Well we are in Nagoya Japan for some more PR related BS that our ship likes to volunteer for. It has been a while since I have had a disappointing port visit, and this now resets the counter.
On the first day, no one was allowed to leave the ship until it was deemed clean for Japanese tourists that were scheduled to come aboard. The whole point of visiting here was to promote the Navy, and that we aren’t all bad. As a phone talker on the bridge for pulling in and out of ports, I get see everything that goes on when we pull in or out and this one had protesters waiting on the pier. Definitely a warm and welcoming arrival to Nagoya.
When we finally got out, the first thing any of us wanted to do was get cash and a chuhai. Apparently, no one had money and the closest bank was eleven train stops away in downtown Nagoya. Fortunately I decided against trading in my yen for baht in Thailand, and had plenty to spot my buddies. We got out there, found a bank teller, pulled what we needed, got our drinks and proceeded to get some grub at a near by Yoshinoya.
Full on food, we went out and wanted to find a bar to relax at and play some pool and darts. We found a place recommended on brochures that were handed out to us on the quarterdeck and it didn’t seem bad. The workers were polite and friendly when we got our table and drinks, drinks being a bit pricey. While we were drinking and playing the locals at pool and darts, one of my buddies noticed they did song requests. He asked one of the guys if they had AC/DC and he replied with “We don’t have your music here.” Shocked and appalled, we immediately hated the place, but because it was too late to find anywhere else, we had no choice but to stay, plus we had a cute waitress.
The next day, I didn’t get up until sometime past ten in the morning. Though the bar we were at was not as friendly as we thought, I still had a lot to drink to temporarily get rid of the thoughts of work and had a slight hangover. None the less, we now had a full day ahead of us for sightseeing and we did as much as we could. Actually, we walked around for hours only to visit the TV towers, but we got a good look of the city from the top. Once again night time rolled around and all we wanted was to get drinks and relax and maybe mingle with the locals. The second night consisted of going into bars that resided on third floors or higher and each time we got a look of shock at our presence. I think I’ve gotten down the places that Americans usually aren’t welcomed. About 90% of the places I have experienced that aren’t US friendly reside in bars that are higher than three floors up. I think they put the places up that high because Americans just want to walk into a bar, and not have to ride up three floors to have a good time. The second night a lot more disappointing than the first, we rolled out early and figured that we could probably get some good sleep before our next day for duty.
We will be back in Yokosuka soon, and I can finally get back to my bed that I have been dying to sleep in since we left Thailand. Once again I am in the state of mind that my life is going no where being in Japan. Some things that are headed my way are moving out of the barracks once again, though just a rumor at this point. It would make sense though because I will be getting paid next month. Also, I still am not under orders and my detailers are no help. We will also be going into the yards soon and I am one of the three that will be moving our LAN over to a barge and making sure it is working properly while we get our upgrade on the boat. As much as I am looking forward to this ship getting a LAN upgrade, I feel that I will get nothing out of it because my transfer date is shortly after the yards period. Maybe I’ll get a NAM, but it will be included in the End of Tour, but when I transfer, all I can say I got out of Japan was a few good ports and a lot of lessons learned. I got a lot of good training, and I will carry it over wherever I go next, but I feel I got it to take the load off other peoples shoulders. I’m sure in the next few days I’ll get a talking to about how I am doing and if things are alright but things deep down I can’t to anyone about it, except just a few friends from home who already know.
Just a few months left and I’ll finally be free of this place.
Actually, I found Nagoya to be really Gaijin friendly. It didn’t help that we pulled in on a Monday…which I swear is a conspiracy on the Navy’s part. I met a lot of girls and foreign ex-pats who loved us…and I was even in whites.