Sorry for the delayed post.
While we were in Gosen, the Murumatsu Rotary Club took us to a temple to have Zen meditation with a Buddhist monk. It was so hard to sit lotus position (with your feet crossed on top of your legs). My feet and legs fell alseep and I had to change legs halfway through. Just when I thought I was getting it down and really meditating, the monk came by and hit me on the back with a bamboo paddle． Ｉｔ was my turn to say "oh my". I was not expecting to be hit and thought I had done something wrong (maybe it was my Catholic school training) but I was reassured when he hit the others in our group. It was a great experience.
We also got to try on a beautiful expensive kimono made by hand in Kyoto worth like $10,000. And we got to participate in a traditional tea ceremony. Everyone we met was so warm and gracious.
Kenja and I have not had internet access. We are in Niitsu now but wanted to try and play catch-up.
In Gosen, Kenja and I were separated from the boys and will be for most of our time here. It seems there are more rotary clubs than GSE members so they thought this would be best. Kenja and I each had separate host families.
Mine were the sweetest couple, the Kanekos. They will have to forgive me because their first name escapes me at the moment. We have met sooo many people. My host father is a doctor and my host mother is a stay at home mom.
They were soo sweet. They had like 5 or 6 English paperback dictionaries in their kitchen and would kindly tell me "one moment please" when we were lost in translation. They would run to the pile of dictionaries (they also had two electronic dictionaries) and assist me and were so genuinely happy to assist me in furthering my Japanese. They were also so happy when they said something correctly in English. We both couldn't help but smile.
In Gosen, Kenja and I were separated from the boys and will be for most of our time here. It seems there are more rotary clubs than GSE members so they thought this would be best. Kenja and I each had separate host families.
Mine were the sweetest couple, the Kanekos. They will have to forgive me because their first name escapes me at the moment. We have met sooo many people. My host father is a doctor and my host mother is a stay at home mom.
They were soo sweet. They had like 5 or 6 English paperback dictionaries in their kitchen and would kindly tell me "one moment please" when we were lost in translation. They would run to the pile of dictionaries (they also had two electronic dictionaries) and assist me and were so genuinely happy to assist me in furthering my Japanese. They were also so happy when they said something correctly in English. We both couldn't help but smile.
I stayed in a guest room upstairs with a mini-kitchen to myself and a bathroom. When my host father saw my luggage he said "oh my God" because he had to carry them up to the second floor. Ｉｔ was so cute!
While we were in Gosen, the Murumatsu Rotary Club took us to a temple to have Zen meditation with a Buddhist monk. It was so hard to sit lotus position (with your feet crossed on top of your legs). My feet and legs fell alseep and I had to change legs halfway through. Just when I thought I was getting it down and really meditating, the monk came by and hit me on the back with a bamboo paddle． Ｉｔ was my turn to say "oh my". I was not expecting to be hit and thought I had done something wrong (maybe it was my Catholic school training) but I was reassured when he hit the others in our group. It was a great experience.
We also got to try on a beautiful expensive kimono made by hand in Kyoto worth like $10,000. And we got to participate in a traditional tea ceremony. Everyone we met was so warm and gracious.
I was sad to leave my host family. My host mother gave me a beautifully written note in English, her FIRST, that left me in tears. Her sentiments were simple but made me feel so special.
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