Murphy's Law

Today I was looking forward to a nice and easy day. I've been learning how to work the playlists (imputing in our commercials into the regular military commercial mix) and Malta has been teaching me little by little everyday. I'm learning from my mistakes. This morning started off bad. I had to wake up at 5am for physical training but I woke up at 4am to go to the bathroom and could'nt go back to sleep. I got all ready and laid my head down at the smoking area where we all meet. We ran about 2 miles together and also did a little cardio. Gunny wanted to get to work so we were moving fast. On the run I came in 2nd as usual. KC is always way ahead of me. I can beat the other 5 Marines though. I don't know about Corporal Hunter?

I got ready for the day and went down to where we meet to go to work. Malta came down and informed me he had the day off. I would be by myself doing everything. I've done it before. No worries. We go to work and Gunny immediately comes up to me and tells me we need to make a television and radio commercial on the Marine Corp's new liberty policy. Marines are given liberty cards (red for new Marines, gold for responsible Marines) and there were a few incidents that caused us to have a curfew of midnight off base. With the new policy the gold card holders won't have a curfew. That's great news for people who want to spend the night in a place like Naha, the capital of Okinawa, that is a few hours away. I put that in the back of my head.

I first needed to do the dailiies which are the movies, weather and yen rate. Gunny calls it my speed bump in the morning. I did the movies just fine but I tried to do the weather and it wasn't working.

Murphy's Law –noun, the proposition that if something can go wrong, it will.

The computers were acting kinda screwy so I asked Staff Sgt. Woolston (who knows the system) what to do. We played around with it but nothing was working. We couldn't do anything. I was stuck with nothing to do. Staff Sgt. talked to Master Sergeant Harvey about the servers. They discovered the servers had fried. They restarted the computer and everything had been deleted.

Keep in mind I came into work at about 8:15ish. At 11 Gunny asks me how my work is coming along. I tell him the bad news and he said that we need to have those commercials on the air today and to make it happen. With Castillo's help we divided and conqured. Malta had been revamping the dailies to make them look even better. He was nearly done with them. We used his version of the dailies and got them onto the main computer. I looked through the e-mail that had the new liberty policy and broke it down for the viewers. Castillo started working with the computer and making it all work. She did a voice over and it was nearly done. I quickly ate lunch and then started on the programming.

There is a whole process with making sure the dailies for yesterday don't play today, the playlists for the rest of that day (starting at 4pm) and the next are put in correctly, the programming already played are deleted and everything is all playing correctly. Once that is all done comes the horror of "clicking and dragging". This is where I put in the stuff we at AFN make. The small advertisements and the island news breaks the news section produces. It's tedious and I need to go through every commercial break and put in at least one of OUR commercials or dailies. Of course, I want to put a lot of weather and yen rates in the morning and movies in the afternoon to intise people to go to the theatre that night. This all usually takes around 1.5-2 hours. During this time I get to listen (and briefly watch) the TV. The View isn't really that bad of a show. I usually just listen to a lot of news. Go figure?

When I finished that I found Gunny and told him about the commercial Castillo and I created. He watched it and didn't like her voiceover. It happens. He wanted me to give it a shot. Staff Sgt. Woolston and I worked together and he said my voice sounds "sing songy" and that I need to talk in sentences not phrases. I haven't had any voice training but I'm working on it. Gunny also said I needed to work on announciation. Staff Sgt. Woolston ended up doing the voiceover for the TV commercial. Ha.

We had to wait for Staff Sgt. Early to finish recording his radio show before we could work on the radio commercial. Staff Sgt. Woolston taught me how to work the program (I totally forget most of it though). It's a totally new program he was showing me. They use the same program when doing the live radio shows. Oh boy. "The Ski Show" - coming to a radio near you. He let me record the commercial.

My voice is now floating around the airwaves.

In conclusion, my work day was long, tedioious, a lot of hurry-up-and-waiting but I learned a few things and I was thankful even though Malta had the day off he still was thinking ahead and solved a problem he wasn't even there for.

Okinawa History and Culture Seminar

Today at 1PM all the Marines from Alpha and Bravo (the one I'm in) companies were required to attend a Okinawa history and culture seminar that lasted nearly two hours. The seminar was introduced by, I believe his name was, Mr. Kuno. He said he works with the Japanese ambassador. He talked briefly about what the culture exchange between the American military and Okinawan cultures. He gave the example of Mexican taco rice. Apparently, when the Americans were first here there was only one restaurant that knew how to make it. The man tweaked the recipe and it became so popular you now see it in the Okinawan school lunch menu and even served in Tokyo. I'm assuming that was before pre-fulturistic Tokyo. I swear, visiting Tokyo must be like visiting Disney World's Tomorrow Land. It's like the future bu t without the flying cars.

Next was Mr. Nakamoto who had a history degree in Okinawan history. He started off with asking us what we thought was the question that bothered most Americans over here. I thought it was going to be the whole "Who do you feel about being on the losing side of a world war" (no offense, but it's an honest question). The correct question was, "Why do Okinawan's object to the American military protecting them?" He broke it down.
1.) Battle experience in 1945: About 1/3 Okinawans died. Japanese soldiers: 110,000 lost, Okinawan civilians: 75,000 killed, US: 12,520 marines and sailors.
2.)Land aquition policy: basically the US military took control over the island and paid people to move off their land but eventually forced them off of it by way of "bayonet and bulldozers". It makes me think of Israel.
3.) Arrogant attitudes by the American officials.
4.) Incidents and crimes.
The American generals held absolute power from 1945 to 1972 when we gave back Okinawa to the Japanese government. They had the power to veto any laws made, try people in military courts. These actions helped created the Koza Riot December 20th, 1970 after a traffic accident. American cars were burned but there were no damage to the businesses. It was like a protest.... but with fire.
He finished up with the quote, "What is past is prolouge"

The next speaker was a woman named Hatsumi Kinjo who works as a translator but also knows a lot about Okinawan culture. She said a lot of the things I knew already. I had had classes like this before. The island is 64 miles north to south, 8 miles at its widest. Rainy season May to June, typhoon season afterwards (what I'm in now). There are 1.369 million people living on the island (I don't know if that includes the Americans or not). Also, Okinawans have some of the longest life expectancies in the world because of the foods they eat. She talked about the importance of tombs and remembering the dead. She reminded us not to climb on the tombs (you know some stupid Marine did..) Pork was a rare dish in their culture and was reserved for New Years Eve. She also explained the Shisa (lion) statues you see guarding the doors of some buildings. They protect against the evil spirits. She then started talking about the agreements the Japanese and American governments had made like the fact American military can be punished under Japanese law and put into Japanese prision.

She left it on a good note by listing off some great places to visit like the aquarium in the north which has a whale shark tank (those things are HUUUGE) and Shuri Castle.

Overall, I learned a few things and that's what matters when it comes to these types of classes. It got us all out of work and it made me appreciate Okinawa, where I've now lived for over a month, a little more.

Career Test

My mom sent me a link from careerpath.com for a test that tells you career ideas.

After a whole slew of questions it came up with this:
BLUE indicates
Planning

YELLOW indicates
Administrating

People with Blue interests like activities that allow them to be creative. This can be through more traditional visual arts, writing or musical pursuits although not limited to these. The creativity is often expressed in thinking of new ideas or strategies that can have a broad range of applications. Blue interests often like thinking about the future and planning for long term benefits. Hobbies include: performing or listening to music, attending theater, story telling, journaling, decorative arts, painting. Career choice often are: Editor, Journalist, Teacher, Strategic Planner, Consultant, Performing Arts, Marketing, Communications, Research and Development.

People with Yellow strengths are good at managing details and creating sophisticated processes that allow them to get complex work done. Once a game plan has been put in place, it is implemented. Their decisions are based on facts and carefully reasoned. When working with other people, they are fair and democratic and always can be counted on to deliver what they commit to.

Sounds about right on. Journalism, teaching, marketing, communications. All careers I've thought about. I'm trying to find more teachers to talk to. I'm looking into jobs that will allow me to continue to travel around the world.

With the teaching with the Department of Defense you can travel all over the world:

Length of Tour

Tours of duty are one or two school years depending on the area of assignment.

• One-Year Tour Areas: Bahrain, Cuba, Italy (Sigonella), Korea, Japan (Misawa and Okinawa), Portugal (Azores) and Turkey.
• Two-Year Tour Areas: Belgium, England, Germany, Italy (other than Sigonella), Japan (other than Misawa and Okinawa), Netherlands and Spain.

I wish I had some crazy picture to go with this entry. I think I found one. Enjoy.

My Spelunking Adventure

I'm always looking for stuff to do on the weekends. I'd like to see as much as the island...and Asia as possible before I leave. There is an organization called MCCS, which stands for Marine Corps Community Services, that has trips around the island and abroad for cheaper prices then you'd find yourself. They had a trip to the Japanese "castles" but I found out the trip was cancelled, but there was another trip called Tunnel Rats. A trip from 9am to 5pm that would take you out to some of the different caves in the area for $21. They just asked you to wear clothes and shoes you wouldn't mind getting dirty and a flashlight. I asked Birk if she wanted to come with me and she was all for it.
We started the trip out of Camp Foster. There was 9 of us including Mark, a former gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps. While driving to the first cave I learned the woman sitting in front of me on the van was a 2nd leutenant new to the island and the young man sitting next to Birk was a 12 year old named Bryson whose master sergeant father and civilian mother were along for the ride. Along with them were their family friends new to the island, a man who was a staff sergeant and his wife who was a sergeant who were both in supply.


The first cave served as a hideout for some of the Okinawan civilians as the Americans were taking control of Okinawa. When the Americans called out into the cave before they went down with their guns a man named Mr. Higa, a Japanese man who had spent time in Hawaii working and has learned English, came out and talked to the Americans. He was able to get his people to safety. The cave itself was what I imagined it. I had never been spelunking aka caving before. I was worried about bumping my head (it looked unforgiving) and my flashlight must had been on in my pocket because it's batteries were nearly dead already. The whole feeling is odd, you're worried something is going to jump out at you but you want to explore more. The only people who were brave enough to keep on exploring further and further into the cave were myself, the 2nd leutenant and Bryson.

After our first cave I almost ran into a banana spider. A very dangerous and quite large spider (about 6 inches across) that was right near the end of the path to our bus. Spiders creep me out so much more than snakes.

We stopped at a few caves before we made a stop at an unofficial museum created by our tour guide and another man who he works for. The museum was a nice collection of the odds and ends they have found in the caves. Who would have guessed caves used by both the Japanese and Americans during WWII would be full of things that could kill you?

We then stopped for lunch at a resturant called the Seaman's Club. I had a fantastic burger.

Afterwards we continued on our tour. We stopped by an extremely large cave. It was said you put fit 2 school buses in the entrance. The part we walked into was the result of Americans bombing the island. There was a much smaller entrance around the corner that was the actual entrance. The journey down into the cave would put a smile on Indiana Jones face. You had to climb down on large slabs of rock while holding onto the rock. I was basically rock climbing with a flashlight in my hand. If I were fall it would have meant a lot of broken bones. While walking down my foot slipped and fell into a hole. I had a one inch cut into my leg. Oh well. I just let it bleed. You could have contiuned down into the cave but it would have meant actually going DOWN... 25 feet down by a small rope. One of the men said something to the effect of, If this were a mission I would have do it but I'm not going to risk my life for fun. Plus, I didn't want to say anything but I was horrible at climbing the rope in boot camp. I'd like to find a rope around here so I could try and do it but I doubt that will happen.
Our last stop was built into a mountain. It was right near the coastline and I wasn't surprised when I learned this was where the Japanese military had set up an artiliary defense. The caves protected everyone. There was even an area that had a 3 foot wall that was a "conference room" for the high ranking Japanese.


All in all I had an excellent time. This is why I wanted to come to Okinawa! I want to continue to see more of the island. Every weekend should be an adventure. One of the things the 2nd leutenant said was that she couldn't find any good information about Okinawa. I don't know how many blogs are dedicated to military life in Japan but it my hope that my blog helps someone. Of course, you can find my e-mail address on the side if you have any questions or suggestions. These are the kind of blog entries I'd like to see more of. My blog is only as exciting as my life.

As a final note, I'd like to thank that 2nd leutenant for giving me 2 AA batteries when my camera ran out of batteries. Now I'll always carry spares.

Going Away Party

AFN (American Forces Network) had a going away party for two of our airmen who will be deploying, Staff Sergeant Bock and Staff Sergeant Ripple. We went to an Okinawan buffet paid for by the command. Everyone who I work with was there.

The buffets were full of Asian foods.

Most everyone from work was there. Even Gunnery Sergeant Stare was there for a few minutes but I think he had to either get back to the station or see his wife. The only person I don't remember being there was Staff Sergeant Early.

I tried to sample everything from the traditional white rice and curry to tofu, fish on pizza (they also like corn on their pizza because it makes it sweet, I guess?), some sort of green jello, milk cake (coconut), powdered green tea rice cake, beniimo (a sweet jelly made from beans), a lot of soba with pork, some mahi mahi (a type of fish) and chicken teriyaki.

From left to right: Watson, Appel, Masafumi Fukumoto aka "Mickey-san" (a Okinawan maintainer who helps out the Air Force guys), Staff Sgt. Woolston's wife, Staff Sgt. Woolston, a suddenly camera shy Corporal Todd Hunter and the back of Staff Sergeant Bock's head.








A rare picture of Air Force Master Sergeant Harvey and his wife. He's normally pretty camera shy but I think that he posed for a picture just because of his wife. He's the #1 Air Force guy at AFN. He's in charge of all of the maintainers. The maintainers do what their name suggests: keep things running and fixing the stuff that breaks down.

KC said he really liked this picture of himself and his girlfriend Castillo. I had a great time hanging out with them and Malta that night eating all sorts of odd dishes and watching them drink wine that "tasted like feet".

Finally, I'd just like to prove I was there. By the way, ever notice how prove has only one "O" in it but it makes the "oo" sound. Stupid English. Anyways, KC and Malta wanted me to be included in the memories.

Dress Uniform Mondays

I work with the Air Force in an Air Force building so I have to follow Air Force rules. A new rule the Air Force has come out with recently is that they need to wear their dress uniform on Mondays. That means the Marines at AFN will also follow this rule. That means a day of walking around with shirt stays (elastic bands that keep your shirt tucked in and are also a pro at removing leg hair). This also gave me a chance to look at some people's "stacks" (the ribbons they have earned). Here are two people from AFN.










I wondered what his ribbons all meant so I looked them all up. From left to right as follows: Scuba Diver, Parachutist, Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal-1 star (means he earned the ribbon twice), Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation-1 star, Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation-2 stars, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal-4 stars, National Defense Ribbon-1 star, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal-1 star, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism, Korea Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Navy Sea Service Ribbon-2 stars.

I'm sure I managed to screw that up somehow. I need to look up how the stars work. I think the bronze translates into silver or something. It's also very hard to see. I just wanted to show the stack and how it works.

Some Other People From Work

I went through my blog and realized I had posted pictures of people from work but I managed to miss a few. So here are some other people I work with.

Here is Air Force Staff Sergeant Early who does a radio program at night on the weekends.














Here is Staff Sergeant Rachael "RachH" Herrmann who does the morning radio program.














Marine Corporal Todd Hunter who does a afternoon show but you can usually find him cohosting with RachH.














Staff Sergeant Ripple who is deploying soon. He's been in 12 years so far as a maintainer. He fixes our computer equipment and already I can tell his knowledge will really be missed.