FAQ

I thought I'd take a break from our wonderful beach vacation to answer some of the most common questions we get about our move.  See how much I care about you! 

Question 1:
Where is Okinawa?  What's it like?

According to the always reliable Wikipedia, Okinawa "...is one of Japan's southern prefectures and consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1,000 km long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū (the southwesternmost of Japan's main four islands) to Taiwan..."  For those who are more visual, here's a map:

I did a little research, and the circumference of the Earth is almost 25,000.  So, Okinawa is almost as far away as one can get from our hometown.  Do I know how to do a move, or what!  I've always been an overachiever.  

You may be wondering what the heck the Marines are doing over there in Okinawa.  I'll try to keep this little history lesson short, but basically after WWII the US wanted to keep Japan from getting all "uppity" again, so they decided to set up camp right in their backyard.  They also thought it might be polite to stick around and help cleanup and rebuild since we pretty much annihilated parts of their country. Nowadays, the military is there to "maintain a presence" in that part of the world and there are currently 23,000 Marines and 18,000 Airmen stationed on the island of Okinawa.  In other words, uh....China, North Korea....Hi....you know all those plans you have for world domination?  Don't try any funny business because there are 23,000 Marines at your doorstep ready to beat the crap out of you.   (Can you see why my application for that State Department position keeps getting rejected?)

When they're not scowling at those other countries, the Marines also like to do some nice things.  Whenever there's an earthquake or tsunami in that neighborhood, they'll get right to it and start digging people out of rubble and rebuilding bridges and stuff. 

I know when you heard we were moving to Okinawa, you thought we'd be moving to some third world country with rickshaws and dirt roads and no indoor plumbing.  Well, don't panic.  Okinawa has a population of over 1,300,000.  It is far from rural.  There are expressways, theme parks, aquariums, and shopping malls.  Compared to some places we've lived, this will be a step up.  I'm looking at you Havelock & Beaufort. 

And, there's this: 

And this.....

And this...

Jealous yet?  I'll be taking reservations for visitors starting August, 2011. 

Question 2:
What do you do with your cars?  Can you take them with you?
Short answer, no.  The government will pay to store one car in the US while we are overseas.  Once a month the car will be driven around and checked to make sure everything is working properly.  We decided we'd store Bill's car because it's newer and because I'm sick of the van.  We're planning on taking the van to Carmax and just accepting whatever they offer us as long as it's relatively reasonable, unless we find a buyer by Tuesday. 

Once we're on Okinawa, we won't be allowed to buy new cars until we take a driving test and receive our SOFA (Status Of Forces Agreement) license.  We'll do that about a week after we get there.  Then, we'll get to go car shopping.  My understanding of the cars over there is that they're pretty much passed down from service member to service member.  They're pretty old (about 10 years old) but they're all maintained really well because every two years they go through a rigorous inspection process and if anything is broken it must be repaired before the car can pass inspection. 



Bill may be driving this sexy minivan very soon...

Little trivia...they drive on the left side of the road in Okinawa...should be an interesting change. 

Question 3
Will you keep homeschooling the kids?
We're planning on sending the kids to DoD (Department of Defense) schools while we're over there.  These are American schools on base filled with other kids who have a parent in the military.  I have only heard wonderful things about these schools and all that they have to offer.  If I could do better than the schools, I would happily keep them home, but I just don't think that I can.  If we get over there and discover that the schools are not what they were made out to be, we'll go back to homeschooling.  But for now, I'm readying myself for crazy mornings filled with activities like packing lunches, looking for lost shoes and missing homework, and brushing unruly hair.

Question 4
When do you leave?  How long is the flight?
We're leaving from Jacksonville next Tuesday (June 21.)  We have a layover in Dallas before we get to Seattle.  We'll spend a day and a half in Seattle.  The kids have heard about the Space Needle and they're wanting to go there, but I'm not sure if my fear of heights is going to allow that. 

In the wee hours of the morning on June 23 we'll get to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport and begin the check in process for our flight to Okinawa (which leaves around 9am.)  Bill & I had a difference of opinion on what time we would get to the airport.  The guidance we received from the official paperwork was that we were to "report" for our flight no earlier than 0200, (2am) and no later than 0500 (5am).  So, naturally, I wanted to get there at 2:05am and Bill wanted to arrive at 4:55am.  My plan was to get a hotel for one night then camp out a the airport the 2nd night while we wait around for our flight. His plan was to get the hotel for 2 nights (which I thought was a waste of money), then get to the airport just in time (probably right before the plane takes off.)  So, in order to stay married we compromised.  I agreed to splurge on the 2nd night at the hotel, and he agreed that we'd arrive at the airport around 2am.  Marriage it all about give and take, right?

Once we leave Seattle, we'll be on the plane for about 11 painful hours.  Then we'll make our first stop on mainland Japan.  We have a 3 hour layover while they clean out the plane and do whatever they have to do to make sure the plane won't plunge into the Pacific with all of us onboard.  Then we fly 1 1/2 hours to another stop in  Japan.  After a 2 hour layover there, we'll fly 1 1/2 more hours to Okinawa.  In total, it's about 18 hours of travel time.  I'm praying assuming the kids will sleep for at least part of that time.  For the rest of it, we have lots of Benadryl  movies & games to keep them busy. 

Question 5
Where will you live?
The short answer is I have no idea.  The long answer is hopefully base housing.  The problem is that the area where we would normally be assigned housing is undergoing renovations and there may not be available housing in the other housing areas.  If that ends up happening we will be forced to live out in town...among the locals and everything!  I'm quite panicked apprehensive about this possibility.  I'm ok with moving halfway around the world.  I'm even ok with the 18-hour death-defying flight across the Pacific.  But asking me to actually interact and learn about the culture of the country we'll be living in?  That's going a little too far.  I may even have to learn some Japanese!  (gasp!) 

In all seriousness--if we do have to live in town, I'll manage...but it's not how I would have chosen to do things.  I would have taken baby steps---live on base a little while, get to know the lay of the land, and if for some reason base housing was intolerable THEN we make the leap to living in town.  But when has the Marine Corps ever said, "Maybe we should ask Laura F. what she'd like to do in this situation?" 

Question 6
How do you feel about this move?  How are handling all of this?

Throughout this move everyone has kept asking me how I was handling it all and I kept saying, “Oh, fine.”   And really, I am fine…but it’s interesting  the reactions I get when I say that.  My Marine Wife friends take that answer at face value and move on…lots have them have gone through this themselves so they know it’s doable, and that there are much worse military-induced life changes that can happen.  I’d happily take this over a deployment any day.  My normal  civilian friends always look at me suspiciously when I say that I’m fine, as if they’re thinking, “She can’t really be fine.  She's just delusional."  I think we’re all just taking this move step at a time and we’re looking forward to whatever adventures lie ahead.   This nomadic life grows on you after a while and the moves become less and less daunting. 



I think that's everything....if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!