Honshu and Okinawa

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I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
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It is 5:00 AM. The shuttle will pick me up to take me to the USAP centre at the airport in 15 minutes. We all have to change into our ECW and hopefully we will launch at 9:00 AM. I am passenger number 62. Yes, they do stamp your passport and yes you have to have your baggage screeened. Antarctica is clearly (in) a strange political and regulatory "state". I can envision Washington folks wasting a lot of time worrying about the extreme exceptions of Antarctica for no real value as compared to worring about things stateside. The current weather at McMurdo is -5F with winds of only 7 mph. Visability is 7 miles. Sounds like a nice day except for the visibility. The flight takes about 6 hours. I am getting comfortable with the idea that I will be in Antarctica today. I think I got my computer working right yesterday. I did have to spend about an hour and a half connected for downloads via dial-up. I went to bed early and I am pretty refreshed at this point.

See you from the ice.

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Honshu and Okinawa

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Image
I am back. I spent 10 days in Japan, 5 days for work on the main island of Honshu and 5 days of solo adventure in Okinawa. Travel is so invigorating dispite the uncomfortableness. Jetlag, anxiety, crowds, and other discomforts aside, it is mind-expanding and rewarding. Work went well. I flew a new airline (Skymark) from Tokyo to Naha. I am always wary of strange discount airlines and all the traps they set. However, I had a great expereince with "Sky". I was actually shocked. Super easy checkin at the airport, no extra fees even with extra luggage. The primary mission in Okinawa was to visit the Peace Park and the suicide cliffs of Okinawa. From what I understand, at the end of WW2 the inhabitants were encouraged to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Americans and get tortured and eaten. Besides other types of suicide, they jumped off the cliffs at the Southern end of the main island. If you have seen the original color footage taken at the time, I am sure you ...
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