Overseas Living

I would imagine that the thought of living in a foreign country would seem an odd choice for an American family. We volunteered to come here to Japan and are trying to find a way to go to live in another foreign country for our next assignment. Must sound like we are not very fond of America. In truth we love our country, our culture and miss our families.

Living on an American military base in a foreign country is in some ways like living in an American city, with a big fence around it, in the middle of Japan. My daughter goes to an American high school, with American teachers, American text books, and other American students. The difference is that they are all military brats. We live in an American neighborhood, with American neighbors, American built home, American playgrounds, library, dry cleaners, grocery store, furniture store, gym, etc. So in many regards we are raising our kids in America.

When we leave the base we are in a foreign country. However, the city where I live fully one third of the population is American. They can all tell from my neon white skin that I am American, they all speak English and I try to learn a bit a Japanese but basically I am lazy and rely on their kindness. I get to shop in a Japanese grocery store, but then go to the American one on base to pick up the American things I cannot do without. I can eat at a Japanese restaurant, but they are kind enough to provide me with a menu in English. I enjoy going to foreign countries, but I always go with the help of a English speaking guide, who helps me with the hard stuff.

I would have loved to go to Korea. The base is actually less remote than Misawa. Here we have to travel to Tokyo to get a flight to America, traveling to Tokyo is very expensive and it is very far away. In Korea, the base is only 30 miles from Seoul, which has flights to America. The military is weird about Korea, Jeff would have to get orders there, and then ask permission to bring the family. A lot of families are able to go there, I checked and the high school has 300 students, ours has 550. Anyways, they might say no you cannot bring your family and then the girls and I would have to go live somewhere else without Jeff for a year. They cannot just tell Jeff yes or no if he can bring his family until he has the orders. Once you have orders, it is orders and you have to go. Right now he has a choice, because he already did a tour in Korea in 1998. If no one volunteers for Korea, which usually happens, they give orders to a non-volunteer, Jeff would most likely not fall in that category since so many people have never been. I guess Korea is not meant to be.

There are a couple of reasons we would prefer to live in a foreign country as opposed to return to America. The biggest is Mandy. She will be 3/4 of the way through her Sophomore year of high school when we leave. If we go to another overseas base, she would be with a school full of other Military brats, who move all the time. She would continue on with the same text books, same curriculum, same everything. Overseas schools are awesome, they spend twice as much money per student as in the States. The high schools are state of the art, the teachers are well paid, they have a phenomenal amount of brand new stuff. And all the students are military kids, which means they are for the most part a great group of kids. There are a ton of opportunities, they whole community comes together for the schools. I cannot go on enough about how great the schools are.

The second reason we would like to remain overseas is because of the travel. We love to travel. However, my husband makes around 30k a year. The military doesn't pay all that well, they pay you a little more if you live overseas, and it is a bit cheaper to drive down the street of the country where you live than it is to fly here from America. We would never be able to afford to travel like we do from America. This is our only chance.

Third is money. In America I would have to work, I would prefer to finish my degree first and I prefer to be a stay at home mom.

When we first go married and took Mandy out of her comfort zone she was not at all happy. She had a hard time adjusting to having a dad and to living in another country. I feel like she is better for having gone through that adjustment as a child rather than as an adult. She learned that the world is the world, people are the same everywhere, you are who you are everywhere. It doesn't matter if you live in the same house your whole life or a new house every year. She tends to be the type of person who likes consistency, she likes to watch the same movies over and over, she reads the same books again and again. I tend to be the type of person who likes change. I feel that having had to face her fears and see that change wont kill her, will help her in life. Mandy will never stay in an abusive relationship because she fears the alternative. She will never stay in a job she hates because she doesn't know what else is out there. I feel that it is important to realize that the world you live in is your choice and that you are not a victim of unfortunate circumstances and I feel that this life has effectively taught her that lesson.

It wasn't easy or fun all the time, but she has gone from being afraid to being very self sufficient and confident.

There was a special duty assignment available for MSGTs it was in Korea, I am not kidding. There was also one in Thailand. Jeff really wants to apply it is a position at the Embassy. We were all so excited, however, Jeff was informed that due to the fact that his career field is severely undermanned they would most likely not release him to do a special duty. I told him to apply anyways. He is going to officially ask permission to leave the career field before applying. So we will see. There is a very slim possibility that we will get to go to Thailand, but most probably we will have to wait for the next list in September.

Coffee of the day: Bloggers Boot Up Blend

Today I made it in my Italian stove top percolator type espresso maker, and I heated some milk in my Italian stove top milk frothing device. I am closing my eyes and imagining that I am sitting at a sidewalk cafe in Pordenone sipping my cappuccino and eating gelato. Watching little old ladies in fur coats, with high heels, riding their bicycles while smoking with one hand and holding and umbrella with the other hand- on their way to church to say their morning prayers.