May 2003

May 28, 2003

Today marks the anniversary date of Laura and I coming to Japan...it's hard to believe that it's been a year. We've decided to mark the occasion with a little wine and cheese (which might be a little expensive here, but what the hell).

May 27, 2003

As everyone seems to have heard, there has just been a rather serious earthquake here in Japan. Though it was powerful enough to be felt in Tokyo even though it occurred in the distant Tohoku region. Apparently it was even felt in Hyogo, which is further away than we are, but I didn't feel a thing...maybe that's because I was in Aikido class at the time and was being thrown around anyway. So we're safe, we're fine, and there's no need to worry.

May 22, 2003

For those of you who didn't notice, I put up the Eihei-ji page yesterday...it just so happened that I didn't have any time to put up a post as well. Eihei-ji is where I went to try zazen out for myself last week.

It's interesting getting back into the swing of things at work, but now I also have the trip to Canada in July to look forward to.

May 19, 2003

It's taken me a couple of days to relax and get myself back together, but I'm feeling much better now. It's been really nice to be back in Kyoto...I really feel like I needed to recuperate after my 'vacation'. To give you a little idea of the transition I had to make when I went from 'Stage 1' of my trip to 'Stage 2', take a look at this.

As of tommorrow I'll be back to work, which I think will be a little strange after being off for so long. I'm well motivated, though, as Laura and I have just bough a couple of plane tickets that we're going to have to pay off. That's right, we're going to be coming back to Canada for a visit this summer...woo hoo! I'm quite looking forward to making some visits, as well as eating lots of greasy stuff and going to book stores and reading newspapers and magazines and...and...well, I could go on, but I digress.

I'm going to have to do some work to put together a little something on Eiheiji, which will have to remain for ever more the place where oh-so-many of my dreams and illusions were shattered. I got my film developed, and there are some wonderful pictures to put up...so without further ado, I'll get to work. Uh buh.

May 16, 2003

I'm back...and what a long, strange trip it's been. Going from the silence of a temple to the throbbing of the city in Tokyo was quite a shocker in itself, but I'd say that the combination of the Zen training and the Aikido training in Tokyo has made this one of the most psychologically challenging weeks of my life.

The temple experience was far different than I had expected, and it has given me a new idea of what zen is about...interesting to realize that despite all the reading and research I have done on Zen, I really had no idea at all.

Training in Aikido's Hombu dojo was a pretty incredible experience. As the world headquarters for Aikido, Hombu dojo has a pretty high level of practice that was a treat to take part in.

After a week of zazen and Aikido practice, though, I feel as if I have been hit by a truck. I'm a little bruised and beaten at this point, and I've been averaging only a couple of hours of sleep a night for the past week...needless to say I'm ready for a rest.

May 9, 2003

Time has just been flying along here, and this week has gone by without me even noticing. Tomorrow I'm setting out first thing to go to Eihei Temple to do zazen. I'll be there until the 13th, at which point I'll be headed for Tokyo on an overnight bus. In Tokyo I'll be training at Aikido's world headquarters; the Hombu Dojo.

I won't be making any updates while I'm gone, but there will be plenty of stories and pictures when I get back, I'm sure.

May 4, 2003

Ahhh...the weekend is here at last. I went out and bought a mini barbeque, and today we're going to head down to the Kamo River in Kyoto to grill up some food and drink some beer. The weather here has been beautiful all week...and I'm hoping that that can hold for just one more day!

It's now less than a week before I go to Fukui to the Zen temple, and I'm putting together the last of my preparations.

I was just on Messenger with Mike this morning, and we've decided to put together a 'music column' on the site here. Mike's been keeping me informed on music for years now, and I think this column should be really good. Anyone interested in Acid Jazz, take note!

May 2, 2003

There's nothing like working on 'International Worker's Day' to help you enjoy the fine weather outside! Spring is here to stay, and the weather has been beautiful. Laura biked to the office today, and we're buying a barbeque today to take down to the river in Kyoto...evidently the thing to do this time of year.

It's funny how standardized and how seasonal things can be here. Laura heard from a student that they were going to a barbeque on the Kamo River, and she knew immediately that this was probably no isolated incident. Sure enough, it's the 'thing to do' right now, just as the Cherry Blossom parties were the must-do event a few weeks ago. Picnic displays have gone up in all the stores, and barbeques are on sale everywhere...when people do things here, it's generally en masse! It's funny how in Canada, if you go on a picnic, you try to find a secluded and quiet place. Not so here. We are fully expecting the river to be packed with other barbeque enthusiasts this weekend...especially as it's Golden Week right now.

As of today it is only 8 more days until I go to Eihei Temple in Fukui to study Zen. I've been practicing my sitting positions regularly, as enlightenment evidently necessitates awkward postures; a correlation I had been previously unaware of. Had I known that all that separated me from supreme awareness was my chair, I would have eschewed such comforts long ago! Who knew?