On Base in Japan

Well, I'm here. By here I mean I am sitting on the floor in my empty office, which is inside my nearly-empty apartment, which is on the ninth floor of a tower on the Yokosuka Air Force Base in Yokosuka, Japan.

It has already been a bit of an adventure. I arrived safely on Saturday afternoon. Somebody from the U.S.S. George Washington office was there to meet me. He had a sign with my name on it. I've always wanted to be picked up at the airport by someone with a sign. Unfortunately, we rode the bus instead of taking the private car that usually accompanies such signs, but I guess you can't have everything.

We had to wait an hour and a half for the bus to come. I didn't mind. I was in Japan! Everything was bright and clean and wonderful. I converted $20 to yen so I could get a soda. Don't worry; the soda didn't cost $20. I just wanted some Japanese money in case I needed it. Plus, I love Japanese money.

The ride to the base took an hour and a half. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open. I counted three Ferris wheels on the way there. Why do the Japanese have Ferris wheels all over their cities? I have no idea. But one of them was at least eight stories tall.

The first day was okay. I was exhausted but I managed to go grocery shopping and pick up some essentials at the NEX, including a pillow. I had slept without one the night before because my sponsor provided me with sheets but no pillows. Evidently that's pretty standard practice around here.

The next day I was wandering around trying to find all the offices I had to check in with when I ran into a little sprite in the elevator. Her name was Stephanie and she is the spouse of one of the navigators on good old G.W. Though she is only 5 foot nothing and weighs something south of 90 pounds the woman knows how to take charge. The next thing I knew she was leading me from office to office along with two other navy spouses who were just checking in. Her 2-year-old son Donny also came along for the ride.

This woman is a God-send. Literally. She basically zips around base finding people whose sponsors have "dropped them like it's hot" and adopts them. Without her I never would have gotten anything done. She knows everyone on base and has the answer to everything. She smokes like an oil fire, swears like my sailor friends and describes people as "off the hook", with no trace of irony. I like her anyway.

I also got to meet her three kids. Don't ask me how this tiny woman managed to carry and birth three kids, but she did. She's picking me up tomorrow. To go to a "hooray our husbands are coming home party" with the other G.W. wives. I'm actually looking forward to it. Sort of. At least I'll get to meet some people. Maybe I can make my own friends instead of always borrowing Grant's.

Grant, by the way, will pull in around 10 a.m. on Thursday (our time). There's going to be a celebration on the pier. "This is a historic moment," Stephanie told me, "and we get to be part of it."

To sum up. I like it here. I like it a lot. Things haven't run perfectly smoothly (I don't have a phone or Internet and nobody knows where my household goods shipment went) but with Stephanie's help they're coming as close as I could hope. I love you all and I miss you. I hope you're as content where you are as I am here.

I leave you today with a quote from Albert Schweitzer. "You don't live in a world all alone. Your brothers," and sisters "are here too."