Today we had a little "mando fun". The Captain had the whole shop over at his place for a BBQ. Normally I dislike shop functions, but this one came out quite decently.


We ate brats, burgers, chicken, and nachos. There was much beer of many brands. Some whiskey appeared and was taste-tested by those interested in such matters. While I didn't drink, I had a good time anyway. It was nice to unwind following our boat ride.

The Sir's place was interesting, too. Most unmarried officers of his rank live on-base, but he managed to get permission to move out into town. He lives in a detached single-family house in a quite nice section of town, right next to the American Village shopping area. It's a cul-de-sac with eight houses, and he's the only gaijin.

The house itself is typical for modern Okinawa; reinforced concrete walls, wood floors, two stories plus an accessible roof, with a nice balcony that wraps around two sides. It's one bath and two and a half bedroom. (That means that the great room has movable dividers that section off an additional private area.) In addition, the "bath" is two rooms: one for the toilet, the other with the tub and the washing area.

Anyway, at the party we ate, drank, and played some Halo 2 deathmatches. That got grim, because the enlisted there were rather inexperienced at that game, while the Sir claimed that  on the boat, "Playing Halo was pretty much the only thing the officers did when not actually flying." So he whipped all comers despite a serious handicap.

The party broke up at about 10 PM, and I decided that as long as I was already next to the American Village, I'd go shopping or maybe get some sushi before going home. I wanted to buy a tripod, so I stopped in the local JUSCO. That's a department store chain in Japan, with Walmart selection at a higher quality point. Plus groceries, and they sublet space inside to other stores. This JUSCO had a Starbucks, McDonalds, a donut shop, a sushi shop, an ice cream shop, a smoothy shop, a chinese restaraunt, and three different Japanese restaurants... and the remaining space was still vast.

So it took me a while to find the department, but I got a tripod I could work with. Went to the cashier, and they couldn't take my credit card, because it was too late at night. Credit cards are not very popular in Japan, so even a store this large doesn't have automated credit terminals; they have to call their bank and read off my numbers for authorization. Except it was too late at night and the bank was closed. I only had ¥3000, and I spend most of it right there.

Outside the store, it was a lovely night. Nearly midnight, it was cloudy, but with a warm breeze gently rustling the leaves. So I skipped the cab ride and walked home. It's somewhere between twelve and fifteen kilometers, but with good sidewalks, and it was easy to stay hydrated because there's a beverage vending machine every two hundred yards.

Every cab that went past me slowed down and tried to make eye contact, assuming that there was no way a Marine out at midnight could be anything other than drunk and looking for a way home. But I was soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the freedom of not being trapped inside a gray steel prison.

Posted by: Boviate at 11:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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