The End

There really isn't a whole lot to say about the last week I was in Okinawa. Every night was spent entertaining family members or friends, going to pubs drinking, having them over at her parent's house drinking, and then I think there was more drinking, and maybe a whole bunch of eating too. The one thing we did do that I wanted to since the last time I was in Okinawa was visit the World War 2 sites on the south side of the island. There are no pictures of our own here, because Nadu and I will not take any at war memorial sites. We first went to the former site of the Okinawa school for girls (can't remember the exact name). When the Americans invaded Okinawa to battle the Japanese, the girls at the school were converted to nurses to care for the wounded soldiers. Next we went to 平和祈念公園 (Okinawa Peace Memorial Park). This place is enormous. There are plaques listing the names of all the soldiers who lost their lives in the Battle of Okinawa - American, Japanese, and British. Inside there is a very large museum and informational site which goes into pretty good detail about the entire war as it pertains to Okinawa. As I always want to learn more about history, especially about Okinawan history, it was very good for me. I think it is one of the best sites in Okinawa, and I'm glad I went. Before I left Okinawa, I got an amazing gift from Nadu's parents. The week before I had bought them a dvd player, mainly because I wanted to watch some movies, but also because I'm such a great person :p Anyway, I guess this was my return gift, as they insist on doing there. The picture sucks, it's from my crappy camera in my phone: My very own shamisen! They told me I have to be able to play next time I go to Okinawa. So it's set - I'm next going to Okinawa in 2020 :P Maybe I'll be able to speak Japanese by then too. So, that's it. The plane ride home was the same as going to Okinawa, except that I almost missed my flight from Tokyo to Vancouver. Don't let anyone tell you that you can take the bus from Hadena to Narita airports, go through customs, go through security, and make your plane in 3 hours. It won't happen. I think I made it with 10 minutes to spare, only after cutting in line to get my boarding pass before they closed it off. Oh, and in the Customs line in Vancouver, some Chinese guy behind me had SARS or something, he was coughing up a lung all over everyone. Suprise suprise, I get the worst cold/memengitis/whatever I've had in years, whatever he gave me. Thanks buddy.