Nowhere man

And that’s it for my travels for awhile!  I returned to Palo Alto on Wednesday (7/28) and will begin my school on Monday.  The last 6 months have been absolutely incredible; it is impossible to summarize it or what effect it has had on me.   But at the same time it feels right to return to a more routine lifestyle.  I am eager to be a productive member of society once more and am excited to learn something new.  Hasta pronto!

There was even a Harrier jet there.  We didn’t get to see it fly but apparently it exactly like True Lies.

There were so many planes there! Something like 15,000 come into Oshkosh airport over the course of the week making it the world’s busiest airport for that week (surpassing Atlanta).  This is a B-17 bomber that David and I got to go flying in!

The US Department of Interior had bought a few Kodiaks and had one at the show they put on floats which looked amazing.

After Japan, I headed to Sandpoint Idaho (a little different) to meet up with David and my dad.  We then flew to Oshkosh Wisconsin for the country’s largest airshow!  My dad was showing off the Kodiak, and David and I got to spend a few days seeing some of the coolest planes around.

For my last day in Japan I went to a sumo tournament in Nagoya.  It is a whole day affair going from 8:30am to 7pm, so the crowds are sparse in the morning and gradually build as better and better wrestlers compete later in the day.  There is no weight class so often skinny guys wrestle much larger behemoths - and win like this guy did.

Leaving Fukuoka I went to Hiroshima.  Obviously the site of the world first atomic weapon used on humans, but it is amazing how much the city rebounded. It is a thriving beautiful city and without knowing the history it would be hard to guess.  This building was directly under the explosion but somehow remained standing and was left untouched as a reminder.

The museum was very thorough and unbiased in its explanation of what happened on August 6th 1945 and included many artifacts including watches that were stuck at 8:15am, the time the bomb detonated.  This is a picture taken after the blast including the domed building that still remains standing.

I continued from Kyoto onto Fukuoka to visit my friend Doug who lives there with his wife Haruna.  They were both incredible hosts and showed me a great time with tons of good sushi, ramen, and coffee - plus we went spear fishing!  It was a nice respite to stay in a house instead of a hostel for a couple nights.

Reacting to Japan`s loss at the World Cup.