So... I'd heard this rumor. There were people saying you could save LOTS of money by living in Okinawa. And today I got a comment on the blog from Ms. Lowe...
"So hey, i'm a marine wife and we are about to have to make a decision about where we wanna be stationed. i found your blog and wanted to ask you some questions. rumor has it that there's mad cash to be made or to be SAVED with cola and housing allowance. just wanna know what you think and if you have any advice bout whether or not we should choose japan. email me...
Thanks!"
I thought this deserved a public answer because she is not the first person to email me asking about being stationed here. And she's not the first person to think there's "mad cash to be made or to be SAVED". Don't believe the hype! But the benefits are a'plenty - so read on for my response if you'd like.
Hi there, Jesslyn!
Just got your comment on my blog, and I'm not sure how the rumor got started - but Japan is very expensive. Coming here you will save money if you're a clothes shopping addict (not much to be found here except online!) or if you live on base and eat mac & cheese all day. However, if you plan to live out in town you do not get the difference between your housing allowance and what you pay for rent (which sure isn't much anyway) and all summer long your electric bills take up all of your utility allowance in this very hot and humid tropical place. COLA isn't nearly enough - and we're still waiting for the latest survey to kick in. (side note: Does ANYONE know when that's supposed to be settled for heaven's sake? We took the survey in March!) Produce is ridiculously expensive and must be bought out in town because the commissary stuff is pretty terrible (and even more expensive than in town).
Also, if you're a dual-income family, likelihood is, unless you're a certified teacher and willing to go through DODDS applications, or a dual active duty family - you (as the spouse) will either not work or make very little money if you do. So you're down one income. (That's what happened to us.)
Also - do you plan to travel? Well- no savings to be had if you want to take flights anywhere from here (that is definitely the most expensive part) unless you do all space A, and that is a hassle. Even then you're still going to pay for hotels, food, etc. - so vacations cost money.
Now - that being said, it DOES depend on your husband's rank. (you could save/make more if he's more senior in the service.) But coming here - the decision shouldn't be made based on "saving mad money". It should be based on the experience.
You learn about foreign cultures, you dive in some of the bluest clearest waters with some of the most incredible sea life, you eat exotic foods and learn to shop in a Japanese grocery store for things like yuzu cha and onigiri. Your children learn Japanese and get to snorkel in those same waters, and they visit WWII battle sites and Ryuku Castle ruins...and it's an incomparable experience for them! You take shorter flights to visit Vietnam, Cambodia, mainland Japan, Thailand, China, and so many other incredible places. You make friends with some of the most interesting and fun people you'll ever meet. You live in a 1950's style neighborhood where everyone knows each other, takes care of each other, and helps each other - and you can let your child go to the restroom or bike to the park with friends or -gasp- ALONE. It's totally what you make of it.
Come to Okinawa for the experience and adventure of a lifetime - not to save money. Honestly, as a military family, the best way to stash cash is for your husband to go to Iraq for 6 months or more. But having been through that three times - it wasn't worth it to us. (Thankfully, my hubby won't deploy from here... knocking like mad on the desk as I type...) Okinawa is priceless.
Hope that helps :) And you know what? I'm going to post this on the blog, because I do get a lot of emails asking about the money situation here.
Thanks for the question, and thanks for reading, Jesslyn!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
First Day Of First Grade
Well, today was the first day of first grade for Mia. She handled it with the independence and general sassiness we expect from her. No, she did NOT need me to drive her to school on the first day because she will take the bus - and she PROMISES to tell me ALL about it, so don't worry. Ok then.
A quick flashback to one year ago. On the left, first day of kindergarten. On the right, well - darned near adulthood.
A much larger and more weighed-down backpack, that's for sure - REAL school supplies. We read and write now. And no more of that extra underwear business (though I still feel I must TELL her to pee when she's dancing).
I picked her up from the bus stop and was eager to hear about her day. She was sitting next to a very nice new girl on the bus (new to Okinawa, anyway) and they seemed to have had a lovely ride home. The bus was quite late, but I would imagine most kids had no clue which bus they belonged on at the end of their first day.
We walked home and I grilled her, and she gave up some good info; she had a Japanese class, and will be having that class once a week. She had reading time, and NO naptime, and recess on a NEW playground with SWINGS and many of her friends from last year.They read a book about the first day of school, and something about toads and lizards, and she's at seat #2 and she handed me her folder that contained a pretty extensive homework calendar among other things.
We were walking in the door and after talking about her day she said, "There was a lot of work. All day was work work work. Even in our free time we have to read or write! I like kindergarten."
Did you hear that? That creak.... the door to REAL SCHOOL has now been opened. Welcome to the world, Mia. It isn't all naptime and playing dress-up. But Mama's here for you - we can still do that stuff at home.
A quick flashback to one year ago. On the left, first day of kindergarten. On the right, well - darned near adulthood.
A much larger and more weighed-down backpack, that's for sure - REAL school supplies. We read and write now. And no more of that extra underwear business (though I still feel I must TELL her to pee when she's dancing).
I picked her up from the bus stop and was eager to hear about her day. She was sitting next to a very nice new girl on the bus (new to Okinawa, anyway) and they seemed to have had a lovely ride home. The bus was quite late, but I would imagine most kids had no clue which bus they belonged on at the end of their first day.
We walked home and I grilled her, and she gave up some good info; she had a Japanese class, and will be having that class once a week. She had reading time, and NO naptime, and recess on a NEW playground with SWINGS and many of her friends from last year.They read a book about the first day of school, and something about toads and lizards, and she's at seat #2 and she handed me her folder that contained a pretty extensive homework calendar among other things.
We were walking in the door and after talking about her day she said, "There was a lot of work. All day was work work work. Even in our free time we have to read or write! I like kindergarten."
Did you hear that? That creak.... the door to REAL SCHOOL has now been opened. Welcome to the world, Mia. It isn't all naptime and playing dress-up. But Mama's here for you - we can still do that stuff at home.
The Okinawa International Women's Club
I hope you'll check out the post I contributed at Okinawa Hai concerning the amazing local group, the OIWC. Please consider coming to the welcome coffee this Wednesday if you're here and looking for a way to donate a little time and have a lot of fun! I hope to see or meet you there.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Night At Plaza Pool
I was on my way to join Mia and Craig at the Plaza Housing Pool on base here for a night-time pool party some friends were having. The phone rang.
"Mama!"
"Hi, baby, what's up?"
"Are you coming? You have to go in the POOL with me because I can't go in the big pool without you!"
"What? Why?"
"There's a TEST!"
"So take the test."
"You have to be 10 years old to take the test Dada said!"
"Put your father on the phone...."
I established with him that there's no age limit on the test, and she's perfectly capable of passing it as a level 4 swimmer; ahem.
I arrived at the party with my camera and after saying hi to the adults, I spotted Mia in the pool.
I asked Craig if she got some kind of sympathy vote, and he said, "Nope. She took the test, passed it, and now she's welcome to do whatever she wants in there." My confident kid jumped right in - swam the LENGTH of the pool (not across, the length - this is a big pool.) and floated for a minute and tread water for a minute. Now she has a bracelet to wear at any of the USMC base pools.
You can see her bracelet and her still fantastic diving form here:
It was pitch black outside, the pool itself was lit underwater, but the outside lighting made for some interesting exposures here... so bear with me at ISO 3200 and 50mm at f1.2 for this stuff. (if you care... if not, move along)
I was pretty impressed at the stopped action here.
Much more light when she was under water. Look at my little fishie!
Hello there.... Dara, eat your heart out!
It's too bad she hates swimming. Torture, I tell you. They literally turned off all the lights when it was time to get out and 9 and the kid was STILL whining about having to leave.
Side note - there were a few corpsman on the sidelines of the pool, not swimming. I asked why and they said, "Small pox." They had been vaccinated that day for an upcoming Iraq deployment. Seriously. They STILL think we're going to get small pox in Iraq? Annoying. And just plain unfair. But thanks to you guys - for staying out of the pool and for your service. I appreciate it.
"Mama!"
"Hi, baby, what's up?"
"Are you coming? You have to go in the POOL with me because I can't go in the big pool without you!"
"What? Why?"
"There's a TEST!"
"So take the test."
"You have to be 10 years old to take the test Dada said!"
"Put your father on the phone...."
I established with him that there's no age limit on the test, and she's perfectly capable of passing it as a level 4 swimmer; ahem.
I arrived at the party with my camera and after saying hi to the adults, I spotted Mia in the pool.
I asked Craig if she got some kind of sympathy vote, and he said, "Nope. She took the test, passed it, and now she's welcome to do whatever she wants in there." My confident kid jumped right in - swam the LENGTH of the pool (not across, the length - this is a big pool.) and floated for a minute and tread water for a minute. Now she has a bracelet to wear at any of the USMC base pools.
You can see her bracelet and her still fantastic diving form here:
It was pitch black outside, the pool itself was lit underwater, but the outside lighting made for some interesting exposures here... so bear with me at ISO 3200 and 50mm at f1.2 for this stuff. (if you care... if not, move along)
I was pretty impressed at the stopped action here.
Much more light when she was under water. Look at my little fishie!
Hello there.... Dara, eat your heart out!
It's too bad she hates swimming. Torture, I tell you. They literally turned off all the lights when it was time to get out and 9 and the kid was STILL whining about having to leave.
Side note - there were a few corpsman on the sidelines of the pool, not swimming. I asked why and they said, "Small pox." They had been vaccinated that day for an upcoming Iraq deployment. Seriously. They STILL think we're going to get small pox in Iraq? Annoying. And just plain unfair. But thanks to you guys - for staying out of the pool and for your service. I appreciate it.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Emerald Beach & Pizza in the Sky
On a whim last weekend, we trekked up to Emerald Beach. It's just north of the Churaumi Aquarium, and it's a gorgeous and friendly spot. (I blogged about the folks we met on the photography blog - too funny!)
I mean really. It's quiet, secluded - we paid 500¥ to rent a beach umbrella like this one and relaxed all afternoon.
Then we drove up a really big hill, through turns and twists I can't even explain - I think we turned around about 4 times because we said, "There's NO WAY this could be right.... look at this little street!"
Then we spotted some Y-plates and said, "FOLLOW THEM!" At the top of the hill, after parking and then coming around the corner and putting your name in at the front stand, you walk past the outdoor tables and see this.
Sesoko Island is there in the distance with the bridge, if you can see it. Obviously we know why this is referred to as "Pizza in the Sky". Gorgeous.
We sat with some friends and the couples they had arrived with - there were a good bunch of us, with a good bunch of kids. This is the menu:
Don't you just love that? And by the way... it's not kinds of pizza - it's just PIZZA. You get what they give you, in a small or medium pie. Done.
I ordered a guava juice for Mia - and it came in a glass cube.
Mmmm... this is the scrumptious salad. It was GOOD. Though we made the mistake of ordering one each (for Craig & I) and should've shared one!
Now tell me... wouldn't the world be a better place if iced tea were served with a little pinch-pot with tiny flowers and its own bingata place mat on this tray? More examples of Japanese presentation. So lovely (and yes, they laughed at me for taking a photo of it - but I mean really, look at it!).
Pizza. The rounds were somewhere between a hot dog and a sausage. Green pepper, corn (Of course - something about Japan is that pizza has corn on it. It just does.) and delicious sauce and cheese - wow. We ate too much.
In the evening while on our way back the sun began to set. And wow - it was a crying shame we couldn't pull over when we saw it go all the way down behind the silhouette of the hills and the ocean. It was incredible. But we did stop when we saw the amazing golden light in a marina on our way to the expressway.
There were a couple of guys out there fishing. And I'll tell you, there were fish literally JUMPING in this area. Mia, Craig and I were watching in amazement as rather large fish leapt from the water and splashed back down!
Such a pretty spot, isn't it? I've been meaning to take photos of this - so I was happy when we passed it at just the right time.
Hope you enjoyed this! I'm thinking the next photos you might see here are of Mia's first day of 1st grade.... heaven help me.
I mean really. It's quiet, secluded - we paid 500¥ to rent a beach umbrella like this one and relaxed all afternoon.
Then we drove up a really big hill, through turns and twists I can't even explain - I think we turned around about 4 times because we said, "There's NO WAY this could be right.... look at this little street!"
Then we spotted some Y-plates and said, "FOLLOW THEM!" At the top of the hill, after parking and then coming around the corner and putting your name in at the front stand, you walk past the outdoor tables and see this.
Sesoko Island is there in the distance with the bridge, if you can see it. Obviously we know why this is referred to as "Pizza in the Sky". Gorgeous.We sat with some friends and the couples they had arrived with - there were a good bunch of us, with a good bunch of kids. This is the menu:
Don't you just love that? And by the way... it's not kinds of pizza - it's just PIZZA. You get what they give you, in a small or medium pie. Done.I ordered a guava juice for Mia - and it came in a glass cube.
Mmmm... this is the scrumptious salad. It was GOOD. Though we made the mistake of ordering one each (for Craig & I) and should've shared one!
Now tell me... wouldn't the world be a better place if iced tea were served with a little pinch-pot with tiny flowers and its own bingata place mat on this tray? More examples of Japanese presentation. So lovely (and yes, they laughed at me for taking a photo of it - but I mean really, look at it!).
Pizza. The rounds were somewhere between a hot dog and a sausage. Green pepper, corn (Of course - something about Japan is that pizza has corn on it. It just does.) and delicious sauce and cheese - wow. We ate too much.
In the evening while on our way back the sun began to set. And wow - it was a crying shame we couldn't pull over when we saw it go all the way down behind the silhouette of the hills and the ocean. It was incredible. But we did stop when we saw the amazing golden light in a marina on our way to the expressway.
There were a couple of guys out there fishing. And I'll tell you, there were fish literally JUMPING in this area. Mia, Craig and I were watching in amazement as rather large fish leapt from the water and splashed back down!
Such a pretty spot, isn't it? I've been meaning to take photos of this - so I was happy when we passed it at just the right time.
Hope you enjoyed this! I'm thinking the next photos you might see here are of Mia's first day of 1st grade.... heaven help me.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
End Of Summer Fun
Hi there! A few things to report to you, wonderful readers who I've neglected quite a bit this summer. This post is about the last day of swim, then I'm doing one on Pizza in the Sky and Emerald Beach if I can finish before having to make dinner.
Due to the fact that I only posted a couple of animated gifs in the last post, I figured I'd give you a better look at the photos from the last day of swim class.
Much to our dismay, though she is a very strong swimmer - Mia is no diver.
Yeah, wow. Look at that form. Even Mia saw this and said, "My legs are supposed to be straight." No duh. However, when I saw Tara's daughter dive in, I felt a bit better about it....
It still cracks me up that my kid points her fingertips toward the water as if the perfect dive is going to happen - and then leaps in feet-first.
She WAS, however, very happy to receive her certificate.
Level 4 is a big jump from level 3. It's goes from 25 minutes to 50 minues, for one thing. And now the kids swim in the lanes. Mia was fine with this as long as it was for backstroke or for flirting with the boy students in the class.
The last day of swim was rather sad for the Camp Adventure swim teachers, most of whom were from Iowa and California. Much like others who are new here, they were amazed at the quality of the toenail art to be found at Cocok - so they took the trip just before returning home.
Eight girls, one guy - Prince Charming. Who struck this pose the moment I had the girls lie down on their tummies for this shot!
A bit bigger version fo the sideways swan dive. This was just so priceless - Prince Charming, you're a hoot!
Due to the fact that I only posted a couple of animated gifs in the last post, I figured I'd give you a better look at the photos from the last day of swim class.
Much to our dismay, though she is a very strong swimmer - Mia is no diver.
Yeah, wow. Look at that form. Even Mia saw this and said, "My legs are supposed to be straight." No duh. However, when I saw Tara's daughter dive in, I felt a bit better about it....
It still cracks me up that my kid points her fingertips toward the water as if the perfect dive is going to happen - and then leaps in feet-first.She WAS, however, very happy to receive her certificate.
Level 4 is a big jump from level 3. It's goes from 25 minutes to 50 minues, for one thing. And now the kids swim in the lanes. Mia was fine with this as long as it was for backstroke or for flirting with the boy students in the class.The last day of swim was rather sad for the Camp Adventure swim teachers, most of whom were from Iowa and California. Much like others who are new here, they were amazed at the quality of the toenail art to be found at Cocok - so they took the trip just before returning home.
Eight girls, one guy - Prince Charming. Who struck this pose the moment I had the girls lie down on their tummies for this shot!
A bit bigger version fo the sideways swan dive. This was just so priceless - Prince Charming, you're a hoot!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Last Day of Swim!
The Camp Adventure staff at the pool on the last day of swim...Haha! how cool is this?
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