Sunday, 4 January 1970

Sunday morning
4 January 1970

Didn’t write last night - so will write twice today!  We ate a most fantastic meal last night.  I ate Kobe beef, a special kind of beef that comes from Japan.  The meat is very tender and delicious.  Seems the cattle are fed a lot of beer which gives the meat its tenderness.

The tables in the restaurant are three sided things with a grill in the middle.  The chef stands on the fourth side and cooks (fries) the entire meal right in front of you.  There is no menu - they only serve this one meal. 

The first thing the chef cooks is a concoction of potatoes, onions, and bell peppers, all very highly seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and wine.  Then he cooks the meat, to your choice, seasoned the same way.  He cuts the meat in bite size chunks as he cooks it. 

Then comes spinach - which I passed up. Next is garlic bread and finally rice.  I did eat some of the rice, with soy bean sauce on it - and it wasn’t bad.  The rice was the only thing the chef didn’t cook. 

Before the meal we were served a tossed salad and soup.  Now here’s the topper - the whole meal, except the soup, was eaten with chop sticks!!  You should have seen me!  There wasn’t even a fork or knife in sight.  It was without a doubt one of the finest meals and experiences I’ve ever had in a restaurant. 

This whole meal is a Japanese custom apparently.  The place was so busy we had to wait for about two hours to eat.  Then it takes so long to eat because the food is cooked as you eat it.

We checked into the school yesterday.  The school is going to last until the 17th.  We (O.J. me and another guy) decided to rent a car and stay at the Kadena BOQ.  It’s about a 30 minute drive from the Q to the school, but it beats staying at the Q at Camp Hanson.

As I predicted, the money is really going!  Being out of country like this, a person wants to celebrate all the time, go places and enjoy himself!!

My address for emergency is Kadena BOQ, Bldg. 327, Rm 124, Kadena AFB, Okinawa.

Sunday night
4 January 1970

We didn’t do much today.  Just slept late then ate lunch, then watched TV and shopped this afternoon and tonight. 

Tomorrow we start school so I’ll have something to keep me busy all day.
It’s winter time, now, in Okinawa, and I didn’t have any kind of a jacket to wear.  So I bought a windbreaker yesterday.  I bought it out in town for only $3.50.  The cheapest ones in the PX were $6.95.  The jacket seems to be of good quality and worth more than I paid.

I also had to buy another pair of slacks as my old gray ones have just about had it.  Both pockets are completely worn out.  I bought that gray pair of slacks at Sears in Brunswick.  Of course, I was planning to buy clothes over here as I needed them.

I’ve been looking at cassette recorders here.  My roommate moved right before I left, so I’m thinking about buying a recorder of my own.  I’m pricing them to see if I’ll have enough money to buy one.  The best price I’ve found so far is $29.95 and that’s for a good brand.