Life as a Military Child, By Payton Buss, Age 11

There are many places with many different qualities that can be alike or different, but no place is exactly the same. America is extremely unique. So unique, that it has formed its own defense system called the military. Many countries have allied with the country. So, the U.S. has asked if they may send some of their people to the places that they will accept for the Americans to live. Now many people respect and live for their country. The influence it had on their children made them want to join, too. For doing that, the citizens of the U.S.A. give them their respect.

The first place I ever lived (where I was born), was Washington state. I'd love to tell you about it, but the thing is that I can't really remember it. The reason behind that is because we moved before I even turned one year old! What I can gather, though, is that I was born there when my sister was practically three years old. I lived on an island, and that's it. Not much. After that, I can remember a little of the other places.

Next, we lived in Iowa. We stayed there until I was five and my sister was eight years old. Our dog, Snooter, is a white Westie. She was a lot of fun to be around, but we had to keep her on a leash outside, because we didn't have a fence. We were very close to my father’s family. I used to think that the drive to my grandparent's house was super long. My favorite tree was the old weeping willow with the long leaves and the way the bark twisted around each other. For my backyard, we didn't have a pool, we had a playground, and not just a playground, but a built in playground. In the winter, when it snowed, we'd climb up the little hill that separated us from our neighbors dragging our sleds and speed down the hill. Mom drove me to preschool and then went off to dental school, while my sister rode the bus. I was jealous because I wanted to ride the bus like "all" the kids did (my preschool didn't have a bus, I'm referring to Big kids). Then after I had a happy five years in Iowa, it had to end all too soon.

We then move to Camarillo, California—a place five hours north of San-Diego, very sunny. I absolutely loved Camarillo. There was nothing not to love. I remember my best friend, Jessica Mertez. She lived right next door and was pretty sporty so I didn't see her very often, though we did have lots of fun. The other friend on my block was Jeffery Westover. He told me scary stories until I was afraid of the dark, but otherwise he was a good friend.

We had a really big house. It had enough rooms for us to have our own rooms and a guest room! We had a decent-sized kitchen, along with a pool. The pool was positioned right below the hot-tub and, from the pool, the outside of the hot-tub had little¬ rocks. Once a duck tried to nest in our pool, but dad scared it out. Jessica was the only one who let the duck stay in, so the duck produced ducklings! You haven't heard everything, the duck and her family lived right in her pool! They died though; you can't expect them to survive when they're diving in a pool. Anyway, it's time you see the next destination.

This time it's only five hours south, San-Diego. Mom and I always walked to a nice little shopping center for our Saturday breakfast. The best part about where we lived was that we were approximately five minutes away from Sea World. Oh, and be sure to get wet on the two rides. My school was Creekside Elementary School, part of the Poway district, but was actually in San-Diego. That's where I had the best teacher ever! Mr. Parker. We were Parker’s pupils. If I had got him in fourth grade, he wouldn't have been the best teacher ever. Best teachers ever are reserved for third grade. I seriously suggest that Mr. Thomson teach third grade, then he could be a best teacher ever. I came here over-prepared for fifth grade. Now, All Aboard!

I am now in Okinawa, Japan. I am enjoying my time here as much as I would anyplace. The Japanese are very nice, courteous, and caring. I know that myself because my nanny is Japanese. I spend so much time on base, sometimes I forget I'm in Japan. This is my first time overseas, and I thought it was going to be like any other move, any other place, but I was dead wrong. In Japan, people aren't impolite, and the move was much more stressful, box-filled, and complicated than any other move that happened to me. I didn't like the way we had to wait to get onto a plane to San Francisco, to get to Tokyo. I hope you enjoyed learning about my life.