Okinawa is covered with castle ruins from north to south, with Shuri Castle being the biggest tourist attraction. We happen to live quite close to what was once the biggest castle on the island, a few hundred years ago. So it seemed worth a visit.

Urasoe Castle is just north of the capital city of Naha, and is also the final resting place of the three last Ryukyu kings. Not quite as impressive as other castles, such as Nakagusuku Ruins, it was still an interesting walk back in time.

Next to the castle ruins is the Urasoe Yodore, a tomb housing the remains of three rulers of the Ryukyu Kingdom, built in the 1200s. You are not allowed to cross the barrier to peek inside.

Even for a weekend, there was nobody there, and almost zero information in English. But as we returned to the parking lot and took a look at the historical information on the sign, an elderly gentleman came up and gave what turned out to be an incredibly detailed background to the area. To my husband, in Japanese, naturally. But he then shared the information with me.

I had to take a picture of what this historical site looked like after WWII. It never ceases to amaze me how much of Okinawa’s history was completely obliterated during the bombing of Japan. It is an incredible loss and one that people feel the world over with every war. No doubt people in Syria, for example, have a lot of mourn, as their history gets bombed into rubble.

There are flying fish all over Okinawa these days. And I don’t mean jumping out the water.

A national holiday called Children’s Day is just a few days away, and koinobori – carp windsocks – have been strung up across bridges, in people’s gardens, rooftops and balconies, and even in the schools. It’s a popular sight in Japan as the carp are bright and colourful, and you can buy them from the local dollar store, if that is all your budget allows (thanks, China).

Yesterday I took some people from my Japanese school on a day trip to see a koinobori event at the Okinawa Peace Park, on the south coast of the island. And boy were we lucky! I had read that 20,000 koinobori had been strung around the park, and that one of them was 100 feet long. And as we arrived and ambled into the park, like the clueless gaijin we are, we got to witness the raising of the giant 100 foot carp, and it was truly impressive. A crane lifted it up into the air, and it only took a few seconds. I was so glad to have seen this moment.

Pretty cool, right?

So just what are koinobori about? Children’s Day used to be Boy’s Day, and the carp symbolised strength and courage because of its ability to swim up river against the raging tide. The koinobori represented a family’s hope that their sons would also be strong and healthy, like the carp. Families would hang the streamers outside their house, traditionally with a big black one on top (representing the father), then a red one (mother), and smaller ones (the kids).

Today Boy’s Day has just become Children’s Day, but the koinobori still remains a symbol of the day. At my daughter’s school, for example, they made an art project of koinobori, and there are two big ones hanging up in the gym. At the Peace Park, there were thousands of them that had been made by kids at the local schools.

Okinawa Peace Park has many monuments dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of people – both military and civilian, on both sides of the fight – who died during the Battle of Okinawa and WWII in general. Nestled atop a hill top, the park is huge, and has incredibly beautiful views of the coastline.

As always, it’s hard to imagine that this lovely island went through such dark days!

When we lived in the tiny town of Mui Wo, there was a dog that I smiled at every time it passed by. Not because I like dogs – on the contrary, I can’t stand them. But this mutt was special. This was a Doggy on Duty.

The dog lived with a local contractor who wore incredibly thick glasses and drove a tiny three-wheeled truck-like thing through the footpaths of the village, delivering bricks, concrete, wood, whatever construction materials were needed.

And wherever the contractor went, the dog went too, at a speed. While the other village dogs did nothing all day but lay about in the path, obstructing bicycles, the Dog on Duty ran, jumped and leaped up the path, following the contractor. You could see that this dog had a mission, this dog had something to do, a purpose. A job. A genuine enthusiasm for life.

I joked to my husband about a year ago that I wanted to be like that dog again. To have a clear mission. To have purpose. See, I have been a stay-at-home-mom since the day my kid entered the world. Three years of no work! Yes, yes, it is a full time job raising a kid. And a harder job than any I’ve had before. Although full time motherhood is fulfilling in certain ways, it is absolutely mind-numbing in other ways. I went from being a working girl in a nice fancy office with an interesting job to ‘just’ being mom, and it was quite an adjustment. With the endless routines of child rearing, story telling, potty training, cooking and cleaning, the days can feel so long, and boring, and I often found myself pondering deep questions, like ‘What is my purpose?’, ‘What do I want to do with my life?’ and ‘What am I going to do next?’

And now, the time has finally come to start getting some answers. A new phase in life begins. Because tomorrow, The Kid starts going to pre-K at a nearby international school, and is out of my hair for half the day. And I, too, start something new, for myself.

I have a new duty – to learn. I’m starting a full time Japanese course, with three hours a day of mental gymnastics as I try to learn and understand the mother tongue of my new home. Because there is no way you can survive in Japan without being able to communicate. It’s going to be hard, for sure, especially as the other students will be almost 10 years younger than me and infinitely faster at retaining new information. But it’s going to be good to work out the brain after three years of full time baby-care.

My kid is no longer a baby, she is growing up and moving into the phase of her life that revolves around school. And I need to figure out what kind of dog on duty I’m going to be, and what kind of work or job I will do next. But I have no doubt that learning Japanese is an important first step in figuring out what will be the next chapter in my own life.