Nostalgia

So, I'm not sure if it's because I'm a girl and sentimental or if it's because I'm weird but I spent about an hour or two, looking up pictures, remembering good times and talking to my friends from elementary school. Okinawa, Japan was where I spent my elementary school years from age 7-11 while we were stationed on the Marine bases. A friend come over tonight and while getting to know each other, told her about my childhood there. Afterwords, I started to realize how much of it I remember and how much of it I miss. Sure, it's been over 10 years since we left and to be honest I'm not really sure why I still miss it as much as I do. Perhaps I miss that part of my life and how it was spent being in a foreign country. Being that I'm almost 23 and my brother about to turn 21, I suddenly realized while explaining my life story, how much time has really passed and where I am and who I've become. I wanted to share to everyone I'm close with (and those who randomly stumble upon my blog finding it interesting for WHATEVER reason, lol) the part of my life that is important to me and what a big part of my life it was.

We moved to Okinawa, Japan when I was 7 years old. 1993. It was the first overseas place we experienced and my brother, who was 5, and I were really nervous and scared that we were not going to see any "Americans" there. We thought it was strictly going to be Japanese people. We got settled into the infamous "TLF" which was a hotel/apartment place for military families to go before finding housing. We slept on fold out couch beds and walked everywhere close to us on base and explored the new culture that we were not use to. It was a new way of living. You needed ID's to get in EVERYWHERE. Even to watch movies at the movie theaters and to buy things at the BX (Base Exchange). The Japanese culture was integrated into the programs at school even though the military schools were on American bases. We learned so many things about Japan. We soon discovered a resort called Okuma that we as a family often went to. We would eat at the restaurants and play at the beach. Even though it was on the other side of the island from where we lived, it took about an hour and a half to get to and being only 7 and 5, felt like forever. We finally moved into a house on the economy until our name came up for base housing. This house was down the street from the sea wall. The Sea Wall were cement barricades separating land and water. During the sunsets, it was breathtaking. We finally were called to housing on a base called Camp Courtney. Building 4511 Apt 103. We lived next to the Brennans and the Cokers. The housing were towers with 9 floors and inside was a big circle with the elevators in the middle. It was fantastic during Halloween :) My brother and I attended Bechtel Elementary School together and met some great friends. Little did we know, a lot of these friends would be ones we would still be in contact today. He and I were both baptized in the East China Sea. Me on my dad's birthday and my brother on my mom's birthday. It was absolutely beautiful. The hardest thing about living overseas was the space and time difference from our extended family members. We were a whole day ahead in time and 14 hours ahead by plane. We have slept on airport floors, gotten stuck in other countries and have walked to planes out in the cold to make it home in the states. As I became older and approaching middle school, I started to wish I was "normal" like other kids who lived in America. I always saw the United States as the foreign country because all I had really come to know is Japan. But I would never give up this part of my life for the world.

I guess the point I'm making is that family is the most important thing in the world. I still get lumps in my throat to this day thinking about the things we did as a family and the memories I have with them no matter how big or how small. We would anticipate and get excited when my dad came home to tell us where we were going to get stationed next. It was like a big adventure with three of your buddies. Since my brother and I are the only kids in the family, we grew up being best friends. He was the first friend I had in every new place. I will always cherish him and the friendship we had through the times we felt alone after stepping off the airplane in not only a new place but a foreign country. I love him with all my heart and thank him for being that best friend. I have been privileged to have the life I've lived thus far. Still to this day we talk to the Brennans and the Cokers a long with other families and friends that went through the journey that was filled with anxiety, nervousness and excitement. My parents for different reasons than us kids of course. I wish for one day everyone I know could stand in my shoes and walk through flashbacks of this wonderful place. You never realize the type of life you have lead until you look back and see the things you have accomplished.

Alex Haley quotes "In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future."


Us on Brad's baptism. We were baptized at the same place.


The towers us military families lived in


Family nights at the movies