Packed

Well it's 4 a.m. and I'm packed. It's funny to think I've been home for 2 weeks. It seems like I've been here a lot longer. I've been running around so much and seeing so many people the time really went by quick. I'm deciding to not go to bed so I can sleep as much as possible on the plane. A friend of mine told me that's what he did and it seemed to work. I plan on buying one of those microbead neck pillows and pass out. I guess since my plane leaves at 2:30pm that I need to leave the house by like 10am. I guess I need to be at the gate an hour early for an overseas flight. Maybe I'll manage to get a massage. It's like my airport tradition.

With everything packed I can't help but wonder if I'm forgetting anything. The military is great in that you really don't need anything. If I forget anything it will be small and pretty insignificant.

I just keep on thinking back to an e-mail I received from the man I'll be working for, Gunnery Sergeant Stare. I got an e-mail 5 days ago and he said, "Don’t worry about anything. I’m very aware of any apprehensions you may have and we’ll go slow getting you integrated into the station." He also was wondering if I was broadcast qualified. With my job I was trained to basically be a newspaper writer. The combat correspondents can take an additional class to become a broadcaster so they can learn about television and radio but I didn't take the class. I'm walking into a job that I'll have to learn everything once I get there. I'm worried about the time it will take for them to train me. From what the gunnery sergeant said I'll be in "production" until I get the hang of everything.

He said I'll be living on Kadena Air Base (which means an Air Force barracks and an Air Force chow hall... in otherwords awesome) and I'll work on Camp Foster. They have transportion taken care of.

Before I get to work I have to go through a few days of classwork and training that is required because of the fact I'll be living and working in another country. From what I understand it will cover the Okinawan culture and what is expected of the military people there. I'll be interested to hear what they have to say.

It also looks like I'll be going to the rifle range soon.

I'll be in Japan today. That is a very weird sentence to me still.