Navy Fun

Not too much going on these days here in Yokosuka. Damian is busy taking his week long orientation class (even though he has been here for 6 months)... the class is mandatory if you want to get your Japanese Driver's License so he has to sit through a week of lectures about all the same stuff I have already told him about! I know it's frustrating for him, especially because the rest of the ship has the week off to spend with their families/friends, and he is at class all day everyday... but he's almost done and then he can take his driver's test and then he can drive ME around!

As for all the Red Cross/Job/Volunteer stuff... I'm still pretty much at a standstill waiting for someone to get going on my stuff. Since I am only a volunteer at the hospital I am not a priority and will be the last person to receive my credentialing "go ahead." So... I wait! I have also applied to be a substitute teacher here on base... there are 3 schools and in desperate need of substitutes as teachers are often sick and taking their days off. They pay $101/day and they call you when they need you... I have NO desire to teach, but a paying job right now is something I do need! The background check process for this is also extremely elaborate and because the Department of Defense Education system is different than the main DoD, I have to repeat the fingerprinting and all the fun paperwork!!!! Hopefully I will be able to start within the next month or two! It will be something to occupy my days!

I found LOTS of funny things in the on base newspaper this week and I thought I would share them here... In one of my very first blogs from Japan I talked about the Seahawks and how aggressive they are on base and how you have to be careful about eating outside because they will swoop down and swipe your food. Apparently this is not just a friendly warning, but a real issue that they have to post an ad like this in the weekly newspaper to remind people of these aggressive birds of prey! From our apartment on the 8th floor we can see them flying around all day and they are pretty loud. Some of you have even heard them in the background when we are chatting if the patio door is open.

Next funny advertisement in this weeks newspaper was this one about the foul language... it's no joke... These guys get off the ship from being at sea for six months or so and now I completely understand where the term "mouth like a sailor" came from! Some of these things that come out of their mouths are pretty ridiculous... The need for this ad is pretty funny though... I LOVE the common sense flyers that I see around everywhere... ugh! There are children everywhere on this base and although they have probably heard most of these things it is still important to keep it G-rated when out in public places or around the "quad." haha

This is the last one I will post for this week... A little background on "don't be that guy/girl" is that the Navy uses this on TV, radio, and all over print to try and keep anyone from getting into trouble. I think they are absolutely hilarious. They try and take "real" situations like sailors going out and having too much to drink or being obnoxious or culturally insensitive and they do these re-enactments over the radio or as commercials to try to deter people from being "that guy/girl." I think people think it's more funny than anything- not really sure if people take it seriously... actually I am 100% sure people don't take it seriously as people are getting in trouble constantly off base for doing stupid things! Anyway, I just wanted to share these bits of humor I find in day to day life here at Yokosuka Naval Base.

Japanese Word of the Day:
Utsukushii (oots-cooshee): Beautiful