I was in a room of four, I would say mostly everyone slept decently well. I woke up and was unable to fall asleep, and therefore spent the rest of the 4 hours before breakfast thinking about who knows what and then, watched Warehouse 13, an attempt at Secret Garden which failed miserably but entertaining nonetheless, and finally finished with some Running Man. I would say pretty eventful morning thus far.
After getting up to brush my teeth and wash my face, my roommates were getting up as well and I was able to access the wifi for the first time. I got to Skype with my cousin, which was very exciting, and attempt at getting my brothers online as well, which also failed quite horribly.
We packed for the day as we are lodging at a different location today, and met up for breakfast at 7:30am.
As I arrived at breakfast, it was something I've never experienced before, so it seemed really interesting. Each person had their own tray with the assorted foods on top. The trays were lined up around the room facing the center. The tray was elevated about 6 inches off the ground so that the person eating behind it didn't have to bend down all the way. Yes, we sat on tatami (straw mats) to eat. First I opened the disposable chopsticks which had the five prayers of eating written on the back. Then to the bottom right of the tray, there was miso soup, apparently, that is traditionally sharks eaten first. It was delicious as it was also filled with mushrooms and tofu. Next to that bowl was a tea cup, where we drank oolong green tea, then next to that, on the far left, was the rice bowl which was covered with a smaller bowl. On the top left hand corner was half a banana and two slices of Asian pears (they were a bit salty on the outside but still delicious) next to the fruit was Japanese pickles. At first I was shocked by the initial texture. I thought it would be crunchy right off the bat, but it wasn't. It was a bit, soggy, for lack of a better word, and then crunchy. On the top right corner was a mixture that I can only really equate to mashed potatoes, but with a lot of stuff in it that made it crunchy. Apparently it's made from the soy process, the curd part I think. In the row below the "mashed potatoes" was 紙菜, hopefully the Chinese is right on that. Basically seaweed. Something I usually eat as a snack, but now ate as a compliment to the rice. And in the center of it all, a rolled up egg omelet.
Needless to say, this breakfast seemed really intricate and something I was not really expecting. It was filling, and brought thought of how the food got there and how we were able to eat it at that moment.
We hopped on that cute bus again that would take us everywhere today. Kyoto is a much different place when you can actually see where you are going. There are a lot more Chinese signs that I thought there would be, so I'm actually slightly literate. Which is surprising because I thought language was going to be a big issue, more on this in a bit.
Sitting on the bus, I am still not used to driving on the left side of the road. But on the way to the first zen garden, we saw lots of little school children. Of course when traveling with a bunch of college aged women, there was a lot of awww-ing at the cuteness of the little ones. We also saw high school and middle school aged students, and the uniforms that I see in dramas is really what they wear here in Japan. This was a very interesting thought to me.
Today was all about zen gardens, I think we visited a total of 3 gardens for the day. It may not seem like much, but it took up the entire day.
The first garden we visited was Daitokoji Monastery. It a large rock that was symbolic of a mountain and the small stones surrounding it rippled outdated from it. It was a metaphor for reaching enlightenment. Reaching the top of the mountain in modern times with the sea of waves distracting you, like technology and current trends and what not, and using the moss that surrounded the rocks, as buffers, the moss being zazen, sitting meditation. The moss I might add was a gorgeous mixture of greens, browns, and oranges. Which really reflected the sun, as it was a beautiful day out.
After a while of contemplation at the garden,the abbot of the Monestary met us and lead us in a meditation session. Before we began, he talked about Mt. Fuji and the different paths there are to get to the top, and it doesn't matter which path you take because the top is the same regardless. As students we need to take the path step by step, and breathe in good air. This abbot had an air about him that was very joyful, and this would be the same of the abbot we would meet later in the day. His talk about air lead into a talk about proper posture, sitting straight so that you could take in more air, and concentrating not on the inhale, exhale of the breathe into the stomach, but the Dan tian, the core. He also noted that we should count the number of breathes we take, as a form of concentration and not letting the mind wander off. I'm not sure how long we sat for, but I got to about 50 breathes, and I take relatively longer breathes than the people sitting next to me.
This was one of the best meditation sittings I've had, better than the one at the first MBSR session, which I thought was really old as well, maybe I am progressing. It felt as if my head were going farther and farther from the bottom half of my body, and before I knew it, the sitting was over, and we took a tour of the rest of the Monastery.
Apparently this area has a lot of different monasteries in the area, so it was a beautiful place just to walk through.
We walked around the littles shops right outside the engrave to this village. And happened to enter a very expensive boutique I will call it. Apparently all of their goods are hand made from silk, and after finding out we were tourist, which of course is not very difficult, they told us about what they do, and even let us take photographs of their products, again with the Japanese hospitality.
We had an hour and a half before lunch, so we went to the very famous rock garden called Ryoanji (I'm going to have to double check) but in Chinese it's 龍安待. This garden was very different and the behind it was different as well. This definitely felt more touristy than the previous place, it was also filled with a lot of visiting students. This garden was very mellow and waves were not as grand, and the story behind it is about a lioness and her cubs. It really struck me about how vastly different these gardens could be. And as such, evoke different types of calmness.
Professor Glassman also walked me around the rest of the garden and explained to me the different types of moss gardens there are and why they look the way they look, and even how the upkeep works. He is so knowledgeable, and it's fun listening to him speak Japanese, he is so fluent. One thing is for sure, if you stick around him, you always have something interesting to listen to.
At this temple, we also saw a large pond. I was particular taken aback by the koi fish. There were several black ones, but I only saw one white one. The black and white were swimming together and I immediately thought of Avatar the Last Airbender, I know, how geeky of me, but that's what came to mind.
Now off to lunch, it was a simple, very small restaurant, but the food again was pretty good. This time I actually saw the chef who prepared the food. And we got to watch a Japanese variety show in the process. I ate something called the mother and child dish, which is basically eggs and chicken over rice. It was interesting, and hardy, but it gelt like I was eating juk, or congee. It also came with miso soup, which compared to this mornings, had a lot more fish stock or soy sauce of some sort. I never really realized how different miso soup could be.
We went back to the area where we started the morning, and had 45 minutes to roam the area. I bought my first purchase in Japan, which was a green tea milk drink from a vending machine. It was pretty good, but I have to say, there are a lot of vending machines lining the streets, something you don't see at all in America unless it's outside of a convenience store. I am writing this at 11:16 at night here, and my stomach is starting to growl, keke.
Most of our time was spent in a food mart of all things. Just seeing how the different foods were packaged and the different types of foods offered was and intereting experience, and being the tourist that we are, we took goofy pictures with these products.
At 3:45 sharp, we met at the gate entrance to the village, and went o the next monastery. Daishen' in (again I'll have to double check) apparently this place is a national treasure, and so no picture taking was allowed. But I have to say this was my most favorite place of the day.
We immediately entered a meditation area, where we were met by the temples abbot. We were told to take off out socks, and sit on the double zabuton, or meditation mats. If we could, sit in a half lotus, and even better, sit in a full lotus. I attempted a full lotus, and seemed to be alright. Did I mention at this point we were being eaten alive by Mosquitos?!!!!! I was so itchy, I couldn't help but to scratch, but to be in the moment, I had to just be mindful of it, and let it go. This abbot was also really fun and cheerful. He lead us in a traditional zazen where we meditated with out eyes open, but the best part was he walked around with a stick, which I forget the name of, and fixed out postures. He used it as a guide to see how straight we were sitting, at first it was a bit intimidating, but not really, he meant it in the kindest way I'm sure, to ensure that we also get a good breathe in. This stick would also come into later discussions because it was also used to hit our shoulders if we so wished. In total, you would be hit four times, twice on each shoulder. To signal to the abbot that you wanted to be hit, you put your palms together fingers pointing upwards, and he would start the ritual by lining himself in front of you, both people exchanging bows, him hitting you the four times as mentioned all the while your head in down, and then ending with another bow. Seems much like when we do arm conditioning in Kung Fu, where we bow as a respect for each other and the teachings that we will give and receive.
We sat in zazen for 30 minutes, which went by very quickly. This abbot also emphasized the breathe and dan tian, but only counting the exhale of the breathe. I sat through most of it in a full lotus, when my legs were really bothering me, I looked down, and my legs had changed color and began to spot, I couldn't feel my left leg, but it was basically over after I moved. After I was hit with the stick, it was refreshing, and I have never sat any straighter. Then only distraction was the abbot walking around and anticipating who would be hit next and the sound of the crack when the stick hits the skin. Meditating with eyes open was also a very different experience for me. I could see my peripherals closing in on me, as my focus started to darken. Another really good session of meditation. I can actually start feeling when I slouch and what it should feel like to sit straight and properly.
After the session, he also brought us around the dry garden and explained to us its story. It was a beautiful garden that had no rocks in it. Just the pure white stones that were mounded in two piles. They call it the ocean. Moving counter clockwise around, there was the river dry garden that flowed into the ocean, and a waterfall dry garden that flowed into the river through a dam. The waterfall garden consisted of 100 different stones that were gathered from different regions of Japan over 500 years ago. It's truly amazing how they have kept something like that for so long and how we were in the same company as people fro 500 years ago. I also get this same feeling of nostalgia when I look at old photos of Bryn Mawr students.
After the tour, we had a traditional tea ceremony, where we drank green tea. First you ate the candy they gave you, and then the tea that they prepared. There was a particular way in which you had to pick up and drink the tea as it was prepared in a bowl. First, they put the powder in, then poured the hot water in the bowl and mixed it with a special bamboo whisk. They served it to you, and you would then lick it up with your right hand, place it on your left, turn it clockwise twice, and then drink. When finishing it is customary to slurp the last bits, and then turn the bowl counterclockwise twice and return it to it's original position. I'm still not particularly clear, but it had to do with something about the front of the bowl, and not drinking from it.
It was a cool experience, and then they get you with the souvenirs, but I was happy to buy it because I had a great experience and wanted something to remember it by.
We left for another temple. We didn't visit quite yet, but checked into the hotel that we are staying at for the night. I just have to say, I am fully and completely in love with this hotel. It is a modern but very traditional Japanese style hotel, and it is situated right next to the temple which is having a grand anniversary this year. I won't get into the architecture of the building, but just take my word for it that it is gorgeous. It has one of those keys that you slip into a holder into the wall to turn on the light and tell the room that you are there. They also supply you with a toothbrush, razor, cotton essentials, shower caps, and the best shampoo, conditioner, and body wash I have ever used. The brand is Saraya, and the scent is apparently Lachevert. It also had a hidden closet behind the door for shoe storage and everything was very nice and if good quality. Again the toilet is also very cool, it doesn't have three flushing functions, but it also heats up and has those cool cleaning functions.
Dinner was this thing called okonomiyaki, okonomi meaning to your liking, and Yaki, Meaning fried, So basically fried how you like it and there was a lot of hype around it. It basically like an egg pancake with different stuffings in it. I had the surf and turf. As delicious as it was, the taste got very monotones after a while. We ate surrounded by laughter and good conversation.
After dinner, I took the chance to explore the area some more with some classmates, and think I found the store that Professor Glassman was talking about with the canvas bags. They were cute, but very pricey. The lights at night make it a very beautiful place ti walk around, and the crosswalk button actually worked, we were all amazed. I bought some gifts, and Hillary, if you are reading this, I got a really cool one for you, but I am really really tempted to just keep it for myself. You'll see it later on.
The baths here are much nicer than last nights and almost tempted me to go, but I'll go for the personal bathrooms we have here in the room.
Tomorrow is an early day with a Buddhist service. 5:30 am to be exact. I'm amazed that I am still up and running right now, but I am ready for bed. If you have made it this far into the post, good for you, and thank you for reading! And if you happen to be family, I am doing fine, having a great time, with beautiful weather and lots more to learn, so tell my mom I'm doing well because she didn't respond to my email or text =]
Good Night!
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