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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Today I am headed to the New Harbor camp on the other side of McMurdo sound to "pull out." New Harbor is often used to study seals and other diving efforts. We bring the radio equipment back into heated space for the the winter. Experience has shown that temps below -40 will negatively impact unpowered electronic devices. So we don't let much gear sit outside in the winter.

I am getting ready to come home. Bonnie and I are planning on staying low for a while. I am hearing more discussion about favorite foods and the "hummmms" that support a claim of a particular food being a favorite. I am looking forward to dill pickles, iceburg lettuce, bananas, tomatoes and some other stuff yet unidentified.

The picture of the seal was taken from the public domain shared drive here. I took the picture of the 9-meter satellite dish at Pole and the unusual lichen that can sometimes found in the dry valleys.

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