A Little More Information

Okay, after a little research we discovered that even though our orders will say Yokosuka, will be at Atsugi because we're attached to a squadron.

So, we will be doing research on Atsugi. I did find a few very nice folks to speak to about their time in Japan. I look forward to meeting a few of these people when we get there!

I have started a notebook with many different sections for all of the things we have to work on. Passports, school registration stuff, pet stuff, housing, etc.

I am a little worried about the housing situation there. Apparently some of the families stationed at Atsugi live in housing on a nearby base, Kamiseya. They are closing that base, I believe turning it over to the Japanese, and moving all of the Atsugi families back to the base.

I may not have base housing for a year and a half. Very sad about that! So, I need to rethink and get used to the idea of living in a Japanese home. I've heard they are very small but quaint. We'll see.........

And the Winner is...........................

Our appt. with the Command Career Counselor was today at 10 a.m. The first thing we found out was that MS could not put in for a general duty billet. That means that he had to select an AT1 billet.

Then, the only thing avail overseas was Atsugi or Yokosuka, Japan. So, there it is, we put in for Yokosuka. There was a Helo command at Atsugi, but since MS has only worked on F14's and F18s he wanted a airplane squadron.

Good news, we were able to put in AIP (Incentive Pay) bid for the Yokosuka orders. So, we did the max bid and will wait to see if we receive the orders. CCC said that we should know around Oct 4-5. If we don't get them, we will wait until Oct 11th and put in another choice.

More than likely that we will get these orders. There were 2 positions open and they're offering AIP. CCC was pretty sure we would separate from current command June 2008. So by the end of June we should be in Japan!

WOW!! It's going to take me a little while to get used to the idea!

I've started cleaning out the closets and talking about what furniture we will take.....

Michael, my 17 y.o. is taking Japenese 101 as a senior this year! He graduates June 14th. He is going to Japan with us!

6 Days Left!!

The big day is coming very quickly!! We have been researching all the locations mentioned in my last post. Even though we are leaning towards Italy, we are fairly certain that there will be no jobs posted for Italy. Most of the jobs there are for shore duty and we are rotating to sea duty.

This means that our chances are about 90% that we will go to Japan. As Atsugi has an airbase, that is probably where we will go. MS (my sailor) would like to be attached to a squadron instead of a ship (ie: USS George Washington). This means he would be home every night that they aren't out of port. If he's attached to a ship, he will have ship duty. Duty at a squadron is done at home.

We have been noticing anything Japanese the last few days. Up until now the only thing Japanese that affected us was Kyoto, our favorite Japanese Steakhouse. Their is a serious lack of information on the web about Atsugi. Only basic information can be found, and that makes us a little nervous.

I have been able to contact an ombudsman for the base. She told me to contact her with any questions we have.

But for now, we will wait 6 more days to see what comes our way. In the meantime, I'm having weird dreams about all I have read. Especially about the raw whole squid that I saw on a blog. The blogger said her neighbor in Japan gave it to her as a thank you gift. Hmmmm..... Who wants to guess how I would handle that?

Where in the World?

I'd like this blog to be about where my family ends up in the world. We are currently stationed in Virginia. My husband is in the Navy. We want to go overseas. We have an appt. with a detailer on 9/14. Today is 9/4.

10 DAYS! 10 Days to have anxiety about what will be available to us. 10 Days to imagine moving to a foreign land, that I know nothing about. First thing about me, I am extremely excited! I want to go see, explore and live another culture. My family and I love to travel and look forward to being immersed in another country!

In the meantime, I'm biting my nails. What if I end up in Guam. Sorry, no need to go there. Brown snakes on their website. Doesn't sound very interesting.

Hmmmm, Atsugi, Japan. Lots of culture, polite Japanese, new language (for me), sightseeing galore.

But then there's Sigonella, Italy. History surrounds you there, gorgeous island, mysterious Mt. Etna. Who can decide!!