DS19 Got his Military Orders

[PatsGirl]

to Misawa, Japan Anyone been there, know anything about it (or Japan itself?) Advice for him or us? I'm so excited but I haven't talked to him yet, he left a message for us and I'm not sure if he was happy or not. I do know that it was on his "list" and that he prefers it to Texas, Alabama, MS or mid-country. If he was staying in the states he was hoping for the East Coast or Alaska/Hawaii. He also mentioned that CA would be nice.

Shssshhh, I won't tell him this for a bit but I'm trying to decide whether to meet him in Australia or Alaska when he gets leave sometime next year! I'm thinking I might be a little too excited for him

 

[minkydog]

Cool! Last I heard, they're not shooting at Americans over there either. Sounds like he got a plum assignment.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Misawa Air Base is near the very North end of the main island of Japan, near Sapparo, so it is quite a bit North of Tokyo.

You can start making your plans to visit Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Seas.

 

[*BTMRR*]

Cold, snow, and more cold and snow! I hope he likes winter sports because the opportunities there are fantastic! Japan is a gorgeous country, very welcoming to military folks for the most part and he will have a great time. Misawa is a long way from Tokyo, but he'll want to explore Tokyo at some point and you should meet him there and take in the city and the incredible Tokyo DisneySea.
Congrats to your son on a great assignment.

 

[Briarmom]

Awesome! We really wanted to go there, but got stuck in one of the crappy places this time.

Meet him in Japan! We went this past April and absolutely loved it.

Congrats to him.

 

[Grandmax3]

I lived in Misawa from 74-77 and 80-84 and it was better by the time I left. meaning there was a civilian airport and the Exch had been renovatedand had more selections. There are many opportunities to interact with the population, many festivals, many ways to tour the various cities,and Islands. Sapporo has a great snow festival where they create snow sculptures many stories high. The area receives between 180-240 inches of snow per year. The summers are temps from 60-90 degrees. If he is arriving in the winter be sure to take snow clothes with him. The Military Exch is good but sometimes does not have what you need.

 

[4nana]

Awsome news, good luck to your DS! Hope he enjoys his tour and you get a nice trip out of the deal!

Our DS (AFG) will be on leave shortly, it'll really be nice to have him home safe and sound for 2 weeks.

God bless our military and many thanks for their sacrifices.

 

[worm761]

DBF was station there for two years. He is on here and said to tell you to send him a PM. His name here is Phoenx79.

 

[jlmarr]

I think the boy made out ok. I wish I would have been able to go overseas when I was in the service in 1972-76. Should be a great adventure for him - hope he looks at it like that.

 

[PatsGirl]

Oh boy, the excitement builds, I forgot about Toyko DL and DisneySeas which I've never heard of.

I took some time to look at the map and websites and he is 400 miles north of Toyko and a 3 hour train ride or one hour by air. While he prefers summer sports, he does like to ski and snowboard and I think he will really enjoy this station. From what I read, they cater a bit to the single airmen by setting up lots of day/weekend chartered trips to see the country. (Of course, anyone military can go but its mostly the single ones who can afford it I guess).

I think I'll go find him a book about Japan, what to see and do...

Thanks everyone for your input.

 

[Sgt Mickey]

We have never been to Japan but everyone I have talked to LOVED it there. I think he will be okay I would love if my dh got orders there.

 

[dansamy]

What's wrong with AL, MS or TX?

 

[Sleepy]

Awesome! We really wanted to go there, but got stuck in one of the crappy places this time.

Could it really be worse than the armpit of Europe? Where exactly are you?

____________

PatsGirl,
Living overseas means you will learn quickly to use the internet to do most of your purchasing. Tell him to look for sites that ship to military addresses. Things are better now than they were 6 years ago. More sites ship to military addresses, but many still don't. Also, if he needs things more quickly, make sure he can get them mailed priority (it will cost a bit extra in most cases). I can usually get things shipped to me in about 7 to 10 days priority, but if it goes regular mail, it takes over a month. My last package took 8 weeks. Send Christmas packages by Nov. Mail slows to a crawl during late Nov/Dec. Mom, you will probably be doing a bit of shipping yourself. There are many items (brands) that can't be shipped overseas. When I encounter this problem, I ship them to my parent's house, then mom mails them to me.

Advise him to get a bank account with the credit union on the base in Japan. He will want to have face to face access to his account. Dealing with a stateside account thousands of miles away is no fun. If he has any credit cards or other bills, have him use the internet to pay them. Mail is slow and he will most likely get the bills a week or so AFTER the due date. In addition, mailing payments is not a good idea as the payment could sit in the post office a while before heading to America. Overnight express for us takes about 3-5 days for delivery, if that helps make things clearer.

I am sure he will have a blast!

 

[Briarmom]

Could it really be worse than the armpit of Europe? Where exactly are you?

I loved Belgium. Losing that kind of travel has been horrid for us.

I am in one of the aforementioned States. I'd rather be back in Egypt.

 

[Sleepy]

I'd rather be back in Egypt.

Were you the person who took pictures of the inside of your commissary or maybe it was the regular shoppette. The shelves were really bare and had me wondering how in the world these people survived with so little choice. I thought we had it bad when we first moved here, but those pictures had me thankful we had what we did.

Some friends recently went to Egypt and had a wonderful time. They did some diving and really enjoyed it. They also said the food was fantastic. We are so close, but can never find the time to get away.

 

[dansamy]

I am in one of the aforementioned States. I'd rather be back in Egypt.

What's so bad about the SE States?

 

[Briarmom]

Were you the person who took pictures of the inside of your commissary or maybe it was the regular shoppette. The shelves were really bare and had me wondering how in the world these people survived with so little choice. I thought we had it bad when we first moved here, but those pictures had me thankful we had what we did.

Some friends recently went to Egypt and had a wonderful time. They did some diving and really enjoyed it. They also said the food was fantastic. We are so close, but can never find the time to get away.

Yes, that was me. That was the shop on our compound. Our commissary was in Cairo and it was 'normal-ish'. It was 2+ hours away though, so we ate a lot at the mess hall.

What's so bad about the SE States?

A lot of the military places down here are less than desirable.

 

[dansamy]

A lot of the military places down here are less than desirable.

I know zilch about military life. However, I am in Mobile, AL and while I know we're not a very exciting place to be, it's all right.

 

[Christine]

I lived at Misawa for 4 years (a long time ago--1984-1988). I loved it. It was "small-town" Japan. We didn't get to Tokyo much as we were enlisted and poor at the time but I did go a few times and I also took some cheap MAC flights to Korea for some shopping. I really miss my time there. They had GREAT Chinese restaurants there (different style than you get in the US) and I had a few great federal service jobs on post. My husband was active duty but I was able to get some admin assistant jobs while there--one in accounting and finance and one where I was the admin assistanct for the commander of the fighter wing. Great job working with 200 fighter jet pilots!!!

I'm sure the place has only gotten better. It was going through a buildup when we were stationed there so by the time we left, it was really nice.

 

[jlmarr]

Oh boy, the excitement builds, I forgot about Toyko DL and DisneySeas which I've never heard of.

Tokyo DisneySeas is on the same property as Tokyo DL, and by all accounts is one of the best Disney parks in the world. I'd love to see it. Here's a trip report from one of the DLR forum regulars: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2340710

I took some time to look at the map and websites and he is 400 miles north of Toyko and a 3 hour train ride or ...

That's one fast train ride.