Countries, Territories, assorted rare states I have visited 7

Actually I wanted to go to Spain. It was 1987, I had joined the Air Force and like Ernest Hemingway, I wanted to run off to Espana and meet the Spanish ladies, drink the wine and watch the bullfights. I was so close. Basic training was over and I was finishing up tech school waiting for my assignment. Then a friend of mine was given orders to the airbase in Madrid, Spain. I got my orders and asked him if he wanted to exchange. I was given orders to a small base in Misawa, Japan. Misawa, Japan! No one had even heard of it. Why was I going there.

I arrived to the coldest winter experience that I have even lived through. Ten feet of snow that first winter. We had a blizzard on the 1st of November. I moved into the dormitory and hated my job. But I loved living in Japan. I would go eat the ramen, hang out in the bars with friends, and go to check out the local hotsprings. They were heavenly.

After two years I had to go back to Texas. I missed Japan something terribly, and ended up going back, but that is another chapter for another time. I ended up loving life there in Misawa. I still miss it terribly.