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| | The Day I Met My Japanese Love - U.S. Marine Chronicles | | | Monday, March 3, 2008 (8:41 PM)
(I'm feeling loved) | | The day I met my love, it was a Sunday; the eleventh of November to be exact. Exact like the precision of the shot that led to the skateboard which led to the games which led to the night which led to another shot which led to a happy boy; exact like the intensity of each heartbeat as I stood before her -- a Marine who knew no Japanese, and Ms. Okinawa, who knew no English.
"It's not too far…should only take a few minutes to get there. I really don't see the point of bringing a map and directions" said Broadwater as we got into his car.
"Better safe than sorry" I responded. "Although we are trying to get out" I added. For some of you, that flew right over your head. For others, you might get it in a minute or two, and for others, you're shaking your head saying, "what a horrible pun Jimmy, please, spare us". On with the story.
** 30 Minutes Later **
"Maybe we should ask for directions?" I suggested. "No, No, we got this" replied Broadwater as we continued to venture further and further into Okinawa towns that were no where near our destination.
** Another 30 Minutes Later **
"Ok, according to this map, we couldn't be going in a direction that was anymore wrong than this one" I noted. Broadwater pulled his silver Honda Prelude that rides practically one inch off the ground into a local Family Mart (similar to a 7-11).
"Excuse me; do you know how to get to White Beach for the festival?" Broadwater inquired. And like the clerks at the following three Family Marts we visited said, "Go straight…straight, soddy, no engrish!"
After a total hour and a half of our peaceful yet frustrating journey to White Beach Festival, we finally reached the main gate of a small naval base sitting on the edge of the island – basically, buildings on a beach. In a small grassy area, no bigger than an acre, was the festival full of local Okinawans, with a few sailors and Marines here and there. Like any fair or carnival, games were set up under tents, along with Japanese and American cuisine, raffles, etc. Since there are festivals just about every other weekend, one doesn't usually waste too much money trying to win games, but since Broadwater was leaving the island for his new duty station soon, we decided to go all out.
We returned to the festival after a quick stop at the ATM. We played games. Many games.
After a couple failed attempts to win the big prizes, I began to lose hope. Maybe we won't win anything! And then, I saw the game. It was another shooting game, similar to the one I played at the Foster Festival (seen in my video 'A Saturday With Jimmy Shea – Part 2'). Shooting games are my forte, but this one looked especially difficult. The object of the game was to shoot a 3" by 15" newspaper strip that was pulled tight at the top and bottom. With enough BB shots, one could rip the strip in half and win one of the big prizes. Every prize was big because you either win or you don't, unlike other games where you can get one out of five hoops on the ring or knock down half the cans. I had wasted a substantial amount of money by now and I was discouraged by the fact that I only had a lollipop in my hand to show for it.
"Oh snap, there's your game! You got this, that's your game right there!" Broadwater pointed to the pistol and newspaper game as he egged me on. After a few minutes of saying, "there's no way I'm wasting my money on a game that no one has one yet" I found myself gripping a silver BB gun in my hand, aiming in on a small strip of newspaper. Three shots later, and I won…wait…I won?! Yeah! I WON!
The two Okinawan girls working the game looked at each other in shock, and then looked back at me, "Soggoi!" meaning cool. I chose a brand new skate board as my prize and walked off feeling like I had just set a world record or something.
Broadwater and I went on to win almost every other game we played and had to make a couple stops at his car to dump the prizes we had won. We grabbed our hoodies and beanies as the sun fell into the ocean and the temperature followed right behind, dropping quickly.
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Taking a break from the games, we watched a band play and munched on some Okinawan cuisine -- fried rice and teriyaki chicken. After thirty minutes of that, we headed back to the games. By now, we had masks on, 'headlight glasses', plastic swords attached to our belts and dance moves like we were in a Broadway. We danced from station to station, and everyone around us either joined in, clapped or just laughed. We were having a blast and –
"You shoot!" someone grabbed my arm and pulled me! Through the small eye holes in my ask I could see it was a Okinawan woman bringing me to a game surrounded by a big family. In the middle of the little crowd was a little boy holding a BB gun aiming in on a newspaper strip (the same game I played earlier that evening).
"You shoot!" she repeated. I looked at her, and back at the boy.
"Shoot, she said 'shoot'!" said Broadwater.
"I can't shoot! It's his game, why would I shoot for him? I'll encourage him!" I replied.
"C'mon buddy, you can do it, shoot, shoot!" I poured my words of wisdom on the boy as he aimed in and began to pull the trigger.
*Pop* The gun shot, and the BB flew far left, almost hitting the Okinawan girl working the station.
"Oh snap..." I said.
A hand grabbed mine and pulled it towards the gun, "Shoot, shoot". This was not the mother, cause I knew she was on my left, and whoever was pulling me now was on my right. I pulled off my mask and looked to see who this was.
That is when I first laid my eyes upon her, the Okinawa beauty. I stared into her eyes, frozen and lost in her grace – "Shoot!" she snapped, as shattered my daze and pulled me closer to the gun. I gained my bearing, grabbed the gun and aimed in. Two shots later, the boy had a brand new mega shooting sound making toy gun and I had a whole crowd of people absolutely thrilled. The mom ran off and bought me a food and the boy and his brother were jumping up and down in joy. The girls at the booth were flabbergasted, as much as I was. Broadwater and I were in disbelief. I was the third person to win the game, after having won it once before. I looked back at beautiful girl who had put my hand on the pistol, and caught her looking at me. She looked away bashfully. I cheesed. (smile hard) =D
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The mother pointed to her daughter, the Okinawan beauty and exclaim, "Ayaka! 24!". Her name was Ayaka. She continued to introduce her two other daughters, but my eyes were stuck on Ayaka. The name ran through my head over and over, 'Ayaka, Ayaka' I was lost in her. "No english" she said.
The two boys became restless and began to walk off. The mother followed them, along with the rest of the family. I stood there and watched as they all walked away, Ayaka trailing in the back. I was still jaw dropped.
"Are you gonna keep staring or are you gonna go talk to her?" asked Broadwater.
"Man, I can't go talk to her, her whole family is there" I exclaimed. My heart was racing.
"Her mom loves you and she doesn't even know you! She bought you food! You just won a game for her little brother! There's no reason you can't go over there and get her number" He answered back.
"She doesn't know English!"
"Doesn't matter!" Broadwater exclaimed.
At this time, as we both watched them walk away, Ayaka looked back.
"Did you see that?!" I shouted.
"See what? Her look back? It doesn't matter, you're not gonna do anything about it" said Broadwater.
"Well, she probably looked back to make sure they weren't forgetting anyone" I explained reassuringly.
"Yeah…right" said Broadwater sarcastically.
She looked back again.
I would question myself twice more as she looked back two more times, and finally…
"She looked again!!! RIGHT AT ME" By the time I said 'me' I found myself running over to her. My mask flew off in the wind, "grab that please!"
She waited and when I reached her the first words that came out of her mouth were…
"No English!" she said sadly.
"It's ok, no Japanese!" I answered, still cheesing.
I pulled out my phone and we exchanged numbers. I smiled. She smiled. Her mom smiled.
I told her I'd call her.
She had no idea what I was saying.
We said 'bye'. And that was it.
And that is how I met Ayaka, my Okinawan Princess.
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From there, we would go on a few dates, the first one I brought a drawing pad to the restaurant and we drew out each other's lives. By our third date, the Marine Corps Ball, we could speak to each through words we had picked up from each other's languages and facial expression complimented with hand gestures. That brings us to today, she is my girlfriend!
Jimmy, a Marine, with Ayaka, Ms. Okinawa 2006, Ms. Uresoe 2007, model, commercial girl, and radio talk show host, but most of all, my Princess! =P
Thanks for reading.
Jimmy D. Shea
(There will be a White Beach Festival Video and Marine Corps Ball video on my JimmyDShea YouTube account very soon) | | | 202 Views | 0  Thumbs Up | 1 Comment |  |
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