Hello everyone! I arrived safely and made my way to the hotel; I'm headed to the Dojo very shortly, so I'll post a more detailed update later. For now, enjoy these pictures of the area near where I stayed!
After my last post, the evening class went well-in part due to Kevin-san lending me a wrist-wrap. It reinforces my wrist, but more importantly lets nage know not to go 100% on that side, which has allowed it to slowly start healing. The evening class was good overall, but it was also very cold and rainy during and after the class (we train with the windows open, so that temperature kind of permeates everything). That made warming up for class a bit challenging along with sleeping after chores after class, but it VERY much made me appreciate sitting on the heated toilet seat. So there's always that silver lining. Also, for my own entertainment when I return (and to help me understand my confusing timeline), I am posting this on Friday, March 9th local time around 4:30PM after having gone to eat and get coffee with Hiromi and Kevin-San which was after the Sensei morning work meeting and coffee. I'm not sure how this will be dated, but I'd bet it will show M...
Ah exile to the coffee shop again--poor me! Coffee, CHAIRS, and a power supply so I can type--it's a tough life. ;) In reality some parts of uchideshi life are tough here, and some are not--the last few days have been drastically more relaxed than any I've spent here so far, and as I round out three weeks here and am letting my knee recover, that is a welcome reprieve. This morning started like all mornings, with cleaning, but it was drastically later than usual at 8AM instead of 5:30AM. We ended up heading out with soshihan, but due to heavy rain we didn't get to hike a mountain with him. Instead, we road a train a little over an hour into the mountains and went into a traditional onsen (hot springs bath). It's a good thing that I've had several cultural experiences like this already, so being naked with a bunch of other guys (including soshihan) wasn't actually that weird. The hot water was also quite excellent for my bo...
The flight from Japan to the UK had one transfer in Beijing. This little initial flight was small enough that I mostly rested (it also didn't have electricity available for me to get work done). I remember that after the uchideshi experience I'd had, the plane seats did feel luxurious (as one friend said they would), and I did greatly enjoy the in-flight food and the general experiences of the flight. In Beijing, I had several hours of layover, so I spent the time walking around the airport, debating whether to buy a Chinese power converter so I could type/get work done, and getting work done on my phone (there were USB chargers). I also did the usual things--refilled my two water bottles, did some stretches, made sure I was at the right gate, etc. Since I didn't have data in China and the airport WiFi wasn't working, I had to wait until I landed in London to communicate with anyone. The airport was nice, and I did get a kick out of a sign by a fountain (...
I want to see a picture of the hotel. Did you rent a "sleeping pod" of some sort?!?
ReplyDeleteP.S. Glad you made it safely. I was wondering. :)