O K I N A W A

O K I N A W A--- my number one Golden Week destination! Both times that I have been in Japan for Golden Week, I have headed to Okinawa. "Why?" you ask? There are so many reasons, but the main attractions for me are the many beautiful beaches. So when Eileen asked me if I would like to Okinawa with her and John K., I jumped at the chance.

Having been to Okinawa before, I had already seen many of the island's major attractions: Shuri Castle and Churaumi Aquarium . I didn't really expect to remember as much about these places as I did. Walking around Shuri Castle actually made me feel nostalgic for the fabulous people I studied abroad with. It felt very familiar even though I hadn't been there in 3 years. John, Eileen, and I made it to the castle with perfect timing, and we were able to catch a show of traditional Okinawan dancing.

The aquarium was absolutely gorgeous, and it didn't matter that I'd been there before because it was all so interesting. Coming from the dead center of the U.S. about a million hours away from any coast means that I am not all that familiar with the ocean and its many strange inhabitants. Some of the things we saw were legitimately some of the craziest animals I have ever seen. In the deep sea section (were they keeps the lights very very low) we saw fish that have these patches under their eyes that glow! LIKE DEMONS. So creepy. Churaumi is world renown for the 3 massive whale sharks that they house in the largest fish tank I have ever seen. There is a section of the tank called "the Aqua room" where you can go sit under it and see all the manta rays and sharks swim over you. My words could never do it justice-- so I took a video! Please enjoy:

Another awesome thing that I did was staying on Zamami Island. Eileen and I got to Okinawa on Monday then took a ferry to a smaller island about 45 minutes away. It has a small village of just 500 people, and some of the top ranked beautiful beaches in Japan. We stayed at this small guest house that was sweet and quaint, and only 5 minutes from the port. The owner of the guest house was so nice and his English was very good. He gave us a hand-drawn map of all the best stuff on the island which we used to find a BBQ restaurant (which was really just someone's backyard...and where Eileen made me try gizzard!!) and the most beautiful beach my eyes have ever seen. The water was so clear and the color so amazing. Unfortunately, it was raining during our ENTIRE Okinawan trip, and the excursion to the beach was no exception. Luckily, it was only drizzling on and off throughout the day as we lounged under our beach umbrella and snacked on traditional Okinawan doughnuts. We got to relax and enjoy the view. When the time came for us to leave Zamami, Eileen and I didn't want to go! If I ever go back to Okinawa, I will make sure I stay on Zamami a bit longer.

When we got back to the main island, and to the city of Naha, we found our hostel and waited for John to arrive. I was worried about staying in a hostel, but Eileen booked us a private room, so it was better than I thought. The bathroom was nasty, but other than that it was fine. It was in a good location, very close to the famous Kokusai Dori. During our stay in Japan, we ate some of the best food I have eaten since coming to Japan! We even managed to find some TACOS! Oh my god, now I want more tacos just thinking about them. :)

The vacation was really nice, despite the rain's best efforts to ruin it. I love being in Japan and getting to travel around, really seeing all the different aspects of this country. Okinawa has a completely different vibe than the rest of Japan (owing to its very colorful history, especially the fact that it wasn't always part of Japan). I wish I could spend even more time there, but getting to go twice is more than I can really ask for.