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Comment by KLeuzinger*USSOscarAustinDDG79* on June 2, 2011 at 11:46am

ohhh i think youre right! that would make sense. hes E3 but will be E4 before we are married (Lord willing), so we would have to wait anyway. and man, that is rough that they dont give much out, but we will make due with what we have. hopefully theyll make an exception for a wedding to give a little more leave? lol we'll see i guess. thats great theyre so good to you all though, people who care really make everything a lot easier.

Comment by Mrs.W on June 2, 2011 at 10:43am

What is his rank?  I believe they have to be E5 and above before they're allowed on-base housing as bachelors, or E4 and below if married.  Some ships even require E4 and below to live on board, unless they're married. 

 

They don't give you much leave under normal circumstances. We took leave in Feb when the ship was in the yards and my husband had to jump through hoops to get 20 days of leave and we had 40+ on the books.  His family is in Texas and mine is in Alabama...thats the only reason we got 20.  Usually it's 10 to 15 days. But like I said, special circumstances will get you more days.  Being in a forward deployed fleet requires them to be on board as much as possible.  As I'm sure you can tell, schedules change all the time here, so they don't like to hand out alot of leave.  Our CO and XO are amazing though, very family oriented even though CO is not married...so I'll keep my fingers crossed that he gets enough leave! 

Comment by KLeuzinger*USSOscarAustinDDG79* on June 2, 2011 at 10:27am

haha thats true bachelors are different!

but yea, thanks haley for letting me know. youre right, they wont tell you everything until you sign, so this is a big help. and thats really good to know that the list is moving quickly! if only it can do that into the beginning of 2012 so i can get there asap! i guess its a waiting game until then :/

but that is SO sweet that they said something about me lol, i cant tell you how much that makes my day!!! im so excited to start life over there, it cant come soon enough:)

and i was trying to think about any questions i had...im sure i have a ton. well, heres one- is it possible for my fiancé to go ahead and apply for on base housing for just him, and then maybe just add me on when we get married? because the schedule is looking like, he comes back in late winter/early spring, within a week we get married, honeymoon, and then he flies right back to japan. he has plenty of leave but the question is how much they will let him use at that time. so, if we cant be put on a list until then, our only option may be to get off base. which would be fine, but on base would still be nice. idk if you really know that answer, but if i have more q's ill let you know lol

Comment by Mrs.W on June 1, 2011 at 8:25pm

My husband knows alot of people who live off base too and love it, you guys might but I just wanted to tell you what no one really knows until they sign the papers. We have a 3 and 2 year old...living off base with all the rice paper for doors and the floors being like they are, we'd NEVER get our deposit back, lol.

Getting here is the HARD part. As soon as you guys do get married though, your husband can go to housing and get you guys on a list. It's PCS season right know, more people are going rather than coming. And after the earthquake and the evacs, alot of the people who were going to PCS within the next 6-9 months have just stayed in the states and are going to their station to find housing. The list is moving quick now. I sent your a friend request on Facebook too in case you needed anything. Our board was telling the other FRG members last night that the ship was getting a new wife soon!!

Is there anything you wanted to know about the move, or housing or just anything about Japan?

Comment by KLeuzinger*USSOscarAustinDDG79* on June 1, 2011 at 11:55am

wow. thanks for the info! yea that is a lot to consider, and definitely a lot of cons lol, but we need to know those things and what all goes into deciding. ill let him know what you said, that really helps a lot. he said most of his friends actually do live off base with their wives, but ive seen videos and read a lot about on-base and it really does seem to be the way to go. the main thing is the waiting list, but we could always apply for that early and hopefully get a spot in time for me to be there. hoping and praying! always seems like theres 1,000 things that need to fall into place before anything can happen :/

Comment by Mrs.W on June 1, 2011 at 10:38am

I've had friends who lived off base and all but 2 of them have moved on base.  I live on base so I can't say from personal experience, just what my friends have told me.  I couldn't do it.  You can't pay rent or utilites with a credit card or anything electronic, it all has to be in Yen and you have to have it the day they come by to collect.  Now, all of my friends went through the same realtor, all of them may not be that way.  The trash...you have to seperate it by glass, plastic, cans, paper, lids, etc.  Everything has to be washed and all paper has to be removed from the jars, etc.  You're not allowed to wear shoes in your off base house, which is to be expected.  The washer and dryers in all of them I've seen can fit about 4 pairs of jeans at a time, and nothing else.  The fridges are tiny and the houses themselves are small. I know it's nothing but cons, but we really wanted to go the off base route and no one told us these things.  When we found out, we decided it wasn't for us, but you may love it. It never hurts to look out in town you know?  And you can always be put on the waiting list here on base and be looking off base.  If you find the perfect house, great! If not, then you're on the list for housing here. Also, another thing we weren't told, when there is an Earthquake or Tsunami, the warnings put out telling you where to go to safety...are in Japanese.  A few areas will also have an English warning, but not many.  If you guys do decide to live off base, I would just ask your realtor about that.  I had alot of confused and scared friends after the earthquake who didn't know where to go or if the Tsunami was coming our way.  That being said, Japanese homes have awesome toilets, lol.  You should look them up. They have remote controlled AC and heat, some even have a feature that allows you to run bath water (sit baths are huge here) and keep it warm until you get home. You'd also get out and about more than if you lived on base too.  They have beautiful design features too. For us though, on base is the way to go.  My husband rides his bike to work because it's not even 1/4 mile away from our house, and I keep the car.  Everything we need is right here and when we want to go  somewhere new out in town, we just swing by Fleet and Family and pick up the directions from them and we're on our way.

Comment by KLeuzinger*USSOscarAustinDDG79* on June 1, 2011 at 10:09am

aw thats precious, sometime i wish that was me and my sailor! haha, we've been in a relationship for almost 4 years now, will be 4 1/2 by the wedding! its about time ;) lol. and yea i think that will be really good for him to be back...ive heard different things, but in your opinion is it best to go ahead and get off-base housing? ive heard its actually a little cheaper and you dont have to be on a waiting list that way. we cant really search for one quite yet, just trying to get the right idea in mind.

Comment by Mrs.W on June 1, 2011 at 9:50am

Yeah this was not expected.  They weren't supposed to go there at all.  I'm sure you'll love Japan when you get here though.  It is absolutely amazing.  It has its downsides (the language barrier, no Targets, lol...etc) but all in all I am loving our time here. But no, we've together for 6 years of the 10 years. I got married at 19, 6 months after meeting him, haha! I'm sure everyone will be thrilled to be back in homeport, it'll give your sailor time to really get comfortable with where you guys will be living and its just not as stressful as being underway.

Comment by KLeuzinger*USSOscarAustinDDG79* on June 1, 2011 at 9:40am

That is such a sweet story, and sounds just like the things he was talking about. My sailor has been in yoko before for a couple weeks,but had to actually catch a bus to Sasebo to get on the ship for the first time, so I'm sure he's looking forward to being in his home port. It's so nice to know the atmosphere there is so great, I would go with him wherever of course, but this is such a blessing to have our base in such a nice place. And 10 yrs is a while!! Have you been with him that whole time? This is my sailors first assignment, he got stuck in great lakes for 10 months for boot camp, a school, then months of waiting for japan to be cleared for the tsunami.

Comment by Mrs.W on June 1, 2011 at 8:14am

The Japanese ARE more friendly.  While visitin the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine, two elderly Japanese women (who had just topped the last step...number 64 I think) walked all the way back down with me, holding my son while I struggled with the stroller.  They are amazing people.  My husband has been fine, just ready to get back home, lol. Has your husband ever been in Yoko or did he fly out here after the earthquake?  We've been here for a little over a year now but he's been in for 10 years.

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