Tuesday and Wednesday saw the Mid Year conference at the FIA take place. All JETs had to go and JTEs came too. Although I don’t think most wanted to attend. We had to go to different seminars run by JETs and their JTEs. Some of the seminars were surprisingly helpful and gave me some new drive and ideas to combat my shitty classes. It also gave me time to see other JETs and have a chat which I think I needed. On Wednesday evening Becca, Meagan and I went to Starbucks after the conference before attending taiko which as ever was great. After taiko we headed back into the city to meet the others who were at the MYC after party. There was a nomihoda and music. I wasn’t drinking unfortunately but I had a nice evening talking to a few people and laughing at the drunkards.
We had a holiday on Thursday which was bliss. However I was awake early as usual to go running before I had to be at gizzard’s house. We had arranged to go to a tea ceremony at a temple in Fukui. I was tagging along really as Jordana had been invited by her tea ceremony teacher, but all was good! The temple happened to be where the famous writer and speaker Osho is buried. It was a gorgeous day and the sun really emphasised the beauty of the temple. The tea ceremony teacher and the other ladies in attendance fro Jordana’s group were all very accommodating and spoke good English. I was especially grateful for the explanations and translations throughout the two tea ceremonies we sat in. There were about 25-30 people all in a tatami room inside the temple we sat in seiza in a square arrangement. We then watched mostly in silence as a very pretty Japanese lady prepared the thick green tea. As expected, she was as delicate and feminine as could be. Each hand movement like a leaf falling or a scarf in the wind, so wonderful. I basically followed the other people in the room, bowed as they bowed, rotated the bowl as they did and copied the hand gestures and movements. Three people drank from one cup which was unexpected. We all had to wipe the bowl where we had drunk from and make sure we drank no more and no less than our third of the tea! This tea had a much much stronger taste than any of the tea I had drunk before. It really was like thick gloopy soup and quite bitter, but I enjoyed it. All went quite well with no cock ups. However I had to move my feet from beneath my arse after I had drunk my third of the tea, as I had lost all feeling from knee down and wondered if I had in fact left my legs in the car. After this more formal tea ceremony we studied the ornaments in the room and had them explained to us which was very interesting. There was a very pretty, small, thin wooden box covered in gold leaf. It was incredibly light but that didn’t stop me from handling it with care seeing as it was 600 years old! We were then showed into a different room for our second and more informal thin tea ceremony. There were Japanese toys on the ledges in the room and paper air balloons in the middle of the room which was a little odd but quite fun. There was more talking and relaxation in this ceremony but again the lady preparing the tea- and the other ladies in the most wonderful kimonos who were delivering our tea- were still acting with diligence and care. The treats we were given were very tasty, although some American girl had trouble extracting the tiny biscuits- bless her. Jordana’s tea sensei explained to us the ornaments in the room. She informed us that the symbol of a dragon is very important in this temple as there is a story from years before when apparently a dragon put out a fire at the temple by spraying water from the river on to it.
That evening I went back to Jordana’s for my first ever Thanks Giving. We were later joined by Mami, Seiko, Yoshimi, Galina, Jill and Meagan. Everyone had bought some food along and we had a lovely afternoon chatting, eating, drinking and making weird hand craft things which were apparently turkeys- whatever Americans get over it. But I had a really chilled out and fun time.
Friday was back to school, and after the MYC and a day off, I was ready and raring to meet any challenges and be the most amazing ALT ever! The day was good actually, and although I worked late I enjoyed doing so as I felt really positive about my lessons that day.
On Saturday Jill and I took a drive out to Eiheji to visit the world heritage site that is Eiheji Temple. It was an absolutely beautiful day and so we had to make the most of it. We walked up the hill in eiheji past all the omiyage shops avoiding the temptation for mochi…mmmmmmochi. The temple complex was sprawled up the hill, as usual within a forest. Eiheji is a practicing priest training centre. It is also number one tourist spot in Fukui and and so it was jam packed. This made the experience a little odd and I don’t think I achieved the full vibe of the temple because of the busyness. But nevertheless, it was in my opinion lovely. The complex was made up of a number of different rooms for different purposes. Some of the buildings had more history than others, and some were more ornate. I loved the strange angle of the steps ascending up the hill, the streams running alongside the buildings so as they are part of the complex, the taiko drums in the halls, the constant relaxing smell of incense and the intricate scenes in the wood carvings. I was having a debate inside my head at whether it is right to open the temple up as such a tourist attraction. Seeing as I have such intrigue into this religion I felt uncomfortable with the over-exposure the priests and the temple were getting by the tourists taking photos and making noise. But on the other hand I was one of the tourists and I wanted to see what the inside of a living temple was like. However I wanted the romantic and magical version, where I am the only person witnessing it and where I understand what is going on.
After eiheji, we went to Echizen Daibutsu. The main attraction here is a hugggge Buddha statue inside a temple. The place was absolutely deserted which felt odd seeing as eiheji had been so busy. But we ventured in and were not let down. The Buddha statue and the hundreds of other statues inside the main hall were phenomenal. I couldn’t believe how big the Buddha was, and how many other small statues there were. I later found out that this place is not so popular with the Japanese because it is a new building created by a millionaire who spent all his fortune in making the buildings and statues. I don’t think the Japanese think that this is particularly special or exciting. But from an aesthetic point of view rather than a religious point of view, I liked it!!
On Sunday I met Mayoumi at 7.50 AMAMAMAM- so early on a Sunday!! She drove us to fukui for a tennis tournament. She turned up at my house in jeans and a jumper, she explained that her husband had told her that she couldn’t play tennis any more because it distracted her too much from more important things. So she was sneaking out to play tennis!! I told her that I thought her husband was unfair and that she should tell him to stop drinking or playing baseball. Somehow I don’t think she will, but I had to tell her this wasn’t a fair situation… anyways…. The other tennis players failed to warn me that this was an 8hr long tournament!! I had a great day chatting and having fun with other players, but I hadn’t brought food or drink and so I was exhausted by the end! However my team did win and so it was all worth it for our prizes of scarves and gloves! On the way home we stopped off at a big shop that Mayoumi said had cheap and cute clothes. I trusted her and ended up buying some nice items. All in all a lovely day spent socialising with new and old Japanese friends. Such days confirm how important, worthwhile and special it is to meet such kind and friendly people. It really does make me feel very happy!
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