Being posted in another country can be difficult for some people to cope with I imagine. But eventually you get along and soon you even may start to like where your posted.
Stars & Stripes, that ol’ American paper for the troops, has an interesting look at how some American soldiers posted in Japan think and feel when they are out to sea. Here is a snipit from the article:
They don’t eat with chopsticks or bow when entering a room, but some USS Harpers Ferry sailors say they take a little bit of Japan with them when they head out to sea. “It doesn’t change when we pull out of port,” Petty Officer 1st Class Gregory Hightower said. “I feel like we’re still in Japan.”
Petty Officer 3rd Class Jennifer Rogozinski, who works in the engine room but is currently on galley duty, said sometimes at sea she’ll forget where she is.
But then she’ll hear words like “hai” and “domo” — Japanese for “yes” and “thank you” — around the passageways and she clicks back to Japan.
Sailors are not Marines.
Of course you are correct, Mark. Thanks.
Interesting. Whenever I tell someone in the U.S. that I live in Japan, they ask me which branch of the service I’m in, and I’ve always been surprised by this. I’ve not known the “on base” side of Japan that much, but I’ve always felt that being in the military or on a base in Japan was different enough from the so-called “real” Japan that so as to be a whole different thing. I am free to “go native” as much as I want (you should see me now in my hanten/yukata), but I’ve always assumed there’d be peer pressure/whatever against that kind of thing by servicemen. Any comments from military readers?
As they say, surprise is good for the soul on occasion. As a military spouse who has just relocated back to the U.S. after 18 months on our Naval Annex in Negishi I can attest that some of us actually managed to get off base to acquire quite a bit of local culture.
Base living is indeed different than living in town, but many spouses worked out in town full time, making friends and adopting new customs and the language. Some long term service folks have their own apartments in town (and their own yukata) but like any group (Navy or civilian) there will be people who adopt pieces of it and people who won’t.
Most guys I meet from the 7th Fleet still love their chopsticks, though
I am in the military in Okinawa and have been living here for about three and a half years and ive loved it. I actually married a Japanese woman I met in Shinjuku. I have seen lots of servicemen who ‘go native’ and end up living in Japan. I have also seen guys who never leave the base and they are miserable. I would say most servicemen at least appreciate the experience.
Also, sailors are not soldiers.