Tokyo - Ministry of Foreign Affiars

DAY 1:
***The next few blogs will be the journals I kept while attending an orientation course hosted by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I was selected to be one of only 20 officers from all of Japan to attend. ***
* Getting there: Well, it only took me about 2.5 hours to get from home to Yokota Air Force Base. The base is to the northwest of Tokyo. I am on my way to check in with US Forces Japan. The train ride was long but uneventful. I even saw something that shocked and amazed me…open land. That’s ride, there is land within distance of Tokyo that is not settled, or used for a garden. No one was more shocked than I.
I walked about 20 minutes from the train station to the Officer’s Quarters to check in…but my government credit card didn’t work…typical. Thanks to my friends at Navy Federal Credit Union and my Uncle Sam I was able to cover the whopping $39 fee. After that I had just enough time to check in to me room, discover a nickel-sized blister on my heel (see picture), and head out to the in-brief. Much to my surprise we were briefed by the Staff Judge Advocate (head lawyer) and the Public Affairs Officer. That’s it. Forty-five minutes later they told us not to be late for the bus to Tokyo tomorrow and sent us on our way. Allow me to summarize…”Don’t make statements on behalf of the government,” and, “Just because your lecturers are speaking frankly doesn’t mean you have to.” They could have put that in an email and I could have slept in another 2.5 hours.
In the plus side, they gave us our schedule and it looks killer. It won’t be death by Power Point for three and a half days; we’re actually going to learn about Japanese culture in addition to military-political affairs.
That night I ate a good 4-mushroom pizza with two of the other Navy people attending. By the way, the three of use were THE ONLY PEOPLE who DID NOT have a high and tight haircut that was shaved down to the skin. And yes, we’re all pilots.