Hey everyone! Aaaaagh! I’m so sorry it’s taken me this long to write! But I promise, this post will be a treat. This post is just little insight into my life and what it looks like while I’m living in Japan. “What’s there to do?” “Are you close to anything cool?” And of course one of the more important questions, “Where’s the nearest ice cream shop?” All will be revealed in time, I assure you.

I live in a 5 story apartment complex where each floor is a house. I’m on the 4th floor. Which isn’t too bad since we have a snazzy elevator that not only saves us from the dreaded stairs, but it also does well in making me feel a lot cooler than I actually am. Thank you my dear elevator.

One of my most prized possessions is my beloved bicycle. It’s a cute cruiser that has long passed its glory days, hence the abundance of rust. I decided to take an hour or so to ride around and show some of the cool places near my house.

Japan is obsessed with vending machines. They are literally everywhere. You’re able to buy cold drinks as well as hot drinks such as coffee or tea. I know, it’s crazy. Just around the corner from my house there is a vending machine. I like to buy a soda and head up to the Sea Wall to enjoy it. “What’s the Sea Wall”, you say? I’m so glad you asked.

The Sea Wall is literally a wall along the Sea. I am told they have sand beaches here, (I still haven’t been to one!!!) but along this part is just a wall and then below is the water. In some parts of the wall they have wide stair steps for people to sit on. Sunsets are amazing there. Above the wall they have a big sidewalk that is often occupied by runners, skateboarders, and cats. Anyway, I took my soda and my book to the Sea Wall to sit for a bit.

There’s a wide sidewalk right next to the steps

Sea Wall

Ahhhh, now to my favorite part of my little endeavor. Blue Seal. If you spend anytime at all in Okinawa, you’ll soon recognize the many Blue Seals located at every turn. Blue Seal is a delicious local ice cream shop that’s about half a mile from my house. They have many unconventional flavors, or at least by American standards. Some of the flavors are maccha, passion fruit, sugar cane, Okinawan salt cookie, and some others using the Okinawan purple yam.

But I get chocolate cookie swirl every time. What can I say, why fix it if it ain’t broke?Along with the fact that I’m addicted to chocolate…

I didn’t take any photos on my drive there because I had to bike along a very busy highway. And I really didn’t feel like risking the chance of getting run over by a car, miniature or not.

After finishing my ice cream, I headed back home. But don’t worry! There’s a few more sights to see.

I love riding back home. One second, you feel miles away from the ocean. But as soon as you take that turn, you’re overwhelmed with a breathtaking view of the water. I love it.

Right next to this road, there’s a little park and a field. It’s really cool to see all the Japanese kids running and playing in the field. In many of the parks here, they have a wide concrete slide-looking-thing . At first, I had no idea its purpose. Turns out, you buy these sled-like things to slide down them. The one at this particular park isn’t to big or long, but I’ve seen others that are quite extravagant.

Well that pretty much concludes my trip! I love living in Okinawa and experiencing such a different culture unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’ve never really lived in a place where I could have so much independence. Going off on my own is pretty uncomfortable and I usually try to avoid it. But I’m trying to grow in this new environment and push away my anxious thoughts about the world.

Oh I almost forgot! There’s this cat that always sits in the same place everyday. I’ve tried  petting it, but I always end up scaring it away. But today my luck changed! The cute kitty finally let me pet it!

Thanks for reading my post! If you enjoyed it, (which I hope you did!) take a look at some of my other posts. Have any questions about Japan or anything you’d like to know? If so, don’t hesitate to leave it in the comments. See ya!