This past week I took my first trip to Okinawa. Naha, the biggest city on Okinawa's main island, is filled with buildings and is very crowded. Even though most of the buildings were constructed after World War II, in general the city's buildings looked rather old and worn. Also, Okinawa seems to be missing some of the wealth that is characteristic of Japan thanks to its strong economy and the economic bubble that occurred in the 1980s.

I went with my host mother from four years ago who lives in Chiba city, and once we drove out of Naha and up north, the scenery turned to subtropical plants, sandy white beaches, and the beautiful aquamarine-colored sea. In addition to doing a lot of sightseeing at historical places such as two castles, I also spent a day doing marine sports on a small island to the northwest of Okinawa's main island. I tried parasailing and went up forty-five meters above the ocean for a stunning view of the surrounding islands and ocean.

On the last day I met my former host mother's friend, who is Okinawan (Okinawans are different from Japanese, as Okinawa was formerly its own country), and we saw a traditional Okinawan dance performance. Many people living in Okinawa can do what's called a finger whistle, where you place your thumb and index finger in your mouth and blow to create a whistling sound. I had some of the dancers teach me the technique after the performance, but I'm still unable to do the finger whistle. My host mom, her friend, and I also discussed the situation of the American military bases in Okinawa, but of course opinions are very divided. It seems that some Japanese still want United States bases in Japan to help protect Japan since it does not have its own military, but right now all of the bases are in Okinawa, so people are suggesting that some of the bases be moved to other areas of Japan. However, no one will volunteer their own area for a military base, so nothing's being done yet.