A Small Moment - Connecting a lifetime ago to today.

I can't recall how we even got on this topic. Maybe it was the birthday dinner at a Japanese restaurant or my son and his obsession with Nerf guns.

Somehow the kids got me talking how the small town outside the base in Japan. Kinville, also know by some other names, was a two street town right outside Camp Hansen, Okinawa. The streets were lined with restaurants, bars, a few shops and the best vending machines I have ever seen.

One day after I arrived I was wandering the streets looking for somewhere to eat. Someone on base told me to look for the White Kitchen and to order the yakisoba. Down a narrow and slightly dank street I found what had to be the right place but the sign read White Kichen.

I told the kids of my adventures ordering off a menu that consisted of a language that I couldn't read and tons of slick looking pictures. The first time being this far away and totally alone, it was pretty much the best day of my life up to that point.

I ended up ordering what would soon be my all time favorite dish, squid yakisoba. The food arrived and on the side of the dish sat chopsticks. I had never used chopsticks. The staff could tell I had no idea what to do, before I knew it they were teaching me! The language barrier was pretty big but we worked together until I had it down.

My visits to the White Kichen stretched from that day to the day we left the island. While the food was amazing I would give just about anything to return and have one last meal with a few of my buddies.