn't. All the other branches promise kinder, gentler things. You can read it for yourself here. Pretty motivating if you're in to that sort of thing. And I'm competitive, so I am.

After the Sgt.Maj. motivated us and got us shouting "ooh-rah" and "semper fi"(on the inside... he didn't make us do it out loud, although that would have been fun) it was time to play with some firearms. Do not say "guns." Someone will yell at you for that.

So, we got to play with the weapons... without any bullets. What?! No fair! Well, it turns out that the firing range is an hour away from the base we were on, so we had to try our hand at "imaginary" shooting with "imaginary" bullets (I am not supposed to call them bullets, either, but can't remember what I AM supposed to call them... rounds, maybe?)

24 pounds of weapon. I thought of you, Dad.

Fortunately, we got to try a shooting range simulator. Of course, I got the gun that only registered 1 of my 3 shots, but it was nearly a bullseye, so I'll take it.

Next up: To see what our husbands actually do when they go to "work." MACS-4 basically makes it so planes can take off and land safely, and directs our planes to the bad guys. And there is a lot involved in that: Air traffic controllers (that is what my spouse, Rodney, does), technicians to fix and maintain the equipment, communications people (think of the telephone and Internet companies, only entirely mobile in a desert somewhere). and people to forecast the weather. Seriously. I guess Weather.com isn't good enough. But, so far, in my experience, the Marine Corps weather people haven't been any more accurate than the TV forecaster people. Just sayin'.

So what you have below are trucks and towers. Starting from the left, we've got a mobile air traffic control (ATC) radar truck. Watch the movie Pushing Tin and then imagine the blip screen things inside a humvee. The photo below the one below shows what it looks like inside. Then you have a water tower looking thing. That is another kind of radar. Then you have radar on a truck, costing about $8 million, then, last, you have a mobile air traffic control tower that can be built in a matter of hours.

The good news is most of these vehicles are air conditioned... but not for the Marines. It's to keep the electronics cool. Whatever, as long as I have A/C, I don't care why I have it.

Rodney said he has worked out of a truck like the one below, a tower on the back of a humvee. It's not very high, but in the desert I'm sure it is better than being on the ground.

Because I could. ;)

Next up: Dog fighting. Well, not really. It is a police dog demonstration. Fortunately, none of us had to volunteer to be the "suspect." The dog squad brought their own volunteer. The woman on the left below was the Kennel Master and she showed us the protective pants and arm sling. The arm thing wasn't as heavy as I would have thought.

Then it was time for the demonstration. They kept us behind a chain link fence because it was "safer." I had zero problems with that. I like dogs and want to keep liking dogs. But these dogs were very well trained and didn't rush the fence once. They are bred in Germany and bond with their handlers... until the Marine handler has to PCS (permanent change of station... move to another base), and then they bond with the next Marine. The kennel master said personalities have a lot to do with whether a dog will bond with a particular Marine or not.

The dogs will never have their handler be the "suspect" for them.

After the dog demo (and those dog squad Marines came out on their day off to do the demo for us... thank you), it was time to see the communications part of the squadron. It has an acronym; it's "TACO" misspelled.

They set up a tent to show us what remote, mobile operations would look like. My husband thinks it was missing some sand. The guy with the head phones tells our planes where the other aircraft in the airspace (up to 300 miles or so) is, as needed. Basically, he watches his iPad to find multiple bogies. Just kidding. Sort of. I asked him if he gets to say "bogies" and he said "sometimes." Apparently bogies are only one of dozens of different classifications of enemy and friendly aircraft. There is a whole matrix of identification that is pretty complicated. Top Gun did not explain that well.

In real life, there would be all sorts of tables, people and equipment in this tent.

Bogie Man and a Marine impersonating a pilot so we could hear how a "call" would sound. Lots of acronyms, numbers and jargon. Something was "tight." That's all I remember.

This truck was so top secret that they checked my camera to make sure I had not taken a picture of the inside of it... I had not.

A portable radar... this fits in the back of a 7-ton truck. The fence-looking dish part on top actually fits inside the box it is mounted on. What a fun puzzle to try and figure out.

This radar on the truck below is larger and more expensive than the one above. It takes three 7-ton trucks to move it. And when it is parked, it has a gorgeous view of the ocean.

And, last but not least, We headed back to the conference room for snacks and the graduation ceremony. Ooh-rah, semper fi, and all that. And the ambulance humvee wasn't used once. Score one for the spouses!

I would like to thank all of the MACS-4 Marines who took the time to make this event so much fun. It was very well organized and I loved how each Marine we were introduced to showed pride in his or her job and were eager to share what they do with us. Additionally, thank you to the Okinawa spouses who welcomed the Iwakuni spouses with open arms, and were friendly and kind each time we saw them. You were a class act. This Jane Wayne Day is an experience I will never forget.

Click here for the third and final installment.