掛川homestay
Well, it's been a little hectic since I last posted so several things to report. Last weekend I went to kakegawa (the kanji in the title) gawa means river, not sure about kake... means something like cliff prescipice.
Well it was part of a cultural exchange for the local moon-watching festival. A bunch of JETs congregated and were fed well, and treated kindly. Some of the highlights were teaching my 'Japan Dad' how to say 'alright mate' in a scouse accent, visiting a za-zen temple and trying the meditation, and visiting a wildlife sanctuary/park where I was set upon by birds.
The za-zen was pretty cool, the temple was fairly spectacular and the monk told us... slowly... in japanese... how to prepare ones body and soul to truly achieve za-zen. Then we all sat in seiza (sitting on your knees with your hands in your lap) for 20 minutes trying to empty our minds without falling asleep or cramping up. To make it a little trickier the monk wandered ponderously up and down in frnt of us with a large whacking stick and if we volunteered, or were not concentrating, or were concentrating too much he'd kindly offer unto us a few very hard whacks on our prone vessels. In the photo you can see him demonstrating the whacking motion.
Another interesting part was a dance performed to us by the middle-aged ladies of the local community; it was introduced as a means to prevent senility by encouraging blood flow and suppleness. After a few quick demonstrations it was our turn but alas I have no photos of myself performing... although I was assured by many of the female JETs I had skills! despite looking rather sturn with concentration. Must be the nunchaku training.
Apart from that I spent some 'relax' time with my host family. Nick (his adopted American name after Nick Faldo) his wife and 81 year old mother. He was very amusing and his english was good enough to communicate in fits and bursts. On Sunday morning I was prepared a very healthy sized interpretation of an english fry-up with pastries... wasn't expecting that.
having some problems uploading the photos so will try again tomorrow, anyway it's time for my beddybyes... it's 4 in the morning and I can't get no sleep.
Well it was part of a cultural exchange for the local moon-watching festival. A bunch of JETs congregated and were fed well, and treated kindly. Some of the highlights were teaching my 'Japan Dad' how to say 'alright mate' in a scouse accent, visiting a za-zen temple and trying the meditation, and visiting a wildlife sanctuary/park where I was set upon by birds.
The za-zen was pretty cool, the temple was fairly spectacular and the monk told us... slowly... in japanese... how to prepare ones body and soul to truly achieve za-zen. Then we all sat in seiza (sitting on your knees with your hands in your lap) for 20 minutes trying to empty our minds without falling asleep or cramping up. To make it a little trickier the monk wandered ponderously up and down in frnt of us with a large whacking stick and if we volunteered, or were not concentrating, or were concentrating too much he'd kindly offer unto us a few very hard whacks on our prone vessels. In the photo you can see him demonstrating the whacking motion.
Another interesting part was a dance performed to us by the middle-aged ladies of the local community; it was introduced as a means to prevent senility by encouraging blood flow and suppleness. After a few quick demonstrations it was our turn but alas I have no photos of myself performing... although I was assured by many of the female JETs I had skills! despite looking rather sturn with concentration. Must be the nunchaku training.
Apart from that I spent some 'relax' time with my host family. Nick (his adopted American name after Nick Faldo) his wife and 81 year old mother. He was very amusing and his english was good enough to communicate in fits and bursts. On Sunday morning I was prepared a very healthy sized interpretation of an english fry-up with pastries... wasn't expecting that.
having some problems uploading the photos so will try again tomorrow, anyway it's time for my beddybyes... it's 4 in the morning and I can't get no sleep.
posted by Jyon-sensei at 3:38 am
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