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Showing posts from April 10, 2011

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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I am in Sevenum, Netherlands at the moment. I landed this morning at 7:00 AM local (Dusseldorf) and put in a full day. I only feel a little tired. I must be getting the hang of this. One of the tricks is to stay up after your first day is over. You have to move towards the new time zone. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/383125/facebook_biggest_bank_by_2015/?fp=2&fpid=1 I think the above article (and pasted as a image below) is important and a potenteous, and a bit scary. Especially, since it was written by the the founder of what facebook has become.
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I like this piece of music. It ties US immigrants together; New Orleans (African and French), western Appalachia (Irish), and the Midwest (German and Scandinavians). You can almost see tributaries of the Mississippi river. How shallow it is to think that we don't each come from a particular heritage. Pride (deferred or demonstrated), genetics and familiar water holes is what makes us real.
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I just received a Medal from the US Government for Service in Antarctica. Certainly, it isn't every day I get a medal. It is one of the few medals that the federal government gives out to civilians. I am not sure what to do with it. Maybe I can find an old Webelos uniform to wear it with (not that I could possibly fit into it). I would like to get back to Antarctica again someday. Early next month I am giving a presentation called "Aviation in Antarctica" to the Atlanta chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). Tuesday I am headed to Dusseldorf Germany, The Netherlands, and Denmark. I will be spending next weekend in Copenhagen. I hope to rent a bicycle.
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