Teaching or should I say, serving as a guide for a 90 minutes journey – a class I want to take myself …that was tonight.
Tonight a student left with a kind comment, “your class is like going to heaven” – this must be the most memorable comment ever – I was truly touched and honored with such a compliment. It made my effort all worthwhile as, to be honest, I was looking for an emergency sub this morning when I discovered my LA to SF flight was delayed. The night before I had arrived at LAX from Haneda… So it is interesting how when you are feeling your absolute worst, so so miserable, apparently you deliver one of your better classes – perhaps because, then, you are truly coming from a place of compassion and empathy. You truly cultivated serenity amidst the turmoil and stress. Why miserable? Having logged near 6000 miles and crossing a time zone in the last 24 hours, night and day flipped, I was feeling like someone with a bad case of a hangover. Only 2 hours ago, my head was spinning, only an hour ago, my head was pounding and my head muddled… my entire back aching from sitting over 12 hours, unable to sleep. I was stiff, sore, gripped in tight knots all over … I needed yoga to the rescue. Is this some kind of cruel and unusual punishment? No, just coming back from Tokyo, via one night stay in LA where I was treated to a grande size cocktail which was supposed to knock me out cold (I could not say no to the host) into lovely uninterrupted slumber before I got on to the final leg of my trip from LA to SF. Well, that cocktail got me up at 3am at which point I simply felt… awful. Hearing the recipe for the drink before my departure of SF made me realize why – FYI – only alcohol I drink is wine and sometimes beer – but this cocktail was made from high doze of Vodka, Limoncello, and some other hard liquor I was unfamiliar with. While it is a very powerful drink, it tasted like innocent lemonade… reliving the foolishness of youthful days gone by – How one suffers later on when you give into sweet but harmful temptations.
Pressing the reset button – starting anew for tomorrow. While I miss my old home very much, I am happy to be back in California. Here are the list of what I miss about Japan or specifically Tokyo:
1. My Mommy:)
2. My relatives.
3. OFURO – japanese style bath.
4. High level of sensitive attention to details, especially to season, weather and service.
5. Japanese functionality in designs and aesthetics in designs.
6. food, food, food.
7. politeness. Gentle speech and refined manners of some not all.
8. Cuteness in things in general…
9. just walking in some parts of town is fun.
10. Gentle and kind souls, i.e., people.
11. Best restaurants and cafes. Best service. Most international – from Indian, Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese… on and on.
What I do not miss:
1. muggy weather this time of the year – mosquito bites and dengue fever scare.
2. smokers polluting the air. Too many smokers.
3. too much politeness – get on the elevator in Ginza and a very thin and refined lady says, Excuse me for taking up space – I am absolutely of no use to anyone – Pardon me for being a nuisance crowding this elevator. ummm, you are a beautifully dressed dainty senior, you do not have to say you are worthless and should not take up space in this elevator – Yes, I know, it’s just a figure of speech but really… exasperating. The figure of speech from years gone by are spoken… amusing but a bit sad when one is past being modest but self-deprecating at best. I guess I am Americanized. I am not going to apologize for taking up space.
4. Too much bowing.
5. Too much inappropriate cuteness. Do high percentage of men in Japan have Lolita complex? Girls are just too cute for cute-sake.
BTW, trivia – did you know Hello Kitty is not really a cat? Of course it’s really a super cute girl.
6. bad air in subways. Thank goodness I had Foliage aroma stone with me.
7. Too crowded. Had to jump into cafes to regain some sense of peace… I know temples in Kyoto and countryside is not like this but this is Tokyo…Yes, there are pockets of mini-shinto shrines and gardens in most unexpected places… that was nice. It was an Urban Zen in a true sense of the word in the country that mothered the word, “Zen” – as in Zazen. More on this later.
