Hello everyone~! I just finished bootcamp...and guess what? I'm officially a United States Sailor!

Well, you know that I've been ranting about this before. I've come to accept it. It's for my family's benefit, and I do get to tour around the world, when I do a good job. Haha. Sad thing, though; I can't switch jobs because I'm not a citizen; most of the jobs have a security clearance. So, I have to wait for a while after I get my naturalization.

Boot camp is one of the toughest things I had to go through in life, and I've been barely a year here in the US. It was physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually challenging. I've done physical training that pushed me over the limits, learned so many things that a normal student would have to learn in more than 4 months, fell into an intense culture shock and to adjusting to Navy life. Nothing in life can ever be easy, and so is boot camp. Dealing with people from different places and military customs and culture that is totally different from civilian life is hard, but it can be overcome. I am a living proof of it.

Now, maybe you'd expect me to be an honor grad or something. To tell you the truth, my main goal was to graduate in time. If I do get some kind of award or something, thank God. If not, it's fine. I'm not one of those athletic people, believe me. I'd rather sit down and get my brain working on a problem or write something up, but that doesn't work much in the Navy.

I had failed most of my physical fitness assessments because of my pushups and my run time for the 1.5mi run. I do a good amount of situps from my martial arts training, but for the rest, I really had to work hard on. I almost got setback if I didn't make it for the second trial on the final physical exam. But I never wanted to give up. This was me, Rei Mirasaki, the girl who never stood down against anyone who threatened her home and her family. I pushed on, thinking of the best ways to make myself stronger.

Imagine how happy I was when I passed every single thing honorably.

So what changed in me? I dunno really; they said it was the way I walked. Maybe too much drilling caused me to walk in a military manner. The way I stood too, and some of the words I say are different. But I'm still little old me. That's what I'm really happy about.

I only have a few friends, to tell you the truth. I guess because my maturity level is different than the people in my age group, I tend to hang out with older and bookish (or maybe geekish) people. But that was fine with me. These were the people I could depend on when I go on board a ship, and I know how to work with them each time.

So how are you guys? Anything new going on?

Oh yeah, I'll be continuing my written works, since I can use a laptop on base now (yay!). I'll be updating from time to time. I don't know whether cameras are allowed on base, so I'll be focusing on writing. And since I'm in the Navy, I might be busier than before. But I will do as much as I can to keep you guys updated on whatever I might be writing.

Thank you, all, for staying with me still. I will do my best to catch up. And maybe a subbie sometime too, but those darned camo uniforms will kill my wallet. Gah.