Entering into the port of Yokosuka, Japan, aboard the USS George Washington with its battle group was a sight for the residents of Japan. The treaty the United States had with Japan had been renegotiated to allow the first nuclear aircraft carrier to be stationed in Japan and lots of the Japanese citizens were protesting as the ship docked.
Upon arrival my son Garrett Wanket and his fiancee Rachael Thompson manned the rails on the flight deck in their dress blues. I wish I could have been there to see it. The ship is scheduled to be based in Yokosuka for the next six years with short underway cruises up and down the east coast of Asia to Australia and back.
One of the first things the kids talked about was how confusing traveling on the streets of Japan is because they don't have many signs in English. Each time they have pulled into a foreign port since leaving Norfolk, Va., they are handed a pamphlet with instructions on cultural etiquette. For example, in Japan you don't tip the waiter when you eat in a restaurant or after riding in a taxi. You also never speak on your cell phone on a train " I wonder how well that would go over here in the U.S. When you stand on the train you have to face people face to face.
Money is also very different in Japan not only in how funny the paper looks but how much the number on it means not a whole bunch. Right now 10,000 yen is worth about $100. Currency varies in one, 10, 50, 100 and 500 yen. It is smarter to carry coins because that's how you pay for trains and vending machines. The vending machine seemed very strange to Garrett and Rachael because they have four vending machines on every corner and you can buy cold drinks, hot drinks, beer, cigarettes even iPods and accessories.
The cities are very clean and the storekeepers are always sweeping their walkways. There are a lot of clothing stores for women but there is not a Walmart. They drive on the left side of the road with the car's steering wheel on the right. The roads are very narrow so lots of people ride bicycles or mo-peds. They have lots of main freeways that are toll roads and are very expensive to travel on compared to taking the train system. All sailors have an indoctrination that covered all of the things I have just mentioned and especially covered how to find your way back to the ship. To find their way back to Yokosuka, they were told to look for kanji symbols resembling a fat man, skinny man, sitting on a couch with pots on a stove.
Good luck when you go back home to Japan tomorrow, Garrett and Rachael. Thank you for your service and we can't wait to hear more of your travels and experiences.
n Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.
