Here are just a couple of pictures though I'm not sure if it offers any justice to the magnitude of my journey. Both of these were taken in Tokyo's airport.
It was so hard to fathom that on one morning I woke up in Wisconsin, and when I went to finally lay my head for the night I was in Japan. The plane ride was any typical 12 hour flight across the world. A Boeing 747 is a big place, but interestingly enough there was a screen to map our speed, route, and altitude. The fastest ground speed I saw was 545mph, highest altitude was 37,000 ft, and our route was rather weird in a way. We went up into Canada and Alaska to come done over that crazy Russian providence that is on a Risk board. Here I thought we would fly over Hawaii.
While on the flight I did some sleeping, only about 4.5 hours. I read a lot of my book "American Creation" by John Ellis. It's about the founding fathers. I traveled in my service uniform which came in handy at O'Hare because when I arrived at the desk by the terminal they looked at my ticket then told me that "I had a bad seat." When I returned the batted smile I was hooked up with a window seat instead of the middle seat in the middle isle. The guy who was one seat over really didn't say much until we landed. That was fine because it gave me time to collect my thoughts about my journey.
We enjoyed 3 meals on the trip (better than hospital food), and I also enjoyed a spilled Coke in my lap for the last 3 hours of the flight. I am easily the worst eater I know. Customs was a breeze; luckily enough Tokyo Airport employees know enough English to keep me from missing my flight. I landed in Tokyo at 3pm on the 28th, and flew out of there to Fukuowa (Japan's 4th largest) at 6pm, and landed at 8pm. Can't really comment much on that flight since I was sleeping though I did think the plane was blowing up when we landed (again I was sleeping).
Then it was about a 2 hour drive from Fukuowa to Sasebo. It's only a 50 mile drive. This is due to both the terrain (commented on later), the traffic, and the country-wide slow speed limits. My sponsor, another sailor, HM3 Hamaguchi is and has been a big help since arriving. He picked me up and has answered all of my questions thouroughly. It also helps he is bilingual in Japanese.
The first night I got to sleep at around 330am and had to be up again by 6am to check in at the command. They blamed my being tired on the jet lag, I blame it on science that any human would be tired after 2.5 hours of sleep. So I'm in the process of checking in now, and that's always fun.
Japan is 14 hours ahead of Wisconsin. A good rule of thumb is when you're awake, I'm sleeping. The time on the bottom right of my computer hasn't changed from WI time, so I always know what time it is (currently 435 back in the motherland as I write this). I'm free of jet lag because I'm an awesome warrior.
I was not expecting what this base is: absolutely gorgous! Mountains wrap around the city, the weather is still cooler (though I heard that'll change), and it is just very breath-taking thus far. There is a koi pond here on base. Koi is a colorful carp, but in my mind it's still carp.
The Japanese people so far are very friendly. Many know enough English to help me. I have yet to wonder outside the base gates yet, but maybe that'll be a chore for this weekend. The command is quite small which is good to make a name for yourself (or destroy a name), and I like that. They really push education and tapping out on potential. My pharmacy is tiny which will hopefully be good.
Our command also really pushes to think of other choices to drinking. They offer so many programs and trips it is ridiculous. The drinking age in Japan is 20. That isn't important to me anymore, but it sucks cause there are a lot of younger guys here who aren't even that age. There isn't a Kelly (my VA roommate) here yet to have "a good time with", or at least I haven't found him. Either way, my calender is getting full of stuff to do.
I need to get back in the gym.
The currency here is the Yen, and it is worth about one penny.
If you don't have skype, shame on you. Get a webcam (relatively cheap), and find me on there. My screen name is: cal.rastall not too hard. It's free and completely awesome.
It was so hard to fathom that on one morning I woke up in Wisconsin, and when I went to finally lay my head for the night I was in Japan. The plane ride was any typical 12 hour flight across the world. A Boeing 747 is a big place, but interestingly enough there was a screen to map our speed, route, and altitude. The fastest ground speed I saw was 545mph, highest altitude was 37,000 ft, and our route was rather weird in a way. We went up into Canada and Alaska to come done over that crazy Russian providence that is on a Risk board. Here I thought we would fly over Hawaii.
While on the flight I did some sleeping, only about 4.5 hours. I read a lot of my book "American Creation" by John Ellis. It's about the founding fathers. I traveled in my service uniform which came in handy at O'Hare because when I arrived at the desk by the terminal they looked at my ticket then told me that "I had a bad seat." When I returned the batted smile I was hooked up with a window seat instead of the middle seat in the middle isle. The guy who was one seat over really didn't say much until we landed. That was fine because it gave me time to collect my thoughts about my journey.
We enjoyed 3 meals on the trip (better than hospital food), and I also enjoyed a spilled Coke in my lap for the last 3 hours of the flight. I am easily the worst eater I know. Customs was a breeze; luckily enough Tokyo Airport employees know enough English to keep me from missing my flight. I landed in Tokyo at 3pm on the 28th, and flew out of there to Fukuowa (Japan's 4th largest) at 6pm, and landed at 8pm. Can't really comment much on that flight since I was sleeping though I did think the plane was blowing up when we landed (again I was sleeping).
Then it was about a 2 hour drive from Fukuowa to Sasebo. It's only a 50 mile drive. This is due to both the terrain (commented on later), the traffic, and the country-wide slow speed limits. My sponsor, another sailor, HM3 Hamaguchi is and has been a big help since arriving. He picked me up and has answered all of my questions thouroughly. It also helps he is bilingual in Japanese.
The first night I got to sleep at around 330am and had to be up again by 6am to check in at the command. They blamed my being tired on the jet lag, I blame it on science that any human would be tired after 2.5 hours of sleep. So I'm in the process of checking in now, and that's always fun.
Japan is 14 hours ahead of Wisconsin. A good rule of thumb is when you're awake, I'm sleeping. The time on the bottom right of my computer hasn't changed from WI time, so I always know what time it is (currently 435 back in the motherland as I write this). I'm free of jet lag because I'm an awesome warrior.
I was not expecting what this base is: absolutely gorgous! Mountains wrap around the city, the weather is still cooler (though I heard that'll change), and it is just very breath-taking thus far. There is a koi pond here on base. Koi is a colorful carp, but in my mind it's still carp.
The Japanese people so far are very friendly. Many know enough English to help me. I have yet to wonder outside the base gates yet, but maybe that'll be a chore for this weekend. The command is quite small which is good to make a name for yourself (or destroy a name), and I like that. They really push education and tapping out on potential. My pharmacy is tiny which will hopefully be good.
Our command also really pushes to think of other choices to drinking. They offer so many programs and trips it is ridiculous. The drinking age in Japan is 20. That isn't important to me anymore, but it sucks cause there are a lot of younger guys here who aren't even that age. There isn't a Kelly (my VA roommate) here yet to have "a good time with", or at least I haven't found him. Either way, my calender is getting full of stuff to do.
I need to get back in the gym.
The currency here is the Yen, and it is worth about one penny.
If you don't have skype, shame on you. Get a webcam (relatively cheap), and find me on there. My screen name is: cal.rastall not too hard. It's free and completely awesome.
