Well...

That previous post, upon my reading, sucks. It's not very interesting. This post will be much more interesting, at least to me.

Was glancing at the Okinawa Times newspaper today (yes, it's in Japanese...I know enough meanings of kanji to determine basics on my own) when I saw an article titled:

ヘリパッド移設遅れ　年度内完成　困難 (more info)

While I could only "read" it after I pulled out my trusty DS dictionary, the basic meaning was clear, and is as follows: "The helipad relocation is behind schedule for this year's term; difficult problem."

So? What helipad? Who cares? I do. The helipad is located in Higashi, more specifically Takae, the northernmost, and least populated, region of the village. I don't know all the specifics (when I become fluent, I'll fill you in), but I know the people don't like it. I don't like it. Having windows shake when the Chinooks fly very low to the ground is annoying. Having to pause a speech taking place outdoors because the chop of the blades drowns out all voices is also not cool (is it worse because it's from the military of my home country and I feel like people want to ask me why they're here?).

There are round-the-clock protest tents set up on both sides of the entrance to the helipad base and I'm sure the people have a lot to say; one day, I really want to know what it is. So I'll keep scanning the papers and listening to the villagers and studying my Japanese. It's nice to know there's more riding on fluency than just a good feeling while watching television and movies.