Corpsmen in Okinawa

Comment

Comment by JoAn on December 17, 2009 at 10:18am

Hi All, Wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Blessed New Year!! God Bless our sailors and all military especially those who can't be home this year. Hopefully they will all be back home soon.
Take Care & God Bless
Love, JoAn

Comment by Becky (mom of Adam) on December 12, 2009 at 9:25pm

Dawn ... Back atcha! This will be our first Christmas without all 3 of our kids at home. But if it didn't happen this year, it surely would have next year when my youngest son joins the Navy too, and my daughter graduates college. So, to have Adam in Oki this year doesn't seem too terrible. Especially since he's really liking it and even got a special commendation a couple weeks ago for saving a little girl's life!

Hope he gets the boxes I sent in time. I took someone's advice on N4Ms and bought a pillowcase that I wrote some funny family sayings/jokes, song lyrics and such on it. It turned out pretty neat but we'll see if he likes it. Even if he doesn't, the fudge will probably make up for it!

Hope everyone hears from their loved one(s) during the holidays!

Comment by Dawn 119 on December 12, 2009 at 3:41pm

Hey, All!
Noticed that nothing has been written for a while, so thought I'd jump in and just say Merry Christmas to you and yours. May your holidays be happy and safe. God bless those who have to be without sons, daughters, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, etc. Hard to get through these days knowing you won't see your loved one, but am so happy for those who get to be together!
Once again,
Happy Holidays!

Comment by Daniella on December 9, 2009 at 8:20pm

is okinawa a safe place to live off base?

Comment by pamc on December 3, 2009 at 1:38am

We were thinking about traveling on our own. Jessica brought a car so we will have transpertation. We just need to find a descent hotel to stay at.

Comment by Becky (mom of Adam) on November 18, 2009 at 9:17pm

Pam ... are you taking a tour or traveling on your own?

Comment by pamc on November 16, 2009 at 9:37pm

Becky- I''ll let you know what I find out. I'm planning to go in February.

Comment by Becky (mom of Adam) on November 13, 2009 at 9:36am

I blogged about the Holiday Mail for Heroes program for our troops, veterans and families. Please join me in sending a card to someone who needs it. Shouldn't take much time and you can make a big difference ....

http://beckyland.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/holiday-mail-for-heroes

Thanks!

Comment by Becky (mom of Adam) on November 10, 2009 at 6:02pm

Someone from the Japan Moms group asked about keeping in touch in Japan, so I thought I'd copy some of my reply here ...

We've sent a couple letters and one box, all of which got there just fine. The post office will give you APO/FPO flat rate boxes that are just like the ones you see advertised on tv. They even give you a discount so it's $11.95 to send however much you can fit in there. You need to fill out a customs form that they attach on the outside of it, which I think is crazy because you have to list everything that's inside! We were sending a brand-new iPod Touch that I was sure would be stolen since it was clearly advertised on the outside of the box. But it was fine. You have to list expensive things as part of the contents because if you don't, then you can't insure them either. You can insure the package, but don't do anything that anyone needs to sign because that will delay it horribly, so they tell me. If I'd have known the customs form went on the outside of the package, I would have used excessive amounts of tape on the box to thwart any would be thieves. But again, it was fine and it only took a little more than a week.

Keeping in touch ... we went round and round about what to do. We finally settled on the iPod Touch with a Skype account so he can use it like a phone. It comes with little earbuds with a tiny microphone attached. I'm not completely sure about the Skype account because he set it up, but I think it's about $12/month and has no contract. He said he signed up for a year, though, because there was a discount. Haven't seen the bill yet, but I told him I'd pay it because the phone calls are really for me!

He just got it a couple of weeks ago, right when he started his 12-hour shifts in the emergency room so I've only heard from him once. He's called grandparents, siblings, cousins and friends, so I know it works. Not sure I'm getting my money's worth yet!

We did the video skype thing, but it wasn't always reliable. The phone thing sounds like he's in the next room. Very nice. And, of course, he can use it for email, facebook, etc. It does require him to be in a wifi zone because he doesn't want to pay for internet service. Isn't a problem where he is, apparently.

So, that's about all I know. He's enjoying Okinawa and is thrilled to finally be starting his job.

Comment by Becky (mom of Adam) on November 7, 2009 at 11:57am

Pam ... I'd love to hear about your investigation of going to Okinawa. We're thinking of going too, but not for a year or so. I'm kind of thinking about spending time in Oki (with our son as our tourguide) and then since we've gone so far and spent so much money, taking a tour of the rest of Japan (at least the highlights). I'm having trouble finding travel agents who sell Japan tours, though. I recently asked my son to go to the MWR (??) place to ask about resources they had for parents to come visit, as I'm sure they've had requests before. So, please share your info and I will too ... assuming I ever get any!

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last