Well, it is official. I am off my ship and now out of Japan. I’ve been waiting for this day for quite a long time and now that it has come, well, I feel how I thought I would. I do miss Japan, but a sense of relief is on me knowing that it will be a long time before I work for some of the people I did.
It has been almost a week since I detached, but surprisingly enough, I was put into an interesting situation when I did walk off the brow. I got a ride from one of the ITs down to TPU to get checked in since I was no longer attached, and my flight wasn’t until the following week, so why waste those leave days doing nothing? When I got there, the MM2 at the door told me that I could only stay there if the ship was underway, while having a big smirk on his face. I guess he thought this was humorous. Anyways, I stayed at another friends house for the day to find a way to get things settled so I had somewhere to stay. We tried the BOQ which told us we could only get a room if TPU was full, which it never is. They also told us that because I was detached that TPU should take me because I am not attached to any ships out here and I am PCSing. We then went back to TPU to talk with the BOQ so they can get this whole policy straightened out. This time, we had an SHSN at the desk who looked a lot more eager to help me out than the MM2. He talked to a CS2, who happened to be the husband of a CS1 on my ship who just said, “fuck it,” and got me into TPU. 6 days with out being charged leave and not having to be on a ship. With the exception of the weekend I got while I was there, I did have to clean for a few days, but ultimately it was a lot worth it getting out at 1500 everyday.
I am now home in California on leave finally. Next thing officially scheduled is my trip to Dam Neck, Virginia for my GCCS school. Though I miss Japan, it got the last laugh. It might have been something I ate, but I had not felt that sick in a very long time, plane ride and all.