Mailed blog – written by Julian

04 Jan 11

Felt like we never slept at all.  Went to chow after standing in formation for a good amount of time.  The weather is slightly chilly, but these southerners must think its crazy cold cause we have to wear our winter covers (hats ) and get this….2 pairs of gloves.   They say it’s inserts and leather outers, but really… I say they make us wear them because it’s incredibly hard to use your hands while wearing them.   Like for instance, they had us go outside wearing our gloves and then told us to stencil some letters onto our bags.   Um, everyone knows you can’t stencil with gloves on, much less 2 pair!

I digress, back to the fascinating events of 04 Jan 11.   After chow, of which I ate but three bites before my table started to clear out, we began our never-ending day of processing.   It takes a really long time for 53 soldiers to go to the dentist, get our eyes and ears checked, get TB tested, get blood drawn, get military ID’s, and settle our military pay.   LOTS of waiting.  No sleeping, slouching, or crossing of the legs.  This is really hard to do after only 1 1/2 hours of sleep.  We were all zombies.  It was pretty funny to take a look at all of us.  Expressionless and wide-eyed.  I called this blog entry (“I’m Still Standing”) such because I try to keep things light in my head. 

Getting our gear at the PX is shopping with all my new friends because we all like each other so much that we want to look all alike.  It’s “Army shirt day” 7 days a week!  I used to think it was a big deal to share one meal out per week with my friends,  Now I get to eat out 3X’s a day with a humongous crew!  Today we’re going out for shots after lunch!  Okay, it’s vaccinations, but saying I’m going out for shots with my new friends makes me chuckle.   And golly, guess what?!  I got FOUR pairs of new shoes.  Okay, so all my new friends have them too, but they’re actually really nice and comfortable.  AND, I got a ridiculously awesome winter jacket ($250 fancy, fancy one).  You all know how much I love shoes and jackets!  Okay, gonna close my eyes before going to chow with my friends.  Wonder what’ll be on the menu?…. Hopefully I don’t choke trying to eat it so fast (5 mins timed).