Awful Monkey

Good morning from the land of the rising sun. I have been in Japan for the past couple of days and it has been an experience I will keep with me forever. I have traveled to very few other countries(so far), but this is definitely one that has had the most significant impact on me. Visiting this country has been the achievement of an unattainable goal since I was a child and has made this patrol well worth while. I have always been interested in Japanese culture and history and now I am able to witness it firsthand and not just on the pages of textbooks and the myriad of images from film.

The people here are very courteous and very proud, and I am wholeheartedly impressed with the dedication everyone exhibits here. From the Japanese Coast Guard we are interacting with for these exercises, to the people I see in the shops and restuarants. The city is pristine yet bustling with people at all hours of the day. One of the things that stood out during my excursions was that there are very few waste receptacles, yet you don't see a speck of litter anywhere and it looks like every surface of the city has been freshly scrubbed clean. The restaurants are so clean you would suspect it was a grand opening. Riding in the taxicabs you would expect the fare to be quadrupled due to the courtesies displayed by the drivers and the amenities provided.

All this austerity comes with a generous price tag though. The Japanese Yen is more valuable than the American dollar, but the prices are also inflated here(from what I'm told this is the most expensive country in the world). I quickly depleted my 10,000 Yen in a matter of minutes and had to resort to credit card purchases, but the experiences in just the few hours I've spent about city of Yokohama have been well worth it. This trip has inspired me, and I hope to visit here again very soon and with some frequency in the years to come.

I will post an update from each country we visit and throughout the patrol(hopefully with pictures throughout).

P.S. The quote in title should be very easy.

Posted by xKinetiCx at 05:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've decided I'm going to title these with movie quotes that are befitting of the updates. Hopefully you recognize them but some may be rather obscure(if you can guess this one, you go up a notch in my book). Post a guess in the comments if you'd like.

This is like a whole new world to me. It's almost like being on the clock 24 hours a day. There are break times, but you are constantly receiving calls to do work, training, drills and escape from others is near impossible. The seclusion of my coffin sized rack and an mp3 player has been sufficient for me thus far. I plug in, pick up a book, and I can drift away.

We have connections to the outside world, my department even moreso, but it almost feels like being on another planet. Walking out onto the fantail in the dark of night and seeing nothing but the neverending surroundings of water and this solitary vessel in the sea with a clear sky and the abundance of stars is awe inspiring. Maybe it's the Sci-Fi geek welling up in me again, but it really does remind me of all the many films and books about space exploration. The only people in a very large and limitless void to be traversed. To look at the more dire side of this vision, I can bring up a famous movie tagline, "In space, no one can hear you scream." We must solely rely on each other because we are so vastly out of reach from the rest of the world. I usually don't go on with some mystical diatribe, but it just had some impact on me last night.

Other than my babbling about explorative isolation, I am doing very well and am enjoying this experience immensely. I am learning very much and have found a great new group of people to befriend here. Hopefully any friendships that were formed will aide me when the time comes to become a Golden Dragon(for those that know about this), but I highly doubt that will help me at all.

The rest of the quote above: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.

Posted by xKinetiCx at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My bags are packed and I'm ready to go. Just shooting out a quick update to say hello before I go incommunicado. I just picked up the keys to my new apartment in time to take off. So, the place will be empty for about 3 months, but fortunately we'll have a long inport period when we get back so I can finally get settled in(and maybe take a vacation! I have almost 70 days on the books!).

My web page projects will go on hold due to lack of a proper internet connection(this is being posted from work). I will post a link to the USCGC RUSH's new website when I have it completed(probably some time mid-patrol). I'm also extremely busy getting qualified in 4 different areas onboard right now, so my free time has ceased to exist. That, and Tom showed up here trying to escape Kodiak as quickly as possible and dominated any shred of free time I may have had.

There are ways to contact me while underway, but I really shouldn't publish them on this site. If you want to get ahold of me though, post a comment on here and I will reply to whatever e-mail address you use.

Aloha!

Posted by xKinetiCx at 07:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)