Contained within this section: MCAS Iwakuni, Okinawa, and Australia.

MCAS Iwakuni

Being stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni has been a good experience for me. I have learned some japanese, and had the opportunity to see & live in a completely different culture than what I was accustomed to back home. When I first arrived I was amazed at how beautiful the landscape was compared to my home town. Here in Japan, you can find many green trees, rolling hills, and ocean-side views.

At first when thinking about trying the food, I was almost scared since I have never like seafood. But lately I have been appreciating a lot of how well the food tastes out in Japan, and I am starting to prefer it when I venture out into the nearby city. Many people are afraid to eat sushi, but it is actually quite great, and filling! I was surprised how full I was by eating sushi for the first time. I use to wonder how sumo-wrestlers got so fat by living in Japan (as most japanese are smaller framed), but if you're hungry I could easily see how to get that fat.

I have been asked by many of what there is to do out in Japan. And that's a good question, as there are numerous things to do & see (and eat). A classic way to see what Japan is like is by checking out the local restaurants, and the three most popular near the base are California Chicken, Ganesh, and Coco's. The first is where you'll find some awesome chicken, the second serves really good indian food, and the third houses some great japanese curry and the like.

Other things besides food, are some cool places to visit. Some easy and great places to see near the base are Miyajima Island (suppose to be one of the main tourist attractions in Japan) and Hiroshima. Miyajima is an island about 30 minutes away from the base, and you can see & pet live reindeer that inhabit the island (they walk around freely). An obvious feature of Miyajima is the Torii Gate that sits off its coast (you can see some pictures of this in my picture gallery). And Hiroshima was one of the famous cities in WWII that was struck by a nuclear bomb (there is still lingering effects from this in its soil today). Hiroshima is one of the most toured cities in Japan, as many famous singers routinely perform there, as well as it has many places to shop at. Hiroshima is one of the bigger cities in mainland Japan.

The great thing about being stationed in Japan is that you have the opportunity to take your leave and travel around the island to some pretty exotic and exciting places. I was lucky in that I was able to spend the New Year in 2005 at Tokyo. The hotel we stayed at was beautiful (but expensive). And I got to travel around different areas via their subway's and mono-rails, not to mention taking the bullet train to get there in the first place (also called "Shin kan sen" in japanese). It was an experience that I would never want to trade. If you ever have the chance to go, don't hesitate.. its well worth the trip!!

Overall, there are really quite a lot to see & learn by living in Japan. If you are about to be stationed here, don't be too freaked out. Just take the time to learn some customaries of the japanese culture before going outside the gate, and just try to have an open mind about things.

Okinawa

Every time that I have been to Okinawa has been a great time. There is always warm weather (even when it rains), beautiful beaches, and many great places to tour. The beaches were my favorite part of Okinawa. If you've ever watch the Discovery Channel and their programs on tropical beaches, well Okinawa has plenty of them. There are tropical fish, with all the beautiful colors, just swimming all over and many other interesting sea creatures like starfish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, & more just right off the shore. Plus the water is very clean and clear (with a blue tint), so its easy to get sunburned while you forget about the time as you are playing away in it.

It never really snows in Okinawa as it can in Japan, so if you are wanting to hide away from a winter atmosphere its a great place to be. Although you have to watch out for the occasional tropical storms that Okinawan's are accustomed to, but I thought it was pretty cool going through a typhoon myself. And another thing you might not be use to is the higher humidity than other places in the world. As I thought Okinawa had the highest humidity as compared to mainland Japan & Australia. So make sure to stay hydrated while you are outside.

Another great thing about Okinawa is most of the products you can find in Japan are usually a lot cheaper to get. Especially souvenirs or products like a new T.V. set. Plus since there are many service members stationed there, many of the Japanese speak very well english, more so than on the mainland side. So it can be easier and less intimidating when going to a new restaurant or some place new to venture out and see.

If you are looking for a great place to vacation at, without having the fear of knowing much japanese.. Okinawa is a great choice.

Australia

Australia was a very cool place. It reminded me a lot of the United States so I was happy to see a similar environment of what I grew up on. I got to hand feed some wild Wallaby's (which I'm not sure I was suppose to do [with M&M's]), swim around in some hot springs, go cliff diving, & I even almost got lost walking through the outback as me and a friend was hiking around the hills.

They have helicopter tours you can take as well, and I tried my best to get one, but regrettably I never got to go on one. But I did get to goto a crocodile adventure tour. As they showed us live crocodiles that were hanging out in the river, plus they even fed one that was pretty massive to my eyes. And it was interesting to see what an aborigine looked like, as they were nothing like the ones from the movie Crocodile Dundee looked like (although the Australian's say there are still "bush people" around, so I may be wrong on that one).

If you are wanting to party down in Australia, there are many places to that there. Australia (well at least the parts I've went to) is a big party place. So its nice to get out and have some fun with your friends when you're done with a stressful week. The thing that was a little different in the bars from a US one is the pool table that you would be playing at is different. Their version of pool just has two colors of balls, white and red.. plus the 8-ball. And the balls are smaller than our version, but the same principle applies.. just make the 8-ball in last and you win. And when you speak of Australia, you can't leave out rugby. I have a lot more respect for rugby players after watching some games of it. Its like playing football without pads, and having to still run everywhere as soccer players do. So you have to be in great shape to be a professional rugby player.

And of course I played with all the Australian goodies like the boomerang & the didgeridoo (the piece of wood which makes the howling sound). The thing I have noticed about traveling to all three places (Japan, Okinawa, and Australia) is coffee is a world-wide market. Japan and Okinawa has loads of vending machines filled with canned coffee's, both hot and cold, and Australia has a lot of "milk"-coffee drinks, in which it is a mixture of the two. But honestly I can see why.. coffee stays fresh for a long time, plus you have your choice of regular verse the sweeter versions. So I wouldn't be surprised if were similar in other countries throughout the world.

Overall, I think when I'm rich and famous I can't wait to go back to Australia and tour what is left to be seen, and done. As its hard not to have some adventure stories coming back from Australia.