Moving is hard for most, but for Mikayla Wood and her family, moving has become a routine that happens every three years. Both of her parents have been in the military for over 20 years, and when new job opportunities arise, moving is the only option.

“I have lived in Okinawa, Japan,, Illinois, Santee and Carlsbad,” sophomore Mikayla Wood said. “Out of those, my favorite was Japan because of the food and the people.”

After living in Japan, the Wood family found a new life here in San Diego. Leaving Japan was hard, but the jobs in Carlsbad seemed to be promising.

“My mom works at Camp Pendleton and dad works at Balboa,” Wood said. “They are charge of training all the new sailors in the navy. They act as teachers because they watch over and teach people how to do their job.”

Some people aspire to be in the military their whole life, but for Mikayla’s parents, it was fate that brought them together.

“My mom and her twin sister were going to join the military together, but my mom left to do something else,” Wood said. “When she came back her sister had already enlisted in the military out of anger, and so my mom did too when she was 17.  My dad was going to be a priest but met my mom and enlisted in the military as well. They have both been in the Navy ever since then.”

In their travels around the world, the Wood family discovered that one of the main differences between Carlsbad and Japan proves to be not only be the culture, but the perception of Japanese food.

“I really miss the sushi with chicken,” Wood said. “The sushi here just doesn’t taste the same. Maybe it’s because people in Japan study the art of sushi for years so all sushi chefs are really old there.”

According to Mikayla, the people are very quiet and reserved in Japan. Also, Japanese schools have a different feel to them because of the size.

“I went to an American school on base in Japan,” Wood said. “The size of the graduating class here was the size of my entire school there. I like smaller schools because its more personal and everybody knows each other.”

Mikayla and her brother Alex both miss Japan, but have learned ways to adapt to all the new places by making new friends and observing the culture.

“We have to move a lot, so we have to make new friends wherever we go,”  junior Alex Wood said. “Every time we finish unpacking, we have to start packing again. It also gets hard to stay on top of our grades because all the forces seem to be working against us.”

Carlsbad has had a positive impact on the Wood family and will remain unforgettable over the years of their travels.

“The people are very bright in Carlsbad, and everyone keeps me on top of my game,” Alex said. “At my last school I was able to just get by with not trying much, but here the kids inspire me to be better for myself.”