To the USA and beyond!!!

Hi, it’s Josh. I wanted to send you an update in case you were wondering why it’s been a month since the last blog. Don’t worry, we didn’t go anywhere! Rebecca and I have been all over the world in the last few weeks, and haven’t really had time to catch a breath. Well, that’s not really true. I’m on a ship now and have plenty of time to catch my breath, but not a lot to write about (and not much internet access either).
Here’s what’s been going on for us. Last time I wrote, I had just returned from Cambodia and was on my way back out to sea. I went out to sea for a couple of uneventful weeks and returned to Japan. I really can’t remember what I was doing then. Rebecca, meanwhile, was preparing for her big trip home. After I had been home for a few days (at the beginning of March) she caught a plane to the US to spend a month with her family. I met her a week later as I flew home (courtesy of the Navy) for a week-long pediatric conference in Bethesda. Fortunately, I was able to take a week of vacation before the conference, so Rebecca and I crammed in tons of activities during that time. Of course, this is not a blog about the US, so I will spare you the details, suffice to say that we had a blast visiting friends and family in DE, PA, DC, MD, NY, NJ, VA and NC (we flew down there for a couple of days). The conference was very good too. After the conference, I flew to Korea to meet the ships for another exercise, since they had left Japan several days earlier.
Korea is an interesting country; it has a rapidly growing economy, which has only recently become prosperous since the war, resulting in many beautiful new buildings and malls built in the middle of seemingly decaying areas. I had to take 4 different flights (Dulles – Detroit – Tokyo – Busan, Korea – Yangyang, Korea) before I finally got to my destination (it was a blessing that I caught any of them, because I missed my first leg in Dulles – long story). Between flights 3 and 4, I stayed in Hotel Nongshim in a big city called Busan. I got to explore the city for a morning, and then it was off to the airport. I didn’t get to spend much money, so now I have tons of Korean Won in my wallet to join my Cambodian Real (don’t know how to spell it), Japanese Yen and American Dollars. I didn’t get to take any pictures either because Rebecca was using the camera at her baby shower, which was taking place simultaneously. After an hour-long trip on a pristine and empty expressway though coastal Korea in a van, I met the ships in medium sized city called Donghae, where they had been for 3 days. My colleagues told me that it was just as well that I missed most of the port visit – Donghae wasn't too much fun. But there was a Pizza Hut there, which appeared to be the source of the diarrhea that I had to treat for the next week.
So I never really explored Donghae, except to look out from the ship at the beautiful snow-capped mountains that towered over the small industrial city (but sorry, no pictures!). Apparently some of the sailors got to hike in one of the valleys during a tour one of the days in the port, but I missed that one. Then, off we went into the ocean where we participated with the South Korean Navy in a week or so of exercises with planes and submarines and lots of media exposure. Of course, when I say “we,” I mean everyone else. I pretty much just treated people’s diarrhea.
Next stop was Okinawa, Japan – the place where Rebecca met me in the fall. This time, she was able to meet me again – after a marathon flight from the US. Unfortunately, unlike my first time in Okinawa where I was only with one ship, now there were 4 ships in the port – which is 1,200 sailors to get sick. So I spent a lot of time in the hospital during this visit.



However, in between hospital visits, we had lots of fun. We stayed in cabins overlooking the piers where the ships were moored (which meant I was 10 minutes from work and always on call). The cabins were nice – two queen sized bunk beds and a little kitchenette. On day one, we drove all the way to the tip of the peninsula the boats were moored on. On our way back we explored the beach and found tons of shells. Unfortunately, most of the good shells had hermit crabs inside (there were millions of them!). We tried to only take empty shells, and almost succeeded – except for the poor dehydrated hermit crab we found in our room the next morning. Don’t worry, he lived (I think). The next day, we drove about an hour to Nago, home of the largest aquarium in the world (doesn’t Baltimore say that too?). Even though Rebecca didn’t think she would like it, she ended up having fun. The aquarium was situated on a huge “Ocean Park” complex. While watching the huge whale sharks swim in a tank with moray eels and enormous stingrays was immensely interesting (and even more interesting at feeding time), Rebecca was particularly enthralled by the “Tropical Dream” gardens. For only 330 yen (around $3) we were able to enjoy several four-story greenhouses crammed full of orchids and other tropical plants. She was like my parents at a museum - I couldn’t get her to move to the next exhibit. Admittedly, the orchids were pretty cool; many of them were so strange that they could have been out of a Dr. Seuss book.
Our dinners during those two days were not nearly so exotic – Chili’s and Macaroni Grill; Rebecca was trying to adjust to Japan gradually. On the last day, we hung around the base, because I didn’t want the ships to leave without me, but neither did I want to get on before I had to. That evening, Rebecca moved out of the cabin to stay with some new friends – officers’ wives that had been staying in other cabins. They stayed in a hotel nearer to the airport; Rebecca shared a taxi to the airport the next morning on her way back to Yokosuka.
I, meanwhile, roomed with an officer from the Australian Navy, and then an officer from the Indian Navy during the most recent multi-national exercise. It was very interesting. I learned a lot about other navies: for example, in the Indian Navy, if you go to their Naval Academy, you are obligated to 20 years of Navy service (ouch – and I thought four years was bad!). Apparently that’s not so good for the morale. Also, their aircraft carrier doesn’t have powered catapults like ours. It has a ramp – like you would go over on your BMX bike – except it’s for planes. Crazy! However, the foreign officers all seemed pretty sharp and I enjoyed the cultural experience.
I am planning to be home in the next week or so and am counting down the days. Hopefully Rebecca will insert some pictures and newsy banter into this blog to make it a little more entertaining for you, dear reader. Good day!