Greetings from Japan!

[Rocketman248]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to let you all know that I am safe and having fun in Yokosuka, Japan.

I got to the airport at 4:30PM local time, (2:30AM Eastern time) on Saturday, Jan 8th. I didn't get to the ship until about 7:30PM. The first thing I did was get checked in on the ship. It didn't take long to get that finished. I was in bed by 10:00PM. The beds a really small! They are 7 feet long, and 2 feet wide. You only have about 2 feet from your matress to the underside of the bed above you. If you lay on your side, there's barely an inch between you shoulder and the bed above you.

I was lucky enough to have two people on the ship that I knew from tech school in Great Lakes. On Sunday, they took me to Akihabara, which is a really busy city north of Tokyo. That was pretty cool.

This week have been really busy. The ship was scheduled to go out to sea for two days on Monday, the 10th. At 6:00 that morning, I was all ready to go. At 6:30, someone came and told me that I was staying behind, and I needed to pack up everything and be on the pier at 7:30. So the ship left, and me and about 15 other people had to move over 100 matresses onto a berthing barge. Our ship is going to be in the yards for 3 months so we will be sleeping on the berthing barge. It's basically a ship built just for sleeping. We spent all of Monday cleaning that ship. Then on tuesday, I started a class called AOB/ICR. I have no idea what that stands for. It was an orientation class for the base and Japan. On thursday, they went over Japanese public transportation in the morning, then we were allowed to go around Japan on our own for the day. Me and my friend went to Yokohama. They had a pretty good Chinatown. I had some really good food there.

Tomorrow, my division has to go to Harpoon Missile handling class. It's a really boring all day class on how to bring on and take Harpoon missiles off the ship. After that, thankfully, it's the weekend. The best part of the Navy is you get weekends off. Also, Monday is Martin Luther King Jr day, and wee get that day off. My first weekend is a 3 day weekend! Great!

Well, that was my first week on the ship, only 155 more! I will be able to check the forum pretty often. At a few of the buildings on base, they have very inexpensive wireless internet access, so I will pop on every once in a while. I can usually check it from the ship as well.

I'll talk to you guys later.

 

[Rocketmaniac]

Good to hear from you, glad your journey was a safe one.....

You say a boring "Harpoon Missile handling class" Doesn't boring to me..... I wish I could load and unload the actual missile!!!!!!

 

[Mike]

Glad to hear you made it Nick, keep in touch!!!!

 

[Peter]

Nick, Great to hear your getting all settled in. I've been following your posts / travels and thought I would post a reply to add to the TRF support. I hope you sleeping arrangements on the barge are better as well as the food. Have a good holiday weekend and make sure to travel as much as you can and enjoy the exotic culture. My brother in law was stationed in Germany with the "blue suits" and he made it a point to learn the language and never spent a weekend on the base. He's so glad he took advantage of it, said that some guys never left and watched TV all the time. Also, my cousin was on the Kitty Hawk. Send us some pictures when you can. Harpoon class cool! Regards, Peter

 

[AKPilot]

Nick its good to hear that you've arrived in Japan. Hope you're enjoying the base and Tokyo. Are you living on ship or have they given you guys billets somewhere?

 

[jflis]

Good to hear from you guy!

Japan! kewl My niece just finished school in Tokyo and now teaches Japanese in Guam.

From what I've read of her letters home, you should have a good time there visiting.

Good luck in school. Don't blow anything up that ain't *supposed* to be blow'd up...

 

[rstaff3]

Yea that should be a cool place to be stationed. Keep us up to date!

 

[Elapid]

that finds it ironic that you move to Japan and the first thing you do is go to Chinatown?

 

[rstaff3]

Originally posted by Elapid
that finds it ironic that you move to Japan and the first thing you do is go to Chinatown?

Not just you. Guess he doesn't like sushi/sashimi Oh he also could have gone to a McDonalds.

 

[Bowhunter]

Glad to hear ya made it safe but harpoon school hmmmmm we need dimentions for a full scale

 

[arthur dent]

Hi rocket
What woudnt i give to go to harpoon lessonsD just show me which butttons to press )Japan sounds very exciting so keep in touch with all the details.

 

[hokkyokusei]

Originally posted by Elapid
that finds it ironic that you move to Japan and the first thing you do is go to Chinatown?

It's not just you

 

[Austin]

NICK!!!

Great to see you made it bro! Be sure to go see a MXC program live...I wanna catch you on our tube here (hehehe).

Carl

 

[ResearchWorm]

Just remember that Yokosuka actually starts 4 blocks away from the main gate! I hated having to go through Sailor-Town every time I went out for a walk. The computer stores are out the main gate to the left about 2 miles.. Yamada Denki, etc, are all over in that direction. There's a lot of really cool shops up the main drag three blocks left of the main gate.. especially the knife/cutlery shop (45K Yen cleaver the size of a short-sword you can shave with anyone?) in the tunnel-mall. Good coffee shop in there also. Curry House restaurant chain is pretty good as well. Also the elevated park near the Sony (Sanyo?) building/sign is a blast. Great food near the train station in that area. The 4 story mall is fun too. Farmers market is a blast as well.
To the right out the main gate and about 3/4 mile down [Near the "No DOD personell allowed" High School/ 7-11] area are some really neat buildings and shops. A little farther down there is a neat mall. If you can, try to be around for.. er.. forgot what it is called, but the day's got a parade of crews from all the worlds navy.. lots of fun. Try the Takoyaki dumplings and the Ebiyaki ones as well (if you can find it). The WWII memorials scattered around the harbor are really impressive as well. Get on a commuter train and just go exploring.
And yes, I've probably walked around most of Yokosuka, Yokohoma, Sasebo. If you get to Sasebo, go to Michiwachi (?) [commuter train to T-junction, two or three stops inland, get directions from MWR office] it is a fine porcelain junkies wet dream with an entire town that does nothing but ceramics. Near the food court on Sasebo Base (near liberty landing?) there's a couple of vending machines. Try the Dydo Orange juice.


Just some ideas.

Harm none,

ResearchWorm

 

[rstaff3]

Rocketman248 - I wonder if you'll ever again be impressed by an M motor?

 

[Rocketman248]

I've got a few pics online now. Keep it bookmarked, I will update it regularly. Once it stops raining that is pics here

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by Rocketman248
Tomorrow, my division has to go to Harpoon Missile handling class. It's a really boring all day class on how to bring on and take Harpoon missiles off the ship.

Missile handling class is boring for all until this happens - (see attachment)

 

[eugenefl]

...and this! (See attachment)

Glad to hear everything is going pretty good so far. I just found it funny for some reason that you'd set foot in Japan in search of food from China! I would have been all over the teriyaki steak!

Keep in touch. Even though you left the rockets behind the friends are all still here! Get some pictures of some Nissan Skylines for me. Thanks!

 

[jflis]

Great pix Nick. Good to know you're going to be able to visit regularly.

Now, the big question, are you allowed to set up a launch pad on the flight deck?

 

[rocketsonly]

Originally posted by rstaff3
Not just you. Guess he doesn't like sushi/sashimi Oh he also could have gone to a McDonalds.

They do serve Samuri Pork Burgers. And if I remember correctly, I saw people eating rice and sushi. This was all in the Nakita airport.

EDIT: I'm talking about McDonalds

 

[CJC]

Missiles boring???
Me thinks not!

I have fears for your safety.
Please be on the look out for a very large, green, scaley, reptillian like creature.
Should you come across this beast your Harpoon Schooling will come into play. Pay attention!

 

[dave carver]

My dad was in the Air Force and I spent 4 yrs in the 60's at Yokota AFB.
All I can say is go everywhere you can and see as much as possible. Find old Japan where they still thatch their roofs with straw, little mom and pop stores along the roads.
Watch out for the "mustard" It's HORSERADISH!