The Journey

Today is the day we packed up what was left of our possessions in order to move across the world. With our two suitcases and one backpack each we headed to the Atlanta airport this afternoon in order to fly to Seattle. We also had our kitty in her sharp new carrier. She had to leave said carrier when we went through security. TSA insisted that I carry her through the metal detector. Despite the new and original sounds she was making in the car as we neared the airport, she was silent and still in my arms. I hoped the silence would last through the entire flight, but it did not. We hit turbulence halfway through our flight. Tilly started crying. Loudly. I draped my jacket over her carrier in order to provide her a smaller, more comforting space. It incidentally also  helped to muffle the meows that continued until the plane leveled out.

We flew commercial today since the military flight to Okinawa only leaves from Seattle once a week. We chose Delta as it was the only nonstop flight, but I was shocked when they did not feed us! If you have met Matt and I you know that we require sustenance every two hours. Even though the flight was five hours long, they only provided peanuts to eat. We had to pay a ridiculous sum just to buy snack foods from the flight attendants as our stomachs began to grumble. For our super long flight tomorrow we better have food every few hours or else someone will face the wrath of a hungry Amanda. Speaking of our military flight tomorrow, we have to check in at 2:30 a.m. local time. I am signing off in order to sleep a few hours. Tomorrow....Japan!

The School

So let's start off by stating that this post isn't by Amanda, it's by her husband, Matt. You probably know me as the one who got her into this Okinawa mess or that one guy who keeps popping up in the photos. Amanda asked me to do a guest post about Engineer School, so here it goes.

My class, CEO 5-13. I'm the one in khaki.

A huge amount of the Combat Engineer Officer school is devoted to academics because the field is so wide and deep. There are so many areas that fall within the MOS that it's a little mind boggling. Vertical construction, horizontal construction, route and area clearance, explosive obstacle reduction, demolitions, urban mobility and breaching, bridging and gap crossing, roads, obstacle planning... and it goes on. The phrase that got tossed abound a lot was "it's like drinking from a fire hose," and everyone concluded that this was pretty apt.

Out of all the new things I learned at the school, hands down my favorite was the demolitions and breaching- but that's kind of a given, right?

BOOM!

There were a lot of other awesome highlights- obstacle planning was a lot of fun because it's all about ruining somebody else's day and being mean about it. Gap crossing and standard bridging was interesting because building bridges is what Engineers have been doing for their commanders since rocks were soft. The survivability classes got my inner ten year old all fired up because a large part of my childhood was spent building forts, and the Marine Corps has some pretty awesome capabilities as far as bunkers and base camps go. And, as always, near and dear to my heart are the robots.

I made a friend!

So school is done now. Like, for good- at this point, there is nothing between me and this thing called "the fleet" that everyone keeps telling me about. That's good, because at this point, after four and a half years of college, OCS, TBS, and MOS school, I've started to think that it's all a myth...

The MOS Graduation

All smiles at graduation

Today marked the end of classes morning and afternoon over urban mobility or route and area clearance. Today marked the end of late nights studying for tests over explosive hazard identification. Today Matt graduated from his MOS school. He is officially a Combat Engineer Officer.

I am so proud of Matt. He learned many things in just a few short months, and he graduated first in his class. Now we have to leave these Marines and meet new ones. Many of his classmates have been through TBS and MOS school together, but now everybody is heading to different parts of the globe. We are traveling to Okinawa, but others left for California directly following the ceremony. A saying that I have heard to be true is that it is a small marine corps. We have made friends here that we will see again sooner than we think.

The view from Courthouse Bay

The Gardens

The Spring Garden, Butterfly House, and Lake

Today Matt and I explored Airlie Gardens. It was a drizzly day, but as a result the air was cool and we almost had the entire place to ourselves! Not only were the tickets reasonably priced ($5 for military), the gardens were simply breathtaking. There were very few flowers in bloom this time of year, but the beauty of the garden rests in the oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. So quintessentially Southern! We saw turtles sunning on logs, swans floating on a lake, and butterflies drinking nectar in the little butterfly house we toured.

Airlie is comprised of multiple tourist spots connected by paths. One such spot was a long pergola that in spring will be covered in flowers. At the end is a fountain and a view of the lake. This is where the weddings take place, and I can see why!

My favorite sight was the Airlie oak that is estimated to be 467 years old. It was gigantic! Matt's favorite part was the bottle chapel dedicated to the artist Minnie Evans. The whole building was simply cement amd glass bottles. Matt enjoyed identifying all the different bottles used.

I want to return to this lovely place one spring so I can see the gardens in bloom.

Airlie Oak

Bottle Chapel

The Right Class, The Wrong Day

A dark, empty classroom. Must be the right place!

I had still had questions about what paperwork was necessary for my cat and me to enter a foreign country, so I invited my fellow future Okinawa resident Christine to a class taught by the relocation assistance department of MCCS (Marine Corps Community Services).  When we arrived we found a classroom that was under construction and locked. We followed the sign to another classroom. It was empty and dark. We checked the flyer online. We made sure it was the right day, the right time, and the right location. I would not be surprised if I made one of those mistakes, but this time everything was correct. We asked for help from the first person we saw. She referred us to a secretary who referred us to the relocation assistance department. The class had been moved to the week before without an update on the website. The man who was going to teach the class had us sit down and gave us a private class. I found it less than helpful.

He opened up by assuring us that he knew what information we wanted. He then referred us to an international shoe sizing guide. Obviously as women our first priority is new shoes, not the maze of paperwork we are expected to understand as spouses.

He also spent a good bit of time trying to convince me to leave Tilly behind. "I don't want to make you cry. I had a woman in here last week crying in here about her pet, but I think its better to tell you the truth. It is really hard to take a pet to Okinawa."

I have done a lot of work already in preparing Tilly, so I responded gracefully, "That is fine. I am still going to bring my cat."

"Well...some housing is not pet friendly. You might not want to bring her."

I responded less gracefully, "Cats are allowed in more housing than dogs."

"Well...she might not be allowed on the plane. There are a limited number of spots."

"We already turned in her paperwork for a spot on the plane."

"Well...you have to pay money for a pet to fly. Do you know how much? Over a hundred dollars."

"She is worth it." And she is.

The questions I had about her paperwork were obviously not answered. We were in his office for an hour. He kept assuming we were further behind on our paperwork than we were. He showed us pictures of the island so we would know what it looked like. I researched the size and shape of the island the first night I learned we were moving there. I did learn about all of his children, nieces, and nephews. I don't think that will help me in my move.

Oh well, at least I have the internet to research what needs to be done. And Mexican food. Christine and I were starving after a very long hour at his desk, so we went out for a second lunch. Thanks Christine for making sure I wasn't alone in yet another awkward situation!

The Wrong Class

As the date for our departure draws near, I realize how many things still need to be done. I am working on checking off items on my list one at a time. I still have questions about the necessary paperwork, so when my friend mentioned she was attending a class on moving overseas I asked if I could tag along.

When we arrived at the office I should have guessed something was wrong when the receptionist wanted a lot of paperwork that I didn't have with me before she would let me in the class. When I argued that I just wanted to sit in and listen she agreed, but she did look confused. The class started with the two of us and several Marines. I soon realized my mistake. This was not a general class on how to move overseas. This was a class on how to move your stuff overseas. The stuff that I currently have sitting in storage in Japan waiting for me. I did not need to be in this class.

The instructor asked everyone how many shipments they needed. We qualify for two: a large shipment that travels by boat and a small one that travels by plane. I said one. He gave me a confused look.

"Just one?"

"Yes...well, the one already shipped." The confused look continued. I tried to explain, "My stuff is already in Japan."

"So...why are you here?"

"I think I'm in the wrong class."

"Are you?"

I looked around for help. I didn't really want to explain that my ride was in the right class so I couldn't leave. "Don't worry about me," I assured the instructor.

"So you're just here..."

I nodded, really wanting to not be. He continued with his class which concluded with everyone electronically submitting their shipments. I am glad that I was there. My friend might have felt awkward being the only spouse, but I ended up taking up all of the awkwardness in the room.

The Creperie

Matt and I heard about a creperie in Wilmington from our friends the Atwoods. Of course we had to try the pastries for ourselves. We were a little confused when we found out it wasn't located in the beautiful, historic area of downtown Wilmington. In fact, the surrounding area was all car dealerships and rundown shopping centers. The building itself did not look like anything special...but the inside sure was!

The walls inside were covered in bright colors and postcards from France. The man who took our order chatted to his mother in French as she prepared the crepes, and we were wished a "Bon Appetit" when our food arrived.

 The menu was divided into sweet and savory crepes. Matt went with the savory St. Malo: turkey, spinach, tomatoes, Remoulade sauce, and salted whipped cream. I had to try a sweet crepe with peach puree and caramel sauce. Both were delicious. Matt had his eyes closed for the majority of the meal if that tells you anything. We will be eating here again, and if you want to try this place as well you can check out their menu at http://www.ourcrepesandmore.com.