Posts

Showing posts from June 9, 2013

Honshu and Okinawa

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 ...
Some of the earliest mentor advice I ever received was "Easy on the controls!!" Picture this- you are watching a friend of yours (maybe 12 years old) learning how to use a piece of machinery, (enjoying Man's natural lust for "Amplifier"), a tractor or a truck. He jerks the thing and the hydraulic lines strain and all the components look/sound/act stressed, maybe to the point of failure. The owner is of course very concerned with stress and potential damage. The shout comes... "Easy on the controls!" Why would we not use this comparison on our everyday life experiences? The skill in this understanding is something the pilot is constantly trying to perfect. The plane gives everything back, just like in life. We all control. The baby, the child, the adolescent, the teenager, the parent, the pilot, the executive. It is not about the control, it is about how the control --controls us. I managed to get some flying in this past weekend. I could have done bett...