Text 301, 50 rader
Skriven 2006-06-23 05:37:10 av Bob Ackley (1:2905/3)
    Kommentar till text 300 av Carol Shenkenberger (6:757/1)
Ärende: Seatime again
=====================
Replying to a message of Carol Shenkenberger to Nancy Backus:

 CS> Yup.  That flight difference was what allowed us to select the high
 CS> end scale  hotel we first picked.  We just had to change that though
 CS> as they notified us  it would not be 387$ a night but 550$ (child age
 CS> 12, rise in rate).  We swapped  to the Del Mar for 112$ a night,
 CS> filed as '3 adults' to avoid any problems and  all is well.  It's
 CS> almost as nice and well located for our needs for just as  many nice
 CS> things to do.  If you are curious, look up Okinawa Hotel Mar and you 
 CS> will find it.

 CS> Sorry, kist checked.  www.hotelgrandmer.com  (shows other name
 CS> elsewhere I  think).  Same place.  Nice....

I spent six years on Okinawa (1965-71).  I can't imagine the place being a
resort destination.  Yes, there were some nice places, but not any that I'd
spend that kind of money to stay at.

FWIW, in those days the beaches were rapidly shrinking as the sand was being
sucked up to be made into concrete.  The main industry on the island was
ripping-off
Americans (usually but not always GIs), followed by sugar cane and rice
production in
that order.

Note that I left the island just before it reverted to Japanese sovereignty,
the island
was a political mess with three major factions.  One faction, made up primarily
of
Okinawan businessmen, wanted to keep things just the way they were (US owning
and running the place); another faction, primarily leftists and labor leaders,
wanted
immediate reversion to Japan (never mind that during the time Japan owned the
place
the Okinawan people were treated like sh*t); the third faction, and the only
one with
any brains IMO, wanted complete independence from both nations.

Okinawans are *not* ethnic Japanese, BTW.  They are a mix of Japanese, Chinese
and
Polynesian.  Until the late 1800s when Japan conquered them the Ryukyu Islands
(of which Okinawa is the largest and was the capital) was an independent
kingdom with the Imperial
capital located at Shuri, which is a bit north of the city of Naha.  The ruins
of the castle are still there.  I suspect most of the damage occurred during
WWII but am not sure, it's in an
area where the fighting was very heavy.

--- FleetStreet 1.19+
 * Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:2905/3)