Ignore this bit...it's just to make the search engines happy in hopes you will find this...

Phyllis Bodway North Syracuse, NY
Lorraine Bauder Kingston, Ontario, Canada

This is for Marcus Bauder:

Something got me thinking about living in North Syracuse back when I was young and I thought of Mrs. Bodway et. al. and did a quick google search on the names I remembered. I knew Phyllis had died in 2002 but I just learned that your mom died earlier this year. I'm very sorry to hear that. She was very kind and I always looked forward to when the both of you would come down from Canada.

I hope you are doing well.

Tammy


I know I haven't been keeping up with this blog very much. I wound up using my Myspace page for once and I kind of stuck with it (www.myspace.com/gaijin_grl as most of you already know) but now that my husband is leaving for Iraq I'm thinking about going back to this blog, especially since Myspace pages are blocked on Marine Corps computers and it might be the same way in Iraq.

I'm also preparing to put together a lengthy post on how I've adjusted since moving back to the states one year ago. That anniversary is quickly coming - I can't believe it has been one whole year already! I just read over all of my posts in this blog regarding the move and some of it made me cringe a little (I was pretty bitter at times) and would like to share how I feel now.

I also love how colorful and cute this blog is so how could I not keep up with it, right?

...about 8 days until my husband leaves :(

Labels: iraq, japan, south carolina, update

Ashley and Daddy in San Francisco 


Moving from Japan to the States was quite harrowing because there was so much to set up beforehand but I'm sure it is way easier than moving half-way across the world as a civilian. Luckily, the military movers took care of all the packing so the process could have been much worse. Here is the short story of what we had to do.

The movers came about 2 weeks before we left Japan. It would have been 1 week but I had that surgery 2 days before we were supposed to fly out. As soon as Dave knew I would be in the hospital for a couple days, he had to get the flight changed and had to refile his paperwork to the government so we would get reimbursed for the extra week in a hotel. Anyway, the movers packed the main shipment in a half a day and then 2 days later they came again to pack up and send our express shipment (which arrived to our new house 2 days ago).

The military gave us money up front to buy plane tickets for all of us. We were able to fly back on United instead of a military flight. We bought 4 tickets and reserved 2 pet spots. The day before we flew my husband had to take the cats and their health certificates to the airport to have the resident vet look them over before okaying them for the flight.

Meanwhile we had to set up rental cars in CA and GA, cat spa in San Francisco, car shipping from CA to SC, an on-base house viewing date, hotels in GA and SC and that's all I can think of at the moment.

It seemed as if we were just waiting around most of the time. The kids quickly tired of staying in hotels. Even though we did things every day, they were still stir crazy. Now after spending weeks at Nana's house and staying in different places for 5 weeks, they are spoiled and so not listening to us. It's proven difficult to get them back on a routine.

So now that we are in our house, we are trying to get everything hooked up and at the same time get Ashley registered for 1st grade and all sorts of other things before Dave leaves for Iraq. We've blown through about $10,000 on this move and about $5000 of it isn't gonna be reimbursed by the government but we can claim it on our taxes hopefully. Between that and our 2 rental houses, we should get a bix tax return next year.

That's all I can think of right now. Once Dave gets back from Iraq we will look into buying another house probaby near Parris Island. There seems to be some decent houses out in that area. Oh ya - I can't wait to write about Parris Island. I've been there a bunch of times already and it brings back a lot of memories about going to boot camp. It is such a trip being back there.


Well, its not San Francisco but it could be worse I'm sure.

Beaufort isn't as obnoxious as many other Marine towns. Sure there are lots of cars for sale, pawn shops, check cashers and bars but there aren't as many as in other places I've been. We've been driving all around and didn't bring the good camera but the area is low and swampy.

We walked through our new house on base. Man, right down the road are the officer quarters. One day I will take a picture of the houses in our area and then take pics of the mansions they live in. My husband has been in for 16 years and we still get shitty enlisted housing....like we are undeserving or something. With that said, the inside of the house is a 100% improvement compared to the houses in Japan...even the new houses. Everything is pretty new on the inside and they are well taken care of (inside only). Thank God for new carpeting.

Suddenly tired...


http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/may2006/bw20060510_961332.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Click on the above link to read a very pointed article about the difference between Japanese and American work ethics regarding sexual harassment. It was so on point. Especially this taken from the beginning of the article,

"According to a sexual harassment lawsuit Kobayashi filed against Toyota and Otaka (chief executive of Toyota Motor North America) , Cuneo (one of the people she squealed to) told her that he would discuss her letter with Otaka -- but that he didn't want to offend him..."

A good example of how company presidents might as well be gods to the employees.


We got here about 3 hours ago and just barely got to the hotel. We will spend tonight and maybe tomorrow here and then take a 4 hour drive up to SC. Its 9:20pm and we're just now ordering a pizza.

BTW, Hey Mr. Ground/Local controller at ATL - take it from another air traffic controller...you seriously need to get your head out of your *ss. First of all, your sequencing sucked, but besides from that, when a helicopter asks you which tower you are, do not say:

(Controller) This one

(Pilot) But which tower are you?

(Controller) Uhhh...the new one?! (Imagine an old man controller with a reaaally bad Southern drawl at an International airport with two control towers, one new and one unoccupied and another nearby airport)


Hello - back to basics...say "Atlanta International Tower" or what ever ATL's fancy full name is. That poor guy was trying to distinguish from two close airports. I'm sure he could look and see which airport was which, (duh) but controllers and pilots often screw up radio frequencies so he didn't know which tower he was talking to.

Sorry - had to get that off my chest.


I really hate to see our time in San Francisco come to an end. The weather has been about 71 and pretty much sunny for the entire three weeks. We are leaving for Atlanta tomorrow morning and then we'll drive from there to Beaufort, SC in a rental car. Ug. I already know there are no local malls and I know the southern coast is flat, drab and boring compared to here so I'm not too excited about going there. Luckily I got my Sephora shopping done last minute. We also went to Baby Gap and Gap Kids for the girls and bought a new summer wardrobe for each of them.

If you are ever in the Belmont area and are looking for good Japanese food, I highly recommend Kansai Sushi in San Mateo right across from the Fresh Choice restaraunt near HWY 92. Sorry I can't give better directions. They serve way more than just sushi and sashimi. I've had their teriyaki chicken, pork katsu, tempuru and their katsu don and it was all delicious. My only quibble is that they are right across from an awesome Japanese grocery store but they don't serve good Japanese rice with their meals. It looks more like wild rice but isn't as dry or tough. I didn't actually try the sushi so maybe they reserve the good sushi rice for just that. It must be expensive. An imported Japanese Elle magazine cost $12.00 where in Japan it only cost me 600 Yen, which is still a hell of a lot if you ask me.

I have more to write about tipping, taxes and driving but it is late and I will write more when we get settled in SC.