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 ...

Today was kind of slow. I am getting to see again what happens to me and the organization in a new job situation. I am paying super close attention this time. Some things just happen every time. It is just so predictable. Yet there seems no changing it.

I volunteered to be a peer counselor here at McMurdo. The function is an area of overlap with the miltary although we report to absolutely no one. I am available for private confidential discussions with others as their choice. This is part of a bunch of techniques used to help folks with post traumaic stress syndrome. Getting the horror of something into the rational part of the brain shortly after what we call an "incident" is very important for mental health. I am getting training in this area. It overlaps with our mass casualty training. Saturday night is the big Halloween party which makes the real begining of the Summer here. I am not much one for halloween parties, but I will check it out.

Here is a picture of the outside of my shop. The other pic is a tomato. It is an emergency shelter used on the sea ice. "Mac Ops, Mac Ops... we have reached the tomato 4 souls inside, over. "

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