We arrived in Yokohama around 8 a.m. on the morning of the 27th. It was pretty cold outside, but standing out there to watch us pull into our first port outside of the United States was worth it! Everyone was so excited! There were people lined up waving as we pulled in and the marching band that I mentioned in my last post was playing the entire time. It was a pretty incredible experience Here are a couple of pictures!
I had a field lab with my Anthropology of Religion class the first day, so we were some of the first people allowed off of the ship. Going through the customs and immigration process took about 30 minutes and I then had a little bit of time before I had to be at the bus. Right after I got off the ship, it was like a whole new world. I couldn't wait to get going! I stopped at the information booth for some maps in the terminal, exchanged a little bit of money so I'd have enough for the day, listened to some violinists that were playing in the port terminal and stopped at a little cafe for a drink with a few other people. Then we loaded the bus! The ride to the temple was about an hour long. I took a bunch of pictures and video out of the window along the way. Here are a couple. I would upload more but I can only use a certain amount of data in each email I send!
The temple we went to was Kencho-Ji Temple in Kamakura. It is ranked number 1 out of the 5 Zen temples in Kamakura and it is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. Here is a picture that shows the outline of the temple grounds.
After arriving, we were given a brief tour of the grounds (areas 1-6 on the map). We had one of the priests as a guide and he tried to briefly explain the meaning behind each spot, but his English was very difficult to understand at times. After the tour, we were taken into the mail hall, Hojo, where were were asked to remove our shoes. We were then taken into the main meditation room where there were mats lined up along the floor and several priests waiting for us. After being given a brief introduction to the practice of Zen meditation, we began our first of three 20 minute sessions. We were asked to sit cross-legged on the mat with straight backs, hands in front of our stomachs with palms facing upward (right over left), focus our on a spot about 2 feet in front of us, stay very still, and take deep breaths. This is the typical posture. The main purpose of Zen meditation is to calm the body and mind. Each individual person has a different reason for practicing, and some even reach spiritual enlightenment through it.
The second and third sets of meditation were done a little bit differently and it is really hard to explain in words exactly what happened. We also participated in a Zen chant. I wish I would have been able to take pictures. They allowed us to take videos and pictures after the process was finished, and I did actually take a video of the room and of me with one of the priests when he offered to act out the process for me! I can't wait to upload that, but I am unable to on this email so it will have to wait for when I get home. Here are some pictures of the grounds and one picture I got of the meditation other than the video. I wish I had more!
After the meditation, we were taken into a different room where we had a session of question and answer with the priests for about an hour. I do have plenty of pictures of that but I am going to wait to upload them later so I have enough data space for other pictures. :) It was a truly amazing experience and I feel very lucky that I got to have this opportunity!
The second and third sets of meditation were done a little bit differently and it is really hard to explain in words exactly what happened. We also participated in a Zen chant. I wish I would have been able to take pictures. They allowed us to take videos and pictures after the process was finished, and I did actually take a video of the room and of me with one of the priests when he offered to act out the process for me! I can't wait to upload that, but I am unable to on this email so it will have to wait for when I get home. Here are some pictures of the grounds and one picture I got of the meditation other than the video. I wish I had more!
After the meditation, we were taken into a different room where we had a session of question and answer with the priests for about an hour. I do have plenty of pictures of that but I am going to wait to upload them later so I have enough data space for other pictures. :) It was a truly amazing experience and I feel very lucky that I got to have this opportunity!
After loading the bus, we were taken into to city of Kamakura where we had about 2 hours to split up into smaller groups to do some shopping and find a place to eat. I ate with 3 others from my class and then a small group from another class that we ran into along the way. It was difficult to order and communicate because none of us knew any Japanese, but we just pointed to what we wanted and it ended up working out great! Here is a picture of our group. :) I'm in the back. This was our first meal outside of the United States!
As we were walking around after dinner, they mentioned wanting to find a Sushi place. I had never had Sushi before, so they decided we were definitely going to stop somewhere. I've always been a little scared to try it, but I decided to just go for it! Haha. Here are a couple pictures. My friend Lucas documented the experience for me....
It wasn't horrible, but honestly it wasn't the greatest thing I have ever tasted either! I'm really glad I decided to try it though. :) After getting back to the bus we went back to the port where I met a group of people to take a train to Tokyo for the night! As we were walking to the train station, we stopped and tried out their vending machines, which they have everywhere! You can even buy hot drinks. I'm not exactly sure how that works, but it was so cool. It was about a 10 minute walk to the station and a 30 minute ride to Tokyo.
I will make a post about my time in Tokyo a little bit later! This one is already pretty long. :)
It wasn't horrible, but honestly it wasn't the greatest thing I have ever tasted either! I'm really glad I decided to try it though. :) After getting back to the bus we went back to the port where I met a group of people to take a train to Tokyo for the night! As we were walking to the train station, we stopped and tried out their vending machines, which they have everywhere! You can even buy hot drinks. I'm not exactly sure how that works, but it was so cool. It was about a 10 minute walk to the station and a 30 minute ride to Tokyo.
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