Hanging Out With the Girls

First time in awhile since I could just "hang out."
Here are some pictures.

Best News Ever!... well recently

Yesterday, I finally found out where I'm going to be stationed for my first base. I was doing my normal routine of logging into my portal, and there it was.. I'm going to Japan!
I am super excited ( I don't know if you can really even use the two together, but I just did), it's only an hour and a half away from Tokyo. I never thought that I would have an opportunity like this ever, and now, it's sitting right in front of me.
I don't care if I have to seclude myself from people, I'm going to do extra studies and any extra practice for my classes so I can become really good at my skill... I don't want anything to ruin this for me, this is seriously the opportunity of a lifetime.
I have until September to start learning Japanese and trying to learn their culture (I figure if I'm going to be living in the country, I might as well try right?).
Wow!
That is all I have left to say.

Day Off

Yesterday, we didn't have any classes and we were supposed to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to do pt and then spend the rest of the day cleaning up around our dorms and doing marching drills. Everybody was dreading Friday and was wishing it would just be over already.
When we woke up and formed up downstairs, everyone was super tired and not in the best of moods. Our MTL came and told us that she decided she was going to give us a day off and that we could all go back to bed, the second she said that, everyone ran back inside and went to bed.
Yesterday was just like a weekend, and it was sooooooooooo relaxing. I slept in until 8:30 a.m. and then I got up, did my positive thinking meditation, took a long relaxing bath, got ready for my day and then I just hung out.
That girl I had mentioned in the previous blog had to do CQ duty, so I decided I was going to go to the bowling alley. I had such a good time there. Everyone was talking to me, I met new people, there was no negative energy what-so-ever.
I would have to say that so far with my time here, last night was one of the best nights I've had... hopefully tonight will be just as good.

Seeing Things for What They Really Are

This past weekend, my eyes were opened to a new light. People I thought I could trust, people I thought I could rely on turned out to be two-faced backstabbers. Whenever I meet new people, I like to give them little tests to see if I can trust them or not (of course they don't know about it). I will do little things like tell them things (maybe true or not) and tell them not to tell anyone (of course these are things I wouldn't care if anybody else found out, but I make it seem like a big deal and like I would mind just to see if they are trust worthy people.
Anyways, I mentioned to this girl that I've been hanging out with that I had a crush on this guy in my flight, but not to say anything because I didn't want things to get weird or akward.
I left her alone with the guy shortly after I had told her, and she decided she was going to tell him what I had just said. Of course this guy wasn't into me, and that is ok, like I said before, I only thought he was cute... I'm not into him like that. At least this guy is cool enough to not make things weird, but that doesn't change the fact that if I can't trust this girl with something as small and stupid as me having a crush on someone, then obviously, she's not a trust worthy person.
Later on, that guy ended up leaving and we were talking to some other guys. I deffinately wasn't into them, but I was having a good time and didn't mind talking to them. I had to go to the bathroom, and while I was gone she told one of the guys that I was just out looking to get layed. Apparantly, he told her that he wasn't into that sort of thing, and now I have some random stranger thinking that I'm a slut.
Of course, while I was at the bowling alley I had no idea she was saying or doing this stuff, it wasn't until after she whined and complained to go back and we were walking that she told me. I asked her why she did and said all of that stuff. She said she wasn't doing anything wrong and that I shouldn't worry about what those guys think about me anyways.
After that night, I decided I'm not going to hang out with her anymore. This girl is bad news, if I keep hanging out with her, I'm going to get into some serious trouble that may even ruin my military career... which would ruin any chance of getting a decent job... I do not want that to happen.
During the week, I started talking to a few people about my decision, and I found out some more things that I did not know. I found out that because I was hanging out with this girl, people put me in a group with her as a trouble causer and someone that they needed to keep an eye on. People also decided they weren't going to hang out with me because I was hanging out with her and that they might get in trouble.
The less I hang out with her, I've been able to see her for what she really is. I've been able to see how bad it would've been for me to continue to hang out with her. Also, since I don't hang out with her anymore, more people are coming up to me and talking to me.
Sometimes in life when things are going wrong, you have to take a closer look at things and decided if there is something you can change.

Always Think Positively

Just in short, I want to say that it really does work when you think positively.
I've been doing these positive thinking meditations every morning when I wake up, and everyday that I do them, I feel a lot better.
Yesterday, I told myself that I am going to have a good day and nothing is going to change it. I was right, I ran 16 laps on the track and I got all of my homework complete (I am now ahead of the game). I also attracted the attention of a few guys (I like it when that happens... it makes me happy lol), and I behaved myself and didn't eat any fatty foods. So word to the wise from the newly wise (aka me), think positively, and your life will be much better.

Lost in the Woods

I’ve been at tech school for about a week now, and I really like it, Maryland is such a pretty state. Since I’ve been here, I’ve met a lot of cool people (mainly because most of them are in photography classes and I let them use me as a subject). The other day, one of the girls I met went hiking in the woods with me. We had never been on this trail, and we wanted to check it out (yes, Basic Training made me like hiking in the woods).
For the first little bit, we were smart and stayed on the paths marked out for us, but then it had been forever, and we decided to find a short cut back out of the woods. We got off the path and started exploring on our own. We ended up on a golf course, but then the golfers were yelling at us to get out of the way (good thing, because I’m pretty sure nobody wants to get hit in the head with a golf ball), so we ran back into the woods.
We started freaking out a little, because we couldn’t find a path and there was all of these deer running around. We started walking into the woods hoping to come upon a path, and we saw a fox (at least we hoped it was a fox and not a wolf or coyote). We finally found a path and started walking on it and then it just stopped. Since we were already lost, we decided to keep walking in that direction anyways. We ended up on another path, and I got excited because I thought it was a familiar path we were on earlier.
Turns out, it wasn’t, but we did find a really neat bridge with a creek running underneath it. We stayed along that path hoping that eventually it would lead us out or to another path. We came upon this broken bridge and had to walk through a bunch of mud (it was gross), but eventually we ended back on a familiar path.
We were lost for about two and a half hours, but we finally made it out of the woods. The moral of the story is that you should always stay on the marked paths if you don’t want to get lost in the woods or end up in a real life scenario of one of those horror movies.

2 Months of Basic Training in a Nutshell

I finally made it through my 8 weeks of Basic Training, and I will tell you, it was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. My first night, as soon as I got to the airport, I had someone yelling at me to hurry up. When I got on the bus that would take me to my new home for the next two months, I had someone yelling at me to hurry and get off the bus. When I took my first shower, I was surrounded by a bunch of naked chics (don’t get excited… it was not fun at all) and some crazy lady telling us to hurry and get out of the shower… and we had only been in there for a minute and a half.
The next day was my birthday and I had someone yelling at me because I couldn’t march (I soon got used to that, because I still can’t march). My recruiter told me to pack light because I’m not going to need much of my civilian stuff and everything I did need would be provided or easy for me to purchase, so I was wearing the same outfit for 3 days (that did not make me happy, but I soon learned to deal with that as well).
Our third day of Basic Training, we finally got issued our uniforms, and that was not fun at all. I had these ladies that hated life and gave me uniforms that were so big on me that all I had to do was slide them on (no unbuttoning necessary) and pull my belt super tight. Eating was not a fun experience, we seriously had only about five minutes to drink three glasses of water and eat whatever we could (I soon learned how to just swallow my food… no chewing necessary).
All of that stuff above, we were considered zero weekers, that didn’t even count as a week, even though it was a week we had gone through all of that stuff. When we were considered first weekers, we had to wear tennis shoes with our uniform, and that drove me insane because they didn’t even match (I got used to that as well because I soon learned that tennis shoes are way more comfortable than the boots we have to wear).
After about the third week, things started to get a little easy and flow a little more smoothly. We got ten minutes to eat instead of five and sometimes at dinner we would get twenty minutes to eat (when all you’re getting is five minutes, twenty minutes feels like an eternity). During our fourth week, we got to do fun stuff like the obstacle course, getting our name tags (that’s when you officially become someone other than just female or male), and getting our blues issued to us. The only thing that really sucked about fourth week was when we had to go to the gas chamber (not fun).
When we reached fifth week, we got our flight pictures and individual pictures taken and got to wear make up for the first time since we had been there (trust me, that is the most exciting thing ever when you’re a girly girl like me). We also got to go to the shooting range and shoot our M16s, that was actually a lot of fun, even though it was rainy and muddy (I pushed my limits and let myself get a little dirty, and I let a little bit of a tomboy come out… seriously a big deal if you know me).
Sixth week, we went to what we refer to as BEAST, we had to sleep in tents on cots. This was the hardest part for me, I am not a camper, and I’m not really too big on the outdoors. We also had to go through an obstacle course that involved high crawling 300 meters up a hill with a 45 degree angle, low crawling through a small area with netting you could get stuck in if you didn’t do it right, and building a temper tent (I pushed myself to my limit that time).
Seventh week was full of a bunch of classes and we got to wear our blues for the first time (that was exciting because we were finally getting respect). We also got to go to the shooting range again, but this time we were shooting M9s, and I decided I liked them so much that eventually I’m going to purchase one (yeah, they are that cool).
Eighth week was our final week, that was when our tech school locations and jobs were finalized, we got to stop wearing our satchels (these awful bags we had to carry everywhere), and we got to graduate and have these amazing ceremonies (a lot of marching and drill involved but we all did good). Our parents were allowed to come out to watch that and we were allowed to leave the base and go shopping (that was so overwhelming, I didn’t know where to begin, I was like a kid in the candy store). The following Monday, we all got to ship out to our tech schools and say goodbye to Basic Training.
In the end, I can say that was probably one of the best experiences I had. I pushed myself to my limits and accomplished things I never thought I could. I went outside my comfort zone and did what I had to do to make it through. In my opinion I became a better and stronger person because of it, and I wouldn’t take any of it back for anything.