There is a great website for people here called Okinawa Hai. It was started by military people (probably wives!) new to the area & wanting to learn more about Okinawa, as well as tell their own stories of life here. That being said, if there is something to do, buy, eat, or see it will be written about on Okinawa Hai. I remembered seeing awhile back a blog written about Okinawa Yoho, a shop selling both local & imported honey so today that's where we went.
After I picked up Oliver from school we headed over to Okinawa Yoho. It is so close I can't believe I put off going there for so long, but sometimes going to new places alone can be daunting for me. (When I say 'alone' I actually mean without Ryan but with my two very 'special' helpers...) Especially when I am worried about the language, how much will it cost & do they take yen or debit cards (most places only take yen), are they going to have lots of stuff for the kids to break, etc. But today after I watched Mimi sneeze a mile of snot straight out of her nose I figured I was up for an adventure anyway.
When we got inside I was surprised to see how little the shop actually was. There was about enough room for me to maneuver, one kid on each hand, around the middle display table & not hit anything on the outer walls w my backpack. There was one other customer, Japanese, finishing up w her purchase so I surveyed the room to find any words that might be in English. As I had read on Okinawa Hai there was a super sweet, older Japanese lady working there & also as I had read, she didn't speak English. Luckily she was pretty exaggerated w her hand movements bc her English words consisted of: No English, Okinawa, China, Blueberry & Candy. While my Japanese is sadly limited to: hello, thank you, you're welcome, & yes. I did actually look up the words for both 'local' & 'raw' so it might aid my purchase selection, but after seeing the words & then refreshing my vowel pronunciation I got worried thinking I might lose my nerve & not even go in the store if I felt I had to say (or butcher) those words so I quickly forgot them. Sigh. I really need more nerve when it comes to things like that otherwise I'll never learn. I just hate looking stupid...Back to honey. Everyone is so friendly here, especially when they see kids. She was very happy to see us & pointed to one side of the store that had Okinawan honey & the other side that had imported honey from places like China & Thailand. "Hai" I said. Which loosely means yes, & I pointed toward the local stuff. There was a tasting table where she gave each of us spoons & let us taste the local honey & then the imported blueberry honey. She was very sweet to chatter on in Japanese the whole time, holding her hand under the kids spoons so they wouldn't spill. She instructed Mimi that she was holding the spoon too much at an angle & Mimi said, Hai (!) to let her know she understood. The whole time I am smiling from ear to ear, nodding my head in exaggerated nods, saying, Hai, Hai! Which I find I do often with locals as they continue to speak to me in a language I will never understand. After the tasting, I pointed to the local honey & she showed me two sizes. I took the small & we paid. I think the whole exchange took about 8 minutes! It was about that time that Mimi's nose caught wind & she let out a huge sneeze that shot snot down to her mouth. The lady quickly grabbed a tissue & wiped her nose! Then she looked at me as if she had something quite informative to tell me & began in w her hand gestures & chattering. I am pretty sure, almost positive, she was telling me, with her pointing & sign language, that the honey was excellent for the kids allergies & I was a well informed & wonderful mother for coming there to purchase some. Ok, I maybe made up that last part, but I do think I had the first part right, especially since my bottle says "A Life Healthy at the Honey of Okinawa". It was either that or she was scolding me about the contagiousness of swine flu & she would quickly be finding the hand sanitizer after we left.
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