We get our baggage in OKI and head out looking for the fellow surgeon who was supposed to be picking us up. We'd seen pictures of him online...but no one looked like him. Then, a 6'7" Marine corpsman asked if we might be "Bailey." Turns out there was a rare, multi-person trauma that needed the all surgeons on deck, so he couldn't come (understandably) and sent "BRIGHT" instead. Bright was a good ol' boy from Alabama, very personable, and apparently was the shortest of his 3 other brothers. Whoa. I'm guessing he may be the biggest guy on the whole island!
We rode from the airport in Naha, about 30 minutes to our hotel close to Camp Kadena. Neon EVERYWHERE! Almost every establishment is lit up in some form or fashion. That was one of the first things I noticed...and then the crazy drivers on 2 wheels. They do something totally illegal but not enforced by the police called "white lining." They basically ride in-between two lanes of traffic or on the shoulder to skip ahead of traffic. You always have to be diligent about looking for them when driving and especially when turning. Even if an accident was the fault of the biker, they will not be held accountable. Guess who will?...
We got our inaugural peaceful protest while sitting at a stop light on the way to the hotel from some bikers behind us. Bikers, Mopeders, Scooterers...all known for revving their engines to know their displeasure with the military presence on their island. No dirty looks, though. Or cussing or yelling or rude hand gestures. Kind of different than the states. Bright said even when they protest outside the military gates, they are peaceful and wish you a good day when you walk by.
Our hotel was further from base than we (and our sponsors - those helping our transition to our new home) were hoping. Okinawa is known for their frequent festivals, and the weekend we arrived correlated with one of their BIG ones. I can't remember the name, but it has to do with drumming and honoring deceased family members. Anyway, all the hotels, on base and off, were almost all booked up. So we were really lucky that our sponsors managed to find a place that wasn't two hours from base. It was called the Sunrise Hotel, and advertised that they served a steak dinner 24/7. It didn't really smell like steak...but they definitely cooked something all night and all day at that place. The room had 2 twin beds, a full, and a cot. It also had an AC unit that was controlled by a remote, a baby blue tub, and robes and slippers for everyone. We managed to squeeze into the room with all our luggage, and TONS of groceries that our sponsors bought for us since we were going to be living off base for a while. It was going to be an interesting 2ish weeks while we lived in our hotel awaiting housing to become available.
It was after midnight Okinawa time by the time we all crashed, and Chris had to be up early to start getting assimilated into military work life. The next day the schedule looked like this:
Chris: 6:30 AM, gets picked up from hotel by sponsor and they work all day on whatever.
Jess, Ben, Claire: Sleep all day.
Little did we know, the kids and I were in for a big surprise!
This is great, Jess! Thanks so much for sharing. The guy that picked you up at the airport sounds about like Michael when he would travel. :) I hope you all are getting settled in, and I can't wait to read about your adventures! Still can't believe I missed you in Austin..
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