Okinawa Hai!

CONTRIBUTED BY SARAH FORTE Kadena Gift Front Where do you buy gifts for friends and family back in the States? I, for one, suffer from the self-imposed pressure of needing to buy something unique and—preferably—Asian. If I’m sending something from Japan, it doesn’t seem right to send something they could have gotten from Walmart. Am [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY JOY BARNES At my core, I am an activist.  Before my “career” as a stay at home mom, I worked for a feminist non-profit organization, I volunteered for political movements, and I’ve certainly done my share of letter writing campaigns.   However, when I moved to Okinawa, I was worried about where I [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY HEATHER GELORMINE I don’t want to alarm anyone but THE HOLIDAYS ARE RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!  *ahem* (I think my panic and unpreparedness are showing.)  Unless you’ve already put in your order for our fabulous 2011 Okinawa Hai calendars, you may still be scrambling around, looking for local gifts for all those special [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY LARISSA In the Schilling Community Center on Kadena Air Base you will find a hidden treasure of Kokeshi and sayonara dolls.  As you begin to appreciate the local culture and decide to start collecting items that will bring back fond memories of your time spent in Okinawa, the Kokeshi dolls should make it [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY STACI HAWLEY + Market= FLEA MARKET I’ve had good intentions of mustering up my piles of clutter and schlepping them down to the local flea market.  And I have even gone as far to check out a site on getting prepared here. I just never manage to physically get it all together. Every [...]

Read the full story

CONTRIBUTED BY KAHO Having military gift shops is a huge benefit you have living on Okinawa.  In the past two years of our stay on Okinawa, I have been to all 5 military gift shops on the island. I am going to put a spot light on two of them: Navy Gift Shop and Kids’ [...]

Read the full story