Today was a very exciting day! So, today after lunch Otousan and I played a game of Go on a larger board, 13×13, then since Okaasan came home Otousan and Okaasan played on the largest board, 19×19, so I could see their strategies, the I played with Otousan again and then we left for a museum. The museum was actually inside the US military base land, but the person who owned it was very rich so bought it back — it was the site of his ancestral home and tombs. The museum was very nice, with art by budding artists not yet “discovered” as well as large multi-panel paintings with various scenes from World War 2. There was also a balcony which gave a fabulous view of the city as well as the military base (it was honestly a bunch of trees, nothing like what one sees in movies; Okaasan said on the weekdays there are a lot of helicopters and such.). But leading up to the balcony/terrace there were two sets of stairs, one with 6 stairs and the second with 23. That represents June 23, the end of the Battle of Okinawa, Memorial Day, and the summer solstice in Japan (I am really losing my English Okaasan and Otousan asked me what the longest day of the year was in English and while I knew what they meant I had forgotten the word!). Anyway, I also saw how close the military base is to civilian house — literally ten feet away! It is like having a military base in your backyard! And given all the helicopters and such, the noise must be awful! (So far in Okinawa I have heard two military helicopters fly overhead and they were deafening, I cannot imagine how bad it would be when they are landing!)
Anyway, after that Okaasan and I went shopping to Kokusai Street one last time. It was truly very fun, I got great discounts thanks to her (though it’s funny how in all the other countries in the world to bargain you state what you will give them and are very pushy; in Japan you merely ask them very nicely.). And it was also funny how much prices for the same items varied in different stores. One store would be selling a shirt for 5000 yen, and another the same shirt for 2000!
Anyway after that, we came home, had dinner, and Okaasan and I played Go until now, and I am definitely learning some very good strategies. I think Go, being one of the simplest yet at the same time most complex and open-ended games ever, requires one to play with an expert to truly appreciate it. I had played with a friend before in California, but 1) He got the rules slightly wrong, and 2) neither of us really knew the game so it seemed like there was no point to it or skill involved.
BTW I have not posted pix for a long time so these and pictures of the tenpura I made (batter, frying, and fried), the cookies I made before they were baked, and this morning Okaasan had made pancakes, and since I couldn’t find maple syrup and no one was home I ate it with Nani’s jam, do a pix of that!
Anyway, that’s all I think, goodnight!
