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Our journey to Japan continues. We have traversed the Bering Sea and now are crossing the North Pacific Ocean. We will arrive at Kushiro, Japan on Friday, September 27th. As I am writing this it is 2pm on Thursday, September 26. More pics will follow. The latest pictures are here. More to come.
One interesting phenomenon we have experienced is the time shift. Each night we have set our iPhones back by an hour. Every night we get an extra hour of sleep, but something unanticipated happened on the 22nd. We went to sleep late on the night of 9/22. When we woke up the next morning, it was 9/24! What happened to the 23rd? There was no 9/23 on the Silver Nova ship. How can that be?
Crossing the International Date Line (IDL) can be a bit confusing, especially when traveling from Alaska to Tokyo. As you travel west from Alaska, you aree moving in the opposite direction of the Earth’s rotation. This means you are encountering earlier and earlier time zones. When you cross the International Date Line (IDL), you effectively skip a day. While traveling westbound, you gain a day. This means when you cross the IDL, you skip the day which would normally follow.
Clear as mud? I’ll try to simplify the issue. Let’s say you leave Alaska on Monday morning. As you travel west toward Japan, you encounter earlier and earlier time zones. When you cross the International Date Line, you will skip Tuesday and wake up on Wednesday morning in Japan, even though it’s still Monday back in Alaska. Essentially, crossing the International Date Line is like jumping back in time by 24 hours. This is why it’s often referred to as the “date line jump.”
I have been reading Shogun by James Clavell. I started reading it before the trip began, but it is not a quick read. The book is approximately 1,200 pages long. I will surely finish it before getting back to Connecticut and, optimistically, before leaving Japan. There are so many other things to take time. I am enjoying the trip but anxious to get my hands on the iPhone 16 Pro Max. My next door neighbor has been kind enough to accept the delivery for me yesterday.
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