Beginning ~ in mid-flight

The Yokota Officers Club ~ by Sarah Bird, 2001, fiction (Japan)

On the map at the back of the pamphlet, Japan resembles a horned caterpillar rearing up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. My destination, the Ryukyu Islands, trails behind like a scatter of droppings. We've been in the air for seventeen hours.

My daughter handed me this book several years ago, after she read it, saying she really enjoyed it.  Looking for a novel to relieve my recent steady diet of nonfiction, I found this on top of a stack of unshelved books.  (I've moved at least twice since then.)  Now I'm curious.  What I quoted above isn't actually at the top of the first page, which is a letter from the White House.

Dear Dependents of the United States Air Force:
Welcome to your new duty assignment, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.

Though the letter is not dated, it ends with "Your President and Commander in Chief, Lyndon Baines Johnson."  So I know I'm going back in time nearly fifty years.  So far, the book appears to have some humor.  This family with six children definitely needs humor.

This meme is hosted by Katy at A Few More Pages. Share the first sentence or two of the book you are reading. Then, share your impressions of that beginning. Click this link to see what others say about the books they are reading this week.