120 Days

120 days days have passed since we picked up our things, our pets, and our lives to move across the world to begin a new chapter. Okinawa is an old, beautiful culture and a place where most seem content to be exactly where they are, as they are.

Okinawa is a special place - a happy place, a calm place. A place where the car horn is reserved for only the most egregious of traffic violations and where you always let the car merge in front of you. A place where every bathroom has assigned seating for your children and where no one locks their front door. This part of Japan can be seen as sort of second world country or as an “80's Hawaii.” There are many things us Americans feel like they are “missing” - availability of fast internet, 2 day shipping, luxury cars, and Walmarts on every corner. And yet here they are, content with less. They have enough.

We have much to learn from them. Everything seems to take longer and that seems just fine with the Okinawans. Their lives are slow, purposeful. Hustle and bustle can only be seen in places influenced by the West - Naha, American Village, Chatan, and the like. And in those places you can also feel the beautiful Okinawan spirit of hospitality and friendliness waning.

We can only hope to learn all we can from our Okinawan friends on how best to live a life of happiness and contentment... if we only slow down long enough to listen.