Food for thought

So today was an interesting one. One that merited a post on this sleepy blog of mine. I know I should keep it up, so that I can maintain at least one creative outlet in my life. Seems like most of my hobbies nowadays are usually either 1. mindless mouse clicking in the pursuit of false achievements or 2. exercising (which, in retrospect, is probably just a "healthier" alternative to #1). Anywhoo, back to the interesting day. As a bit of an aside, I should mention that yesterday and many of the days before were pretty crappy but today, I think, is especially noteworthy because I heard a few interesting insights that I want to share with some of my military and non-military friends alike.

1. Met an older man today who said he spent some time in Hinesville. A place that he describes as "America's armpit". Pretty accurate, given that it's really effing humid there and the humidity just enhances the collective BO of the community. Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of hanging out in Hinesville. Anyway, he went on to say that many of the locals around Hinesville don't like the military presence. Some are for economic reasons (he mentioned how the city once planned to sue the government for the base not finishing on the construction of a building, which would have created jobs for the local economy) but many are for social reasons (saying that many of the men don't like how the military servicemembers seem to come in and take many of the local women).

As I'm sure many know from history books and popular media, there's a lot of racism in the South that goes many ways. Between black and white and any other color for that matter.  But what doesn't really get talked about is the relationship between locals" and "military". There's a lot of countries throughout the world where locals don't like US military bases in their country. Here in Okinawa, many locals don't care for the US military presence because it feels like an invitation for wars and battles to take place here. I get it. It's understandable, especially given many of the unfortunate news reports of local girls getting abused and/or raped by servicemembers. But in Georgia??? When I was in Georgia, I cannot tell you how many times I've heard people say "Oh they're JUST Army wives, they don't know anything". Plus, many of the more desirable jobs preferred hiring locals instead of military spouses. DROVE ME NUTS! I had always attributed comments like that to some combination of sexism, ignorance, and just plain old jealousy. But after having my insecurity validated by a stranger pretty much made my day. VICTORY IS MINE!

2. The man then told a story about how he tried to help this seemingly 90+ year old local with her groceries by lifting her basked for her at the checkout line. Instead of thanking him, she grabbed her
basket and hit him with it! She then proceeded to scowl and growl at him (his words). After speaking with a manager, he found out that she was of the generation of Okinawans that did not care for American presence in Okinawa. His story echoed an accepted fact about Americans living in Okinawa, which is that there are 2 kinds of Okinawans: 1. those that embrace Americans and American culture and 2. those who lived through World War II and lived to despise Americans.

Later that day, I encountered another gentleman (considerably younger) who added a little bit more context to this accepted fact. MANY OF THESE OLDER OKINAWANS DISLIKE MAINLAND JAPANESE MORE THAN AMERICANS! Turns out, many of these Okinawans feel dismissed by the Japanese government because 1. Japanese war propaganda at the time demanded that people, instead of becoming prisoners of war, perform seppuku/harakiri (ritual suicide) 2. American soldiers treated Okinawan prisoners and civilians better than what war propaganda was suggesting and 3. upon losing the war, the Japanese "gave Okinawa away to the Americans".

I've been told that I look very Okinawan so I don't worry too much about encountering any 90 year old women wanting to throw down. But wow, HOLY BALLS, MAN!

On a related note, I'm really juiced to exploring some of the more historical places and festivals around here.

Dirty 30

Shortly after my last post, I celebrated my birthday. The big 3-0. I wish I had some big fancy epiphany about how beautiful aging is and how I'm that much more at peace with myself and the world around me. Instead, I felt a lot like the episode of South Park where Stan, upon aging another year, realizes that most everything he hears sounds like shit. I came upon this conclusion when Todd and I were planning what to do for my birthday. I told him that I would be content to do a quiet evening for two. No getting drunk off my ass and vomiting my insides the following morning. As fun as getting reckless used to be, it's just no longer my cup of tea anymore. I mean, I just no longer see the fun in hating the smell of orange juice simply because I had an especially strong screwdriver that resulted in me virtually screaming into my toilet how much I hate my life. I can't do it anymore!

The day after my birthday, I was very lucky to catch a military flight (free ticket!) out to California to see my family and friends. The 2 week trip was great. Got to see my family and spent some time with some of my best friends. Everything would have been perfect, save for the fact that I caught a cold AND a case of the stomach flu for almost half of the trip. I had never had the stomach flu ever before in my life and yet there I was, with a bad case of the bubble guts. It was seriously getting in the way of me getting some good eats in. On a lighter note, I lost 5 lbs!

Going home is getting hard. Not just because traveling in itself is expensive, but seeing the familiar after spending time in a foreign place reminds me just how much I miss being around the people that understand the method behind my madness: my friends, family, acquaintances and even the trusty landmarks have what I want when I need it (I really do miss Sephora and MAC lol). While goodbyes are often painful, I do remain thankful that life has afforded me such a wonderful foundation of friends and family so that I may have the strength to build the life that I want. With this said, I want to sing praise to this little something new that I've come to appreciate as a result of living here: Japanese curry.

It's weird, I guess, that I've only really come to appreciate curry NOW as opposed to all the other times in my Berkeley life that I've been exposed to it. I had a roommate in college that cooked it every week and I had coworkers who would introduce me to different Indian restaurants in Berkeley alone. I suppose my relationship with curry is the type that had to be just the right mix of time, place, and chemistry. Anyway, I picked up a pre-arranged "beef curry" tray from the local commissary for $10, which beat the alternative for a good Japanese curry restaurant, charging around $10-15 per plate! Directions were incredibly easy to follow and super fast to make.
- put 2 tsp of oil in large frying pan
- brown the meat and onions over medium heat (be careful. sirloin beef can get tough really quick over too much heat)
- add in potatoes, carrots, and 2 1/2 cups of water. let water boil. once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cover.
- add in curry blocks. mix curry blocks as they melt.

Didn't realize the curry came in block form. Know what else comes in block form? Chocolate. DO NOT TEASE ME WITH YOUR CHOCOLATE APPEARANCES! Also, do not tempt dog with this. Pretty sure dogs shouldn't eat spicy food. Their farts stink enough as is.

Wait about 10-15 minutes for the sauce to thicken. Then, it'll look like THIS bad boy:

Here is the savory, mildly spicy concoction, made up of potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, beef chunks, and the curry sauce itself. Lighter fare than the local favorite, Coco's, but still tasty and well worth the effort. Also totes worth it to smother it in shredded cheese. Cheers to good eats and saving money!