A Stranger in a Strange World

A part of an old letter I wrote to a friend while in the midst of my second underway last year: "At night I go up to those same weather decks & listen to the silence. No one else is out. It’s just me, the indigo night sky twinkling with stars, & the waves beneath me. The masts are akin to sentinels keeping me safe from the vast, cold ocean surrounding me. The Milky Way reveals itself to me: seeing our universe with such clarity is remarkable. Sometimes I hear the call of the sea, the Sirens calling for me to join them in eternal slumber. I do not listen; I am not yet rea dy for the long sleep. Moments like those remind me what life is all about. Listening to the waves be broken by the ship as she carries me forward. In those moments I feel completely separate from the world. Watching a young universe with an even younger planet hosting the infant civilization that is humanity. My worries drift away as my consciousness separates from my being. In that moment I exist outsi...

It's hard to get started on writing blog posts again after not keeping up with it for so long. Like absurdly hard. Nonetheless it's a task worthy of my time. Now I just need to choose a decent starting point. The present is as good of an option as any so we'll begin in the here & now. I live in Japan although the locals know it as Nippon. The Land of the Rising Sun. What strikes me as most different is the culture. America is notorious for being an individualistic country; Japan is collectivist . Everyone here is polite regardless of how they may feel about you. The nature is lush: from the mountains to the beaches, there is a strong sense of universal oneness with the world which surrounds the people. Shortly after my arrival I found out that I advanced in rank from E-4 (Petty Officer 3rd Class) to E-5 (Petty Officer 2nd Class). In the Navy that's considered one of the most significant transitions in a sailor's career. My new found rank came coupled wit...