Greetings to all of you from the Far East. After 3 countries, 4 cities, 23 hours of flying and a wait time of 14 hours in 5 airports, we FINALLY MADE IT! I have come full circle, after a number of years I have made it back to the mother country, the place of my birth, a land with a long and distinguishable history, the roots of my forefathers . . . well, the land my only dad called home for a couple of years, but you get the idea . . .
OKINAWA!!!
You will also be shocked, amazed, and unrestrained in your excitement to know all of our luggage made it safely through 5 airports, 4 separate flights, 4 custom check-ins, permutations on the number of checked items on various flights and a purchase mid-trip of another piece of luggage in order to remain below the oft-stated weight restrictions -- those turned out to be false by the way.]This is not my father’s and mother’s Okinawa. This is a strapping and bustling metropolis -- much the same as any large U.S. city.
A great number of high-rises with shops at street level. There is a monorail system here that puts the 2 in Chicago to shame.
Both Mary and I feel fine considering the length of our travels. We don’t seem to be suffering from jet lag. So we will keep you posted as we move through the city during the coming days.
David
An additional note about our travel experiences, we’ll never complain again about the rules, regulations, procedures, and lines in U.S. airports.
Comparing those to the same in 2 foreign countries (one of them being semi-communist), not being able to speak the local language, having 2 airport officials battle over which one could rule whether or not our carry-ons were acceptable, and the absence of the concept of queuing in a line has made this a rich experience and provided many anecdotes for the scrapbook!
