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 planning meetings in England and Finland.

I continue to figure things out. One of the items "I seem to have regressed on" is that when I was a small child I was exposed to Brazilian music. I remember (clear as day) "Brasil 66" when it was popular. My Grandfather read to me as a child in Latin. Spanish missed the mark.

Brazilian Portuguese speaks to me. It is pretty weird as I am get more advertising in Portuguese on the web as part of my normal experiences. I have finished my Portuguese 101. I start 102 shortly.

I snapped the pic of the geese through the windshield of the plane at the departure threshold of Runway 31 in Winder, Georgia. I am waiting to take off. Looks like I am about 17th for departure!

I had the hardest test of my life (so far) this past week. My "checkride" reached deep. I appreciate the growth it induced. There were a lot of "yes sirs" from me. I did really well in the debrief. He was really working me hard during the ride. My FAA Pilot examiner looked like (and felt) just like Bob Hoover. The best sound bites lingering in my ears are "Don't stall it!" and "C'mon now!" on awkward, but normal training maneuvers. These maneuvers are not what we do with passengers, we do them as practice in the event of less than normal operations.

I am a pilot. I continue to study. I am working on my ratings.



Comments

John McKinney said…
I met Bob Hoover and Chuck Yeager together at Oshkosh back in the mid 70s. Unfortunately, I was too young to understand the significance of that honor. I'll never forget Bob's performances in his yellow P51 and green & white Shrike Commander.
7:36 AM
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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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