The Jackson 9: Where in the World is Mike?

This is Mike's ship, the USS Essex.

Here's the latest on Mike:
He's out at sea again. He visited Okinawa for the 3rd time, but hadn't been able to get past the beach there. Others on the ship were being bad - beating on their wives for instance - which caused Mike's whole division to be put on Charlie restriction (grounded to the ship). He and others are so frustrated with being punished for the actions of others. Finally, his Senior Chief took Mike's duty section off the ship, but they weren't supposed to tell anyone. They didn't have time to do much, since they only had 3 hours to be off the ship. He and some of his buddies went to Chili's and ate. They tried to play a prank on their Senior Chief, by sending a birthday cake to his table, but he left the restaurant before it happened.

In Fukuoka, Mike has met a cute Japanese girl, Yurika. They have been out a few times and she is very impressed with his manners and the way he treats her. He made sure to tell me that he opened her door and paid for dinner, even though she offered to pay for her own. He says the Japanese girls like that the US boys aren't afraid to show emotion and romance to the girls, which is very different in their culture. PDA is frowned upon, so they shook hands at the train station as Mike was heading back to the ship. Mike is being a good little missionary to Yurika. He attempted to explain why we celebrate Easter to her, and is working on getting a Japanese Bible and Book of Mormon from the missionaries to give to her.

On Easter Sunday, the ship had a health and comfort inspection. Mike had to sit in the berthing lounge for about 5 hours, while the inspectors searched everyone's rooms and bunks. They were looking for porn, drugs and alcohol. Unfortunately, they also took things that didn't have safety tags on it. Mike was lucky to save his computer cord, but his charging station for his mouse was taken away.

Mike also got his anthrax shot. He said that was not a fun experience and his arm hurts a lot.

Mike has been in the Phillipines, so I'm hoping for a full record of what he did there soon. But, here are some pictures that he sent of the areas he's been in:

This is Yurika