Arrival

I woke up this morning at 3:30 AM in RIGHA Royal Hotel in Osaka, Japan. I took a taxi to Osaka train station at 4:50 AM. From Osaka station, I took a train to Fukuchiyama at 5:55 AM. From Fukuchiyama, I took a train to Toyooka, then to Hamasaka. Then I took a bus from Hamasaka to Ika-ga-naru-guchi bus stop at the foot of Antai-ji`s road. I had to walk 4 kilometers up a mountain to the temple, carrying a 50+ pound bag over my shoulder. By the time I arrived, I was about to die from exhaustion.

Upon arrival, I was immediately impressed with the scenery here. We are way out in the mountains of Japan, there are no other people within about 3 miles, and even out there, it is only a small village. The only sounds you hear are birds and frogs. There are trees everywhere.

The monastery itself is not that beautiful, aside from the hondo. In the hondo, there is a really cool statue of a black Shakyamuni. For now, I have a futon up in the room used for drying clothes and playing ping pong.

It is hard to get used to all of the protocol here. You must do different kinds of bows everywhere you go. Before and after using the shower, you must do 3 full prostrations (sanpai) to a vase full of flowers. Before and after using the toilet, you must bow (gassho) to a tiny buddha statue. The hondo is much more complicated, with gasshos and shashus everywhere.

I have no idea what work I am going to be doing here. It seems like it won`t be hard to get along with the people here, since everyone understands English (although the two Japanese people don`t understand much), most people are German.

We had a tea meeting earlier where I introduced myself, and the green tea was fantastic. I think I am going to have a good time here.