Trying to catch up!! / In Processing

It's been a busy week (and a half!) for us over here. Between that and the fact that we are sharing one free internet login, I haven't had many opportunities to touch base with you. Sorry about that! I’m going to try to keep up with a number of entries for today. Just ignore the dates I post until further notice. I’ll let you know when I’m all caught up and able to post closer to the actual day our experiences unfold :)

- IN PROCESSING CLASSES: We spent last week mostly in class, hearing from representatives from most of the entities on base. This is really helpful for someone like me, who is still new to the services on a base, and is happy to have so many resources in a foreign land. However, for people like Hubbz, who have been in the military for almost 15 years and have heard these kinds of speeches a million times, it was more of a snore fest. However, for both of us, it was a big reminder that we are out of the Navy world and smack dab in the middle of the Army. Up until last week, neither one of us truly understood that "Hoo-ah" was both a question and an answer, an expression of woe, and of course, a rallying cry. We sat through a 10 minute brief that was punctuated with "hoo-ah"s to the point that I was (surprise, surprise) unable to neutralize the look of shock and amusement that decorated my face. I'll try to recreate a moment of the experience for you here, but keep in mind, that this pales in comparison to the actual experience.

SPEAKER: Welcome to USAG Stuttgart, Hoo-ah! My name is XXXXX . I work in the office of Col. XXXX, Hoo-ah. So, I am the first point of contact, Hoo-ah, if you get in trouble and you need a helping hand. Hoo-ah?

CROWD: Hoo-ah!

SPEAKER: Hoo-ah. I'm not saying that I'm going to bail you out, Hoo-ah. But, I'm here to help, Hoo-ah?

CROWD: Hoo-ah!

....you get the drift. Most of the information was not presented in quite this fashion. But the experience really drove home the fact that we weren't in Kansas anymore!

All in all, the experience was really valuable. We learned about Customs rules, and what our medical procedures will be and even where to find information about touring the area on base. All in all, there is a lot to offer here – now if we can just remember who to call for what!
Hoo-ah?