First Night Off Base

It's nearly been a week I've been "on island" but since I've been on Kadena I haven't been able to leave because while the airmen have very few rules the Marines have a lot. One of the rules is that all Marines must carry a red liberty card so they can go on and off base. They must also have buddies to go out into town.
Saturday night I went out to Gate Two Street. Obi Wan Kenobi from Star Wars sums it up pretty well, "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious." This is where the homeless and prostitutes appear. and the paychecks disappear. So I decided to see what it was all about.

Lance Corporal Malta (blue shirt) went with his buddy Pfc. Serna from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. Serna works as a air support operations operator. He didn't really say what he did exactly.
As soon as we jumped out of the taxi we saw a group dressed up. A ghostbuster, Superman and Batman. A little early for Halloween. But it did get my brain working for what I'll be for Halloween and how I'll make up it up for missing Halloween last year since I had boot camp.

The picture is dark but this is basically what you see on Gate Two Street. A lot of neon and people walking around.

First stop was Zen's Bar. I was taking it all in while Malta and Serta had their drinks. They were having fun While I was trying to think of how I would solve my lack of gum problem.














This is Malta (blue shirt) and Certa (red shirt) with the bartender. (barmaid?)

Malta definitely is a character.











Zen's Bar is pretty small. We went to another bar named "29 Palms" - it's Marine-themed. It's a karoke bar. The thing is, there's girls there that will try and get you to buy them drinks. Some guys just enjoy their company and don't mind. There were two older gentleman, my guess at least late 60s, who were singing, drinking and dancing with these young 20 Okinawan girls. Malta and Certa couldn't stop talking about it.

This sign was just freaky looking.













Yes, it is true. There are vending machines everywhere. Very odd sizes of drinks too. It's all metric. Yeah... metric... that measuring system the entire world uses for everything but us.

My drink of choice that night was good ol mountain dew... in an abnormally sized can.

Yikes!

This sign freaked me out. If you can't read it, it says, "ATTENTION: Drinking water violation. In July 2008, the water system on Kadena AB (Air Base) exceeded established action levels for lead."That was in July but needless to say, I didn't take a drink.

My New Room

Here's my new room. No one is in the other room. I have the whole area to myself. The last pictures are of the views I have from my window. You can see the ocean on the left. I love the room so far and I can even put in a bunk bed if I wanted to have some more space. I don't know about that? We'll see.

Welcome to the Air Force Life

I found out quickly that the Air Force was very friendly. The friendliest seem to be the smokers. There are desinated smoking places called "smoke decks" around base. The one between the barracks (or dormitory as they call it.. psst, this isn't college) and another is a pavilion. There are benches and chairs and usually an airmen with a cigarette and some alcohol. It seems they go hand in hand. The guy in the picture is Entwistle. He's in the Air Force and was one of the first people I met. I was on the way to the BX (Base Exchange... kinda like a supermarket) to pick up a few items. He said he'd go with me. We picked up a few things I needed like laundry soap, toilet paper and sticky notes. I also saw a laptop I'd like to buy but I'm going to hold off on that for awhile. We walked back and took my stuff to the 4th floor... of the wrong building. Woops. They are identical in my defense. After we stashed my stuff we went to go eat lunch.
The barracks where I live.
















The chow hall is about a 5 minute walk from my barracks.















The chow hall has much more of a selection than the Marine chow hall in Camp Foster. The difference is you pay for each item you put on your tray. I don't understand the system. I already have a meal card which means I have like $300 out of my check a month for the chow hall. They take the couple dollars it totals from the $300, I guess? The Air Force likes to be difficult.







The chow hall is quite large. On the left is the TV room in the next picture.









This is the TV room. I haven't seen many people use it.
















This is the way I enter and leave the chow hall.

Gunnery Sergeant Stare

After lunch Gunnery Sgt. Stare came and picked us up. He can be described in one word: intense. He lives and breathes energy. He's nearly 40, he said and was formally an infantry Marine. He has been a combat correspondent for 3 years. At headquarters we met a captain and a 1st sergeant (how the ranks go... sergeant, staff sergeant, gunnery sergeant and then it splits either the Marine can become a first sergeant or a master sergeant. The 1st sergeant is more political, more about the organization while the master sergeant is one of the best in his occupation.) We packed a small van and got on the road to Kadena Air Base. I got my notebook out where I had been compiling questions. He handled them with ease. Everything from when can we go to college (find out how the schedule is after a few months and then we'll figure it out) to laser eye surgery (a definite possibility). I think I had 20 or so questions. Lance Corporal Means didn't have much to say at all. She's pretty quiet to begin with. I also told him some truths about me. 1.) I need to work on pull ups 2.) I need to lose weight although I'm not over weight. Gunny's mantra is this: You're going to screw up. Don't lie or screw him over and he'll be with you 100%. He also said something that I've been saying for a long time "You don't get shit done being mean." We work with the public and we need favors, we need stories. "If you're an asshole, no one will help you." He also talked about the kind of work we do. A lot of it will be warm and fuzzy and sometimes the stories we do are simply favors. We do them because someone has helped us out in the past. It works like that in normal media, I'm sure. He just told us not to get in trouble and don't get into relationships with people you work with. He said he couldn't stop you but what he said I could see came from experience with the problem. Before he dropped us off he also took us on a tour of Kadena Air Base. We also left the base so he could show us Gate Two Street. This is the seedy area by the base where all the bars and massage parlors are. Everyone goes to Gate Two Street to get drunk. We went there during the middle of the day and it still looked depressing.
Gunny left a great impression and it seems like he's genuine. I hope I can go through the next few months without making too many mistakes... yeah right.
At least, I feel in good hands.

Updates Galore

Sorry faithful blog checkers (aka mom, grandma and Holly). My Internet has been down but now I'll fill you in what has happened in the last few days.

On Wednesday I had a surprise. Here's Pfc. Birk and I the morning I left for Kadena Air Base. Birk and I went to school together in Maryland so I was excited to know she'll be about 15 minutes away. I'm seeing all sorts of people from MOS school like:










Young and Rodriguez who will be deployed on a ship for the next few months. I know they'll be stopping in China and the Phillipines. I can't remember where else. They are both combat photographers. Rodriguez was one of the Marines who really helped me when I came to Fort Meade. He pushed me as a squad leader and has a lot of qualities I don't see in a lot of the young Marines I've met.

Here's Bianco. When I was at Fort Meade he was the A-Gunner (assistant gunner... 2nd in command of the squad). While Rodruigeuz was the attack dog Bianco was the more relaxed, let's just get this stuff done so we can go relax-type. When Rodrigeuz left, Bianco took over. I like Bianco because he is definately wild and crazy. He is a combat correspondent and writes for the Okinawa paper. He just had a front page story on motorcycle safety. Now he is headed for Nepal because he had a passport and the other people didn't. I'm glad I took the trip through England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Maybe I'll be able to use my passport... I just don't know anything about my job... I guess I'll have to learn quickly.

Also in the chow hall I met Pfc. Corral. He and I went to boot camp together. He also gave me a list of the Marines from boot camp he knows are on Okinawa. I'll have to try and get ahold of them. He was pretty quiet back in boot camp and now he's better at pull ups. It was a quick hello. I had to leave with Lance Corporal Means to get back to headquarters to wait for Gunnery Sergeant Stare to pick us up.

Blood Drive

After the classes we had a blood drive.

Did you know that unless the military have the troops donate the military has to PAY the American Red Cross for its blood supplies! Wow.

I think they just thought it was convenient they had so many bodies in one place. About 30 people were able to donate blood. It took awhile to get a chair to start drawing blood. Instead of the little stress balls they have you usually squeeze they had foam grenades. Halarious.

This would make 1 gallon and 2 pints since I started giving blood after my 17th birthday. It was a real shame I couldn't give blood when I was at Fort Meade, MD. I asked my major but he wanted the whole detachment. It didn't happen in the 6 months I was there. It was my major regret while there. Ever 56 days and I could possibly be saving a life.

I had a few female Marines giving blood. They wanted pictures for their Myspace or Facebooks.
The first is Pfc. Foster. Kinda funny since we're at Camp Foster. She was the one I met yesterday who was reading a book on Ronald Reagan. She did have some complications when giving blood. First they couldn't find a good vein and then something happened that made blood splatter all over the hands of the female Navy corpsman and dripped all over the floor. She did end up managing to fill a pint. Good on her.



The other female is Lance Corporal Haskell. This is her second duty station. She went to boot camp at Parris Island and then returned to work in supply. Now she'll be here. She asked the corpsman if she could keep her foam grenade and they let her... I wanted one!

18 Classes in One Day

I woke up at 5am this morning and got in the shower. I got a roommate last night at like 11pm or so last night. He didn’t really say much and if he did I was too tired to understand him. After being sent to breakfast at 5:45am we went to the headquarters for Camp Foster. We were going to have classes all day. In the end we had 18 speakers with an hour for lunch.


That is the ocean near the horizon. The island is 8 miles at its widest.


We waited outside the headquarters until 7. I sat with Lance Corporal Means and continued transfering my notes from one notebook to another. I ended up finishing near the end of the work day.

The first man was Sergeant Major Hunt. In November he will have been in the Corps for 25 years. He was on his third tour of Okinawa which means about 9 and a half years combined. He welcomed us and told us about staying busy. He talked about the Single Marines Program which is basically like an organization that makes trips for Marines and hosts tournaments in anything from pool to video games. He also talked about how we have a 96 (3 day weekend) coming next week. There have been 29 motorcycle deaths, the highest ever in the Corps. It makes me not want to try it out now. Ha. He also talked about how this is a small island, about 67 miles long and 8 miles at its widest point. The roads are especially dangerous because they are made out of coral dust. I guess it’s very slippery when wet. He also explained that, “We are a guest in someone else’s country.” We’re ambassadors. He also mentioned about how Marines can really get the whole base in a lot of trouble like in the case of the few rapes that have happened in the past 10 or so years. Apparently, the Japanese police are very nasty. They can hold you in jail without charging you for 21 days. The cell has concrete walls and floor and they only give you a blanket to sleep on. Also, I think with the drinking age being 20 and not 21 must cause a lot of problems.

After the sgt. maj. We listened to Sgt. Goday, a Marine originally from Los Angeles, CA. He explained that we would be going through a day of “death by PowerPoint”. I came at a good time. We’ve been having a 6 month “period of reflection” which means that all Marines have a “Cinderella” curfew. Sgt. Goday did a class on civilian attire. More or less it came down to wearing ball caps properly and not wearing flip flops. Whatever will I do? Haha. I don’t have either. What really made me laugh was that there are male Marines who wear clip on earrings. (You’re not allowed to have any piercings).
The next speaker was Jerry. He taught a class on the medical services on Okinawa. The emergency number on base is a little different than in the states. It’s 911-1911 for an American ambulance out in town but if you want a Japanese ambulance (why, I don’t know?) it’s 119. Haha. He also told us about a blood drive that would be held after all the classes – they’d even have pizza.

A 48 year old Navy chaplain named Belmet spoke. He was the first Jewish chaplain I’ve seen. He even wore a yarmulke (the skull cap). He was very funny and talked about moral conduct. He told stories like the time he had a speeding ticket and had to take a driving class with Phyllis Diller. He said he worked in Hollywood before he joined the Navy. He told us a scary story about a man who was chewing gum in Singapore which I guess is illegal. He was flogged for it. Ouch. He explained how we could see one of the 50 chaplains on the island and get whatever help we needed. He must be involved with the Boy Scouts because he told us they needed help.

The next person to talk to us was Eddie who was from the Substance Abuse Counseling Center. He was a proud Pananamanian. During his slideshow he showed us a picture of his building, “If you go to this building your ass is already in trouble.” He had spent 27 years in the Marine Corps and got out as a master sergeant. He talked about alcohol and “mega drinks” like Long Island iced teas and Kamikazes which I’m sure only gave the Marines ideas. He also talked about the Japanese police, “Ever heard of Miranda rights? Japanese have never heard of Miranda. They know about Yoshi and Mario but not Miranda.” He also told us stories of some of the drunken service members he’s met. One man asked a Japanese girl to dance and when she said no he started peeing on her. Now he’s a sex offender for life. He did give some good advice though and I hope to remember it. He said, “One drink per hour and 3 drinks per occasion.” He also mentioned that on Okinawa there have been 15 cases of sexual assault to men… from men. Yikes. He talked about how the Marine Corps has the most drinking problems, “They say we were born in Tun Tavern. I don’t know about you but I was born in the Republic of Panama. I had never heard of Pennsylvania.”His final story involved a Marine who beat up a 50 year old Japanese taxi driver for under a $100. He then spent the next 5 years in jail. On the upside, he did learn Japanese.
A female Marine named Sgt. Porter gave us a legal brief. On Okinawa we have the right to be silent, but no rights to stop questioning, and no right to a lawyer during interrogation. I think I’ll just be a good Marine and stay out of trouble! Her best advice was to just be cooperative and truthful. She also mentioned sexual assault adding, “Dating never involves chloroform.”
Our eighth speaker was Staff Sgt. Taylor. He let us know that the brig is not someplace you want to be. On base the blood alcohol count is .05% but outside base it’s .03% which means if you use mouthwash then drive if pulled over you can spend those 20 days in jail. Simply amazing. He explained the liberty card program. I’ll get a red card so I can get off base and if I’m a good Marine I can get a gold card that would allow me to come back after midnight. Also corporals and below must have liberty buddies. There is no switching of buddies and if you lose yours you should immediately go back to base and pray the guy doesn’t get in trouble… meaning you’d get in trouble for not being there to stop him.
The equal opportunities advisor, Gunnery Sergeant Davis talked to us next. There are a total of 37 advisors like her. Today was Women’s Equality Day – the day women got the right to vote. She showed up that with the 70-some of us that are going through the classes we had nearly all 50 states represented even Hawaii and Alaska. She went over the 3 big sexual harassment signs which are unwanted, sexual in nature and create a hostile environment.
We then were released for lunch. I had some chicken fajitas.
We had a class taught by a woman named Yemanja who talked about the counseling and advocacy program. She explained it was alright to seek help. Also talked about the 7 elements for a healthy relationship which are trust, communication, honesty, love, respect, understanding (acceptance) and responsibility (roles).
A class on sexual assault from a Marine female named Major Bradley was more of the same I’ve heard from boot camp but important nonetheless.
Mr. Johnson did a class on safety. Basically told us about wearing protective and reflective gear. Also about the flags that tell us if we can train outside or not. They start off at green with a range of 80-84.9 degrees then to yellow 85-87.9 degrees, to red 88-89.9 degrees and finally to black which goes from 90 degrees on. Also let us know that May through November is typhoon season. Finally we moved onto dangerous animals. I could already imagine Marines poking at unknown Asian animals with sticks. We learned about the banana spider which is about the size of my hand but not poisonous and then the Habu snake that is poisonous. Don’t suck the venom out – it’ll just put you in the hospital too. Finally he reminded us we are on an island that involved a large battle in WWII. There is still unexploded ordinance around and it can kill you. Joy. Makes me want to take a metal detector to the beach!
Keena was the next speaker. She was a self described, “crazy lady”. He told us about the education opportunities on the island and put a lot of ideas in my head. I’d like to get my associates here. She gave us some handouts and I’ll be speaking to her people soon.
The next speaker was our first Japanese speaker, a woman named Atsuko Kinjo. She spoke fairly good English and said “oorah” cute. We learned that the Japanese signal people to “come here” with their palm down. Also they read right to left and up and down. We learned a few kanji symbols and I learned cheeseburger is said the same in Japanese. There are also 9 world heritage world sites on the island. Hopefully, I’ll see them all soon. We also learned there is no tipping and that dollar stores here are 100 Yen Plazas. Also, slurping is polite. Take that mom!!
Shelby Johnson talked next. I don’t know if she was related to the other Johnson. She spoke about the Single Marine program. The dragon boat race sounded like fun. Also the discover scuba class is coming up soon. Hooray!
A long class taught by John “JD” was next. It was about financial management and I’ve come to realize the Marine Corps really wants you to be smart with your money. They made me question if I want to ditch my cell phone or not. I like my number… but is it worth holding it for like $8 a month for 2 years. Also the Marine Corps makes credit card companies cap their interest rates at 6%.
There were two classes left and our final civilian speaker was the “man from Mediatti” Brian. He works for the only cable company on Okinawa. He was in the Corps for 23 years and this man was hilarious to listen to. He was extremely outgoing and funny. I’m sure I’ll be doing business with him soon. You can even pause your account when out on Iraq tours or whatever. Nice.
Our final speaker was a colonel. He started asking who was the gutsiest in the room. He told that Marine to time him and if he went over 15 minutes to stand up and tell him to shut up. Haha. He was on his 3rd tour of Okinawa and at 49 he was quite happy since his family is here. He too talked about the Japanese police (I see a trend) He said, “You’re looking at hard time for simple things.” He added, “Drinking is not a hobby.” Unfortunately, he finished before the Marine could tell him to shut up.
We were released but since it was 1700 the Marines who wanted to donate blood went to the room next door.

A Short Story of a Corpsman

When we came back and started cleaning I took a broom to my carpet. It wasn't bad for the most part. I then took the broom over the room I share the bathroom with. Next door to me was a man named David R. Juarez, a Navy "Green" corpsman. "Green corpsman" are the corpsman that are with the Marines. They go through 2 months of Marine-type training. He's been in for almost 3 years. Before Okinawa he worked in Balboa Hospital in San Diego, CA. His father was a former Marine staff sergeant and that was part of the reason he went green. Corpsman carry weapons just like regular Marines, usually an M4 carbine. He said there are 20,000 corpsman in the Navy and that they are trying to put all males through the green training because of the stresses of Iraq and Afghanistan. The schools for it are already filled at all times. In his 3 years he's never been on a ship either. He'll be with the 3rd Medical Battalion. He had been in Okinawa for about a week. His room originally didn't have air conditioning. He said the "walls were sweating". Thankfully he got that problem fixed. He said he'll either be at Camp Foster or Camp Kinser. He'll probably deploy sooner or later.

Monday. Day 1 of the rest of my life

I woke up before I was set to be woken up because I had to go to the bathroom. Immediately my cell phone went off. I went and took a shower quick. The water pressure was quite low and made me want to get out ASAP. My uniform was set out already and soon I was downstairs. I met up with a group of Marines who were going to the chow hall. We signed out and left.














These are the barracks that I am staying at. They are quite nice and every 2 rooms share a bathroom.














They knew where they were going. They had been here a few days already. We had to go down a steep hill and then follow the road to the chow hall.














I met a Marine named Martell who recognized me immediately. Apparently, we had gone to Marine Combat Training together. He said he remembered me but I didn't really remember him. It's been like 6 months.














The chow hall reminded me of a Denny's. It had a nice set up to it all. There were actual Marine cooks there that made my scambled eggs and then I grabbed a bowl of frosted flakes and a glass of milk and it was all delicious.
We were back in time for the 0700 formation. We were given time to grab our things and come back out to go to the buses to be transported where they do some of the administrative work. We ended up getting our travel claims taken care of (I guess I'll have about $400 coming back wahoo!) and we also got our meal cards. Plus, they also saw if the paperwork was all good.

We spent most of the time sitting around. Some listened to ipods, some tried to not look like they were sleeping and others read books or stared into space. I started reading my book Turn Around & Run Like Hell: Amazing Stories of Unconventional Military Strategies That Worked by Joseph Cummings. It's full of awesome stories of these crazy plans that end up working. For example, today I learned if I set a bunch of camels on fire toward charging elephants that the elephants will get scared and run back toward their own troops and trample them. It's so crazy it worked.

I also took my little blue notepad and started transfering my notes over to a larger notebook so I can figure out what I need to find and download and what Internet links to bookmark etc. It's taking awhile. Good busy work.

When I went to lunch with Lance Corporal Means we passed this small steam that had turtles and large fish swimming in it.














Later after all that admin work was finished we were released to go eat dinner, but we had to clean the barracks that night. I went out to dinner with a few Marines who showed me "The Spot" an area on base that has resturants, a barber shop and an Internet cafe.














I ended up eating lunch with a female Marine named Foster. She was reading a book on Ronald Reagan. I told her it probably wouldn't be a good idea if I talked about politics with her. Instead we talked about where we'd like to travel and what we'd like to do when we're out of the Marine Corps. She wants to become a police officer.

After our quick accountability formation we started cleaning.

Holy crap I'm in Japan!

Three continents down, 4 to go.

I'm now in Okinawa. Lemme tell you how I got here. My mom drove me 2 hours to the Detroit Airport so I could catch my direct flight to Tokyo. It was a sad goodbye. It's odd to think I could not see her for 2 years, but she's already talking about visiting with friends already. I'll miss her a lot.

The plane I rode to Tokyo. It had 2 decks even. I swear half of it had to be used for storing all the fuel.

I befriend a 25 year old woman named Katie Jensen. We both needed seats once we got to our gate. She was flying to Korea. She is going to be teaching her third year in Korea teaching English as a second language. Apparently, she really loves it. She’s gotten to travel and they seem to pay for a lot of her expenses. She has a masters degree in English and had wanted to become a professor but I guess she’s taking a well deserved break. She was tired of school from the sounds of it. I’d like to get into a job like that so I’ll try and keep in touch with her through E-mail.

When I found my seat I laughed. Katie had said she wouldn’t trade me seats because it looked like I had the middle seat. Turns out I had an exit seat which means endless legroom and you only have to sit next to one other person. The person who had to endure me for 13 hours was an older gentleman named Gary Johnson (also the name of my 6th grade science teacher). He is the CEO of Bluespark Technologies and previously managed a $40 million dollar company that employed hundreds. Bluespark Technologies is a small company with only 20 or so people who make paper-thin batteries that can be used in unlimited ways such as with a press of a gift card the battery could show the amount left on the card on a small display and also used in the military as a patch to show vitals in a hospital on a screen with many other patients for better patient control. He had traveled all over the world and shared with me some of his wisdom. A lot of very interesting conversations but I’m sure he was glad I did sleep some.

I also watched Kung Foo Panda on the plane. It seemed really short but I liked it. A very simple story though.

When I got off the plane I ran into another woman who happened to be a Canadian from Ontario named Crystal Cuthbert. She was another teacher teaching English as a second language. She had previously been teaching in the junior high so for the next year she’ll be in nothern Japan teaching in a Japanese junior high school for the first time. She was 23 if I remember correctly.

I got off the plane in Okinawa and a man directed me to someone who had a “DOD” (Department of Defense) sign above him.

He looked at my iternary and told me I had to catch a bus to another airport. The bus was leaving in 10 minutes. I had to fork over 3000 yen. Turned out to be like $34.

I met some airmen on the bus who were coming back from training in Las Vegas. They are air crew on F-16s. They said the pilots (officers) are really cool with them because they understand all the hard work they have to do on the ground. One did say he could never return to Las Vegas because he was sure he’d develop a gambling problem. Ha. We drove through Tokyo which was awesome. I just kept thinking of how many millions of people must be living there.

When I was exiting the bus there was a man in his fourties I’m guessing who had the traditional military haircut. He and I both were taking the same flight. He turned out to be a commander (an O-? which would be like a liuenent colonel in the Marine Corps and Army) in the Navy. His name is CDR Daniel J. Hohman who is a wing surgeon who works in aerospace medicine. That means he deals with the pilots with problems such as hitting too many Gs when flying or if they crank their necks for whatever reason. He has been in the Navy for 23 years and went to school at Harvard which was all paid by the military. He sounded very intelligent and smart with his money. He said he owned some condos in Florida. He and I stayed together until he was picked up. He even helped me out by calling Gunnery Sergeant Stare on his Blackberry cell phone. I really did appreciate his help. The airport would have been a lot more of a confusing experience if not for him. He also told me about the toliets and how in some areas you are squating over a hole and he added it was easier to take your pants all the way off. I’ll have to remember that.

There was a lance corporal (E-3, a rank I’ll pick up in November) waiting for me in his charlies. There were some other Marines with bags waiting. After talking to some of them I turned around and there was Lance

Corporal Means, a female broadcaster from my school who I’ll be working with.. I’m guessing a lot since she knows what she’s doing and I won’t have a clue. I didn’t think we would show up at the same time.

We loaded up the van and drove to Camp Foster. Once there they gave us a quick brief and told us when to wake up.We were put on the 2^nd floor and I had the last room on the left.

I went downstairs to get my 2 sheets and a blanket and when I told the Marines at the front desk I wanted to be woken up at 0530 they thought I was crazy. I wanted to go to the chow hall for breakfast.

I did want to get everything for the next day out so I had to unpack a seabag. Baaad idea. In the end I did get all my cammies and everything else all ready but I ended up just piling everything in my wall locker. The room was nice and I didn't have a roomate.

After I stuffed my locker I set my cell phone alarm and prayed I would be alright on 4 hours of sleep. Nothing bad can change the fact that I'm in Japan. 12 hours away from family and friends. I'm in another country, another continent and it's an awesome feeling.