kyou downtown ni itte, nanka touku kara "shima uta" kikoete, bikkuri shimashita. michi wattate, dareka ga shamisen wo hiite ita. eigo de, "okinawa kara kita?" to kiite, "un" to kotaeta. soshite, watashi ga "[shima uta wo] kiite, sugu koko ni kita" to nihongo de iimashita. metta ni santa cruz de uchinanchu (okinawa no hito) to awanai kara bikkuri shimashita. tokuni, shamisen wo hiiteru uchinanchu!

translation: today i went downtown and from afar i could hear "shima uta" (an okinawan song made popular in japan in the 1990s by a rock group named the boom), which surprised me. i crossed the street and someone was playing a shamisen. i asked in english, "are you okinawan?" and they nodded "yes". then i said in japanese, "i heard [shima uta] and came here right away." it was surprising because it is rare that one meets uchinanchu (someone from okinawa) in santa cruz. especially, one playing shamisen!