And the Humidity Remains...

Two weeks have passed and I almost find myself at a loss for words.  Day to day is very repetitive.  There's been some excitement though.  For only a month and a half more I will be the "Boot."  This is good news because it's one less thing I have to worry about.  It's nothing that is too terrible or anything that is hard.  It's just another thing.  Since my last entry I've been learning more and learning more.  I've got a good handle on the Public Affairs side of life.  There's a monthly publication that is put out.  I was literally thrown into the position of making it happen.  Lucky for me, I relied on some good 'ol struggling to figure it out.  Soon I will have a link up for the publication called "The Stinger."  It's a compilation of everything the battalion is doing.  All of the detachment sites send in articles and pictures and it's my job to put it all together.  It's almost complete and I'm very satisfied with it.  I was told that it'd just be a copy/paste job and that it's easy.  Well, after opening the program and realizing how messy everything was, I decided to start over and make it my own.  I got approval from higher and it's good to go.  I'm fortunate to have once worked with Adobe software.  It gave me a leg up on this project.  Soon I'll be teaching others so that I'm not the only one with the working knowledge of the software.

On the Camp Maintenance side of life, I'm still learning.  I've been spending most of my time with the PAO stuff and going to various meetings to take care of the upcoming Field Exercise.  I never really have much advice, only suggestions.  It's difficult to know so little about something I'm responsible for.  Soon it will be done and I'll be better for it.

Okinawa has been decent to me thus far.  The only thing I really have to complain about is the exchange rate.  If ever I want to go out in town, I must buy Yen.  There's an ATM near here that dispenses it.  Most are familiar with the $20 minimum amount to withdraw from an ATM.  For Yen, it's $5,000 minimum.  The exchange rate right now is 80 Yen = $1.00.  So, $5,000 Yen is actually over $60.00.  It comes out in one nice 5,000 Yen paper bill.  Now my pocket is hot with all this Yen and I'm anxious to spend it.  The thing is, everything here is so expensive, in terms of Yen.  I saw a pair of K-Swiss shoes for about 40,000 Yen at a mall.  Do the math and that's almost $500.00.  I couldn't believe it.  I stick to buying small snacks and frozen treats in the Family Mart.  It's like a convenience store.  I'm pretty sure I saw a package of pigs' ears on the shelf.  I opted for the Calpis Frozen Treats.  Calpis is a white drink here.  It reminds me of milk in color and consistency.  These frozen bites came six to a box and they were about twice the size and same shape as a gum drop.  There was a small outer layer of what was like white chocolate and an inside of soft ice cream.  Frozen treats are now once again enjoyable after the recent root canal on my tooth.  The endodontist asked me how I made it so on in so much pain.  He remarked how it was a very bloody root canal procedure.  He was a good endodontist.  The only pain was from the numbing shots.  After that, nothing.

This weekend was a good two days off.  On saturday, a coworker and I drove to Hedo Point.  It's the very northern part of the island.  It was about 100 clicks away.  That's supposed to be funny.  It was 100 kilometers.  We got there after dark and with the moon straight in front of us, we could see clearly the waves crash agains the coral below us.  We were approximately 200 feet above the water's surface.  The waves crashing was nothing dissimilar to thunder.  After marveling for a bit, a pit stop in the restroom was called for and I came upon a floor toilet.  I thought to myself, "hey, might as well."  But, I then figured that my legs would get tired and I wasn't about that.  I then reaffirmed myself after noticing all the small cockroaches scurrying about.  On the way out, I stopped at a set of vending machines, eager to ease the fire in my pocket because 5,000 Yen is a lot of Yen and it really doesn't have a value to me.  I didn't see anything intriguing enough until I found a small crab on the wall.  I took a picture for keeps.  He, or she, wasn't about becoming famous whatsoever, but with camera skills like mine, no one can escape my lens.

With the typhoon season coming to a close, the weather is to be turning.  However, it still surprises.  Today was downright hot.  It very much reminded me of back in Mississippi where the sun beats you down and the humidity holds you down.  It can only get better.

Until next time, arigatou gozaimasu.