Our last day was simply... fantastic. We did some of the final things everyone had on their list, including a trip to Mister Donut for breakfast, souvenirs and memorable pieces picked up on Kokusai and Heiwa dori, ice cream from Blue Seal and a walkabout to one of my host family homes.
On Kokusai dori in Naha you will find a variety of shops and restaurants. A specialty of Okinawa is their awamori (sake) and habu-shu (snake venom sake). Here you see Paige and her reaction to seeing the habu-shu on display.
Kristie convinced me to walk by the home of my favorite host family - the Sakihamas. When I lived with the Sakihamas their children were grown so they spoiled the heck out of me. Every Sunday we would visit a new part of the island and they treated me as one of their own, in every way. I truly loved my time with them. Unfortunately, due to the fact that there was no email or internet at the time I left Okinawa, and the busyness of returning to my Senior year in high school and then college, I never stayed in touch with them (or any of my families for that matter). So I agreed to the walk by my old house but had no intention of knocking on the door. And as the picture below shows, the house ended up being completely worn down and the daycare they owned/ran on the first 3 floors appeared to be closed. I figured they had retired. (my room, by the way, was at the window in the upper right corner of the picture)
Fortunately though, Nobu was with us and Mom suggested we talk to a neighboring daycare to find out if they knew any details regarding the Sakihamas whereabouts. While the daycare didn't know, an older gentlemen that worked as the crossing guard for the daycare knew them. He mentioned that they had closed their daycare in the original building and moved to a neighboring suburb where they opened a much larger, newer facility. It just so happened that our hotel was in this same suburb. Without any idea of where it may be, and their phone number I had being out of service, I resorted to the thought that I would never see them again. We decided to walk back to the hotel just for memory sake of seeing the path I took every day to school.
On the walk we often thought to take a taxi the remaining distance as Madeline's foot was hurting her some, but she insisted that we continue walking. And as we were walking I noticed that we had begun to slightly go off course so I redirected us back to the correct street. At a distance I saw an older, short gentleman with a blue beret walking ahead, but didn't think to much of it at the time. Kristie noticed a building with some cartoon animals on the side of it and knowing that the Sakihamas had opened a newer daycare in the Tsubogawa area, pointed it out to me. Amazing coincidence continued to unfurl at that point. I looked at the name of the daycare and it matched that of the Sakihama's old daycare (and previous residence) in the photo above. It was their new place.f
I walked in and asked at the front office whether it was in fact the daycare owned and operated by the Sakihamas. Sure enough... it was. I mentioned that 21 years prior I had lived with the Sakihamas during a homestay and inquired whether or not they may actually be there. One of the young ladies working their ran off mentioning that my host sister was in the back office. Having never mentioned my name, Keiko (a host sister) came out and with great surprise said, "Marc? Is that you?" It appears I may have left just as many memories with them as they did on me. As we began to talk, we quickly learned that my host mom and dad moved nearby the new daycare and that between the two my Host Mom also ran a small Cafe - in which she was sitting enjoying a coffee. Keiko took us to meet up with her and it was simply fantastic to see her after all these years. Keiko called my Host Dad to come join us and he quickly came over. To my surprise, it was the older gentleman with beret that I had previously noticed in the street. As we talked, he indicated that he had seen me, as well, but also didn't give it a thought that it could be me.
one side of their new facility. Now 4 times the size of their previous.
Papa insisted that we have some beer. We weren't able to drink together when I was an Exchange Student!!
This is Keiko's youngest daughter (born after I returned to the US). She is in her first year of university to be a daycare instructor. She will likely run the family business someday.
We sat and talked for a few hours, enjoying a tour of their new building. The series of events and coincidence that brought us together on Thursday, after all of these years was magical. I am so thankful to Kristie and my mother for encouraging me to go see the old house that day. And I'm also incredibly thankful to Nobu for helping link the pieces together. It was great to see Mom and Dad have the opportunity to meet the Sakihamas and share their thanks with them for taking care of me all those years ago.
We closed the day with one last meal with Nobut. Madeline and Paige were both great about all of the new food options this trip. Here you see Madeline eating maguro sashimi (raw tuna) and Paige eating a salad of shredded daikon (white radish).
One of the dishes we had for our final meal was a beautifully cooked tuna. Amazing flavor. If you look close, you will see that in the upper right of the fish is a white circle. This is an eye. The eyes in fish are commonly eaten as they are considered high in nutrients. When Paige asked Nobu what they tasted like, he quickly said, "they taste like cheese." To which we all got a good chuckle. She was in a rather adventurous mood however that evening and I bet her 1,000 Yen to eat the eye. To all of our great amusement and surprise, she took me up on the challenge and split it with David. Way to go Paige!!
Following breakfast we headed to the grocery store for some last minute snacks to bring home. We snapped a few photos though of some of the typical things you would find in a Japanese grocery store.
Japanese party platters with sushi and sashimi instead of deli meat and cheese.
sushi rolls (these were the only ones we saw all trip)
corn dogs and sausages in the deli, along with a variety of tempura
barbeque eel (one of my personal favorites)
and some whole fish. The girls got a kick out of this!
On Kokusai dori in Naha you will find a variety of shops and restaurants. A specialty of Okinawa is their awamori (sake) and habu-shu (snake venom sake). Here you see Paige and her reaction to seeing the habu-shu on display.
Kristie convinced me to walk by the home of my favorite host family - the Sakihamas. When I lived with the Sakihamas their children were grown so they spoiled the heck out of me. Every Sunday we would visit a new part of the island and they treated me as one of their own, in every way. I truly loved my time with them. Unfortunately, due to the fact that there was no email or internet at the time I left Okinawa, and the busyness of returning to my Senior year in high school and then college, I never stayed in touch with them (or any of my families for that matter). So I agreed to the walk by my old house but had no intention of knocking on the door. And as the picture below shows, the house ended up being completely worn down and the daycare they owned/ran on the first 3 floors appeared to be closed. I figured they had retired. (my room, by the way, was at the window in the upper right corner of the picture)
Fortunately though, Nobu was with us and Mom suggested we talk to a neighboring daycare to find out if they knew any details regarding the Sakihamas whereabouts. While the daycare didn't know, an older gentlemen that worked as the crossing guard for the daycare knew them. He mentioned that they had closed their daycare in the original building and moved to a neighboring suburb where they opened a much larger, newer facility. It just so happened that our hotel was in this same suburb. Without any idea of where it may be, and their phone number I had being out of service, I resorted to the thought that I would never see them again. We decided to walk back to the hotel just for memory sake of seeing the path I took every day to school.
On the walk we often thought to take a taxi the remaining distance as Madeline's foot was hurting her some, but she insisted that we continue walking. And as we were walking I noticed that we had begun to slightly go off course so I redirected us back to the correct street. At a distance I saw an older, short gentleman with a blue beret walking ahead, but didn't think to much of it at the time. Kristie noticed a building with some cartoon animals on the side of it and knowing that the Sakihamas had opened a newer daycare in the Tsubogawa area, pointed it out to me. Amazing coincidence continued to unfurl at that point. I looked at the name of the daycare and it matched that of the Sakihama's old daycare (and previous residence) in the photo above. It was their new place.f
I walked in and asked at the front office whether it was in fact the daycare owned and operated by the Sakihamas. Sure enough... it was. I mentioned that 21 years prior I had lived with the Sakihamas during a homestay and inquired whether or not they may actually be there. One of the young ladies working their ran off mentioning that my host sister was in the back office. Having never mentioned my name, Keiko (a host sister) came out and with great surprise said, "Marc? Is that you?" It appears I may have left just as many memories with them as they did on me. As we began to talk, we quickly learned that my host mom and dad moved nearby the new daycare and that between the two my Host Mom also ran a small Cafe - in which she was sitting enjoying a coffee. Keiko took us to meet up with her and it was simply fantastic to see her after all these years. Keiko called my Host Dad to come join us and he quickly came over. To my surprise, it was the older gentleman with beret that I had previously noticed in the street. As we talked, he indicated that he had seen me, as well, but also didn't give it a thought that it could be me.
one side of their new facility. Now 4 times the size of their previous.
Papa insisted that we have some beer. We weren't able to drink together when I was an Exchange Student!!
This is Keiko's youngest daughter (born after I returned to the US). She is in her first year of university to be a daycare instructor. She will likely run the family business someday.
We closed the day with one last meal with Nobut. Madeline and Paige were both great about all of the new food options this trip. Here you see Madeline eating maguro sashimi (raw tuna) and Paige eating a salad of shredded daikon (white radish).
One of the dishes we had for our final meal was a beautifully cooked tuna. Amazing flavor. If you look close, you will see that in the upper right of the fish is a white circle. This is an eye. The eyes in fish are commonly eaten as they are considered high in nutrients. When Paige asked Nobu what they tasted like, he quickly said, "they taste like cheese." To which we all got a good chuckle. She was in a rather adventurous mood however that evening and I bet her 1,000 Yen to eat the eye. To all of our great amusement and surprise, she took me up on the challenge and split it with David. Way to go Paige!!
As we parted in the end, none of us said goodbye, we all said, "mata de ne." Meaning, "see you again soon." I vowed to keep in touch this time and I promised myself, Kristie, the girls, and everyone else in Okinawa, that I/we would be back. And it won't take another 21 years!!
Thanks to everyone for their interest in this trip we took to Japan. I hope that my trip down memory lane and the ability to share my experiences with my family has been enjoyable for many of you, as well.
Thanks to everyone for their interest in this trip we took to Japan. I hope that my trip down memory lane and the ability to share my experiences with my family has been enjoyable for many of you, as well.
