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Showing posts from April 13, 2014

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 home in Duluth doing the domestic stuff, yard work, car work, cleaning, painting, blah blah blah, all the stuff that makes life "normal". I had quite a trip in Brazil. It was over a year since I had last been in Brazil. I had studied quite a bit of Portuguese in that time. Although I have a ways to go, it was quite a thrill to have a much better understanding of what folks are saying. My speaking was much better even if I was politely saying "I didn't understand" in Portuguese. In these situations they would rephrase or I could perhaps read some Portuguese to get it. Actually, it is a simple "thrill of alchemy" to look at people in the eyes say something and have them understand without hesitation, or embarrassment (mine or theirs), and overall have the ability to articulate in THEIR native tongue. Too cool, in Portuguese, "LEE-Gow". I remember watching a movie in high school intended to motivate studying foreign languages. It was a lot ...
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