“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all.” And so it begins, Summer 2012 in Okinawa, Japan, and this quote is what sets the stage for it all. About six of us camp counselors from the Northern California region, from UC Davis, Sacramento State and Chico State University boarded on a flight out of San Francisco to Seattle at 6 am Saturday morning, all running on about 45 minutes of sleep but so eagerly anxious to begin our journey. In Seattle we met up with fellow Camp Adventure staff from Eastern Washington, Western Washington and Washington State University, as well as from University of Oregon, Eastern Oregon and Oregon State University. From there we took on our 10- hour flight to Tokyo Narita! Landing in Japan and seeing the first sights of the beaches was incredible. In Tokyo we gathered with everyone else that was headed to Okinawa, and 5 hours later we landed in Naha, Okinawa. Extreme exhaustion had hit about everybody at that point, added with the intense humidity, but excitement was definitely still in the air, regardless of the 16-hour time difference and 2 days worth of travel now behind us.

At about 1 am we arrived on Camp Foster, with a quick stop at the shopette for some breakfast food. We were given our room assignments, where Foster and McT staff would reside for the entire summer, and Kinser staff would temporarily stay for the first week of orientation and then move to our own base. Living in the barracks and getting acquainted with the military base and lifestyle has been incredibly interesting. With the military men living on the bottom two floors, and all of us Camp staff walking around in uniform, constant glares have become the norm. We heard our first raising of the flags at around 8 am, where literally everyone including people in their cars stop and turn towards the direction of the flag throughout the anthem.

Our barracks on Camp Foster

Since it has been orientation week, paperwork and meetings are what the week’s schedule is looking like. We were given our base passes, which enable us access to the neighboring bases as well as the Commissary and Px. We took a trip to the Px and saw the theater, as well as the taco bell, burger master and subway, along with a walk to the gym where the only form of Wi-Fi is at the moment. Our walk back to the barracks was in some insane monsoon looking weather. Since June is Typhoon season in Okinawa, intense windy rainstorms and a potential typhoon are predicted throughout the month. It’s crazy to think that we are surrounded by Americans, able to purchase things with dollars and considered in American Territory within the base, when right outside those gates lies all of Okinawa, Japan.

Orientation on Camp Foster

I’m so excited for our trip to the Okuma resort up north on Saturday with our entire Camp staff, getting to know everyone has been great. Saturday night our Kinser staff will move to our base, so that we can have Sunday to work on programming and get settled. I can’t wait to get to meet the kids, unpack, and start planning some weekend trips that will hopefully include a trip to the Kerama Islands, the Pineapple Factory, zip lining and snorkeling! Until the next post, peace & love from Oki!