Days of Change
On Thursday morning I woke up with an itching to change my appearance, and shave my beard. It is always shocking to people because my face looks so different. There are those who recognize me, and those that do not. My friend, Chen, from Kyudo did not recognize me for nearly ten minutes even when we were talking. Shaving my face was only the first step in a series of events that will change my experience in Japan for the entire duration.
Later on that day, I went to Hanasaka-so for my normal visit. It seemed like a normal day except for a birthday party, but a short time before people started returning home Kobayashi-san asked if I was interested in going somewhere in the evening. I did not understand where we were going to go, but I knew that it would probably be interesting. I found out that we going to visit another day service elderly home. Kobayashi's friend, Yukako-san, runs a center in downtown Kyoto. Kobayashi-san explained that it was an excellent place, and that she wants me to go there too.
The facility was also a small scale place, only taking twenty-five clients a day, but it was much larger and fancier than Hanasaka-so. The archetecture was odd in a sort of post modern and traditional fusion way. There were some walls and floors that were completely glass. There were sharp angles everywhere, and things like a bathroom door that was two walls of the room. It was an L-shape, and swung open so that a wheelchair could enter. The traditional aspect was that prior to this place, there were two traditional timber-framed storage vaults located there, and they were incorporated into the design. A few of the rooms had high cathedral ceilings with ancient beams exposed. They were very beautiful. My impression of the place, which has not yet included seeing it in action, was that it was too spacious and too expensive. There was way too much emphasis put into the archetecture, and not enough into the interior. It did not feel cozy at all, but there were some nice parts which show some potential. The first thing I asked was if it gets cold in the winter. The woman who was leading me around said that indeed it does, and it gets very hot in the summer. I asked that because Japanese buildings do not commonly have central heating, and that place was so spacious and exposed with the windows. The nicest thing about the whole place was the garden, which was a traditional rock, tree, and flower garden. It looked as though it had not been altered from its original state because there were huge trees that had been pruned with care for many years, and there was moss and lichen growing on the rocks.
Yukako-san was very excited to meet me, and was very interested in having me work at the center. She asked me what I was interested in doing there. I was kind of taken by surprize, but said that I am interested in learning about elderly care in Japan, and getting more experience in helping with massage and other types of assistance. She asked me what I would do if a person wanted to die even if they were not physically ready to do so. I said that I would encourage the person to accept life and death as part of a whole, and that if he or she would benefit from not dwelling on death, but trying to fully experience life until death comes. She told me that her grandmother is depressed and that she wants to die even though she does not show physical signs of dying. She asked me if I would take care of her grandmother every day to help her through the suffering. I had to tell her that I have a very busy schedual, and that I am still a beginner in healing. I said that I could only afford to visit the home one day a week, but that I would do my best to help in any way within my capabilities. I told her that i would talk to my adviser on Monday, and then we could arrange the logistics of me helping at her facility.
Kobayashi-san was very excited that I was interested in helping there as well, and she kept thanking me over and over again. she said that it is very important that I visit more places than only Hanasaka-so. I could not stop a tear coming to my eye for all the help that she is giving me in finding my path.
On Friday night I went to Kyudo practice where the next big change happened. My sensei told me that my form was beautiful, and presented me with my first practice arrow. The difficulty of the form increased three-fold with the presence of the arrow. First of all, it is hard not to get a little nervous that I might slip and let the arrow fly into God know what. On top of that, trying to be aware of every aspect of the form, form the stance, to the grip on the bow, to the positions of my arms, the opening of my chest, and the collecting of ki in my hara, was challenging. The grip of the arrow it the drawing hand changes a little too, and the hand mush be laterally rotated slightly to ensure that accidents do not happen. Practicing the way of the bow takes every ounce of my attention and consentration to perform, and yet I am still not able to focus on the target during the movements. I am only starting to realize the intricacies of this art, and am not yet able to fathom the difficulty once there is a traget to hit that is 28 meters away. I think that soon I will be able to shoot at the practice target four feet away, but now my hands are quite full with just learning how to hold the arrow.
Yesterday was another full day. I spent the entire day at Hanasaka-so bathing people, giving massages, and eating a fantastic lunch. Just before people starting going home, Kobayashi-san called me into her office. She told me that she had something to teach me. She brought out many pamphlets with pictures of people lying in caves and on top of rocks. She said, with great difficulty and the help of a dictionary, that this healing method was a way that I might be able to put my intentions of helping people to use. She said it was "rock power", and pointed to a sentence in katakana. I sounded it out, minus ion medicine. She explained that in Austria and in Hokaido, Japan researchers have found that certain geothermally heated rocks have the capability to heal many ailments, and even cancer. The process is through negative ion transmission, and people have started making their own healing rock beds with certain types of rocks to heal people. She said that I could be able to spread this knowledge in other places. She said that it is important to try for peace and compassion in this world, and that there are so many people killing eachother that it is important to help people to try to find peace. It seems so simple now, but when she was telling me this there was passion and intensity coming from her, and each word was such a struggle that the meaning was coming from a different place. The words only ensured that I would not loose track of what she was trying to convey. She asked me to study this type of healing so that I might be of use to this world and help to spread peace.
Later that night, I went out to a bar with some of the employees of Hanasaka-so to watch Japan vs. Latvia in a world cup soccer match. It was a great time, and I think that I used every single japanese word in my repetiore. After the game I took them over to the reggae bar, Rub a' Dub, for some dancing. None of them had ever danced to Reggae before, so I had to teach them a little about listening for the drum because the music is so different form other types. It was a blast, and I was glad to build a few more friendships.
Today, I am focusing on papers and schoolwork, which is a little sad because the day is so beautiful. I have been moving so much from one activity to another that I have not had time to sit down and write my papers or do research for my independent study, so today I have to focus.
I hope that you all are well, and life is still interesting. I am sending out my love to all my people, and especially my new cousin, Brianna.
Later on that day, I went to Hanasaka-so for my normal visit. It seemed like a normal day except for a birthday party, but a short time before people started returning home Kobayashi-san asked if I was interested in going somewhere in the evening. I did not understand where we were going to go, but I knew that it would probably be interesting. I found out that we going to visit another day service elderly home. Kobayashi's friend, Yukako-san, runs a center in downtown Kyoto. Kobayashi-san explained that it was an excellent place, and that she wants me to go there too.
The facility was also a small scale place, only taking twenty-five clients a day, but it was much larger and fancier than Hanasaka-so. The archetecture was odd in a sort of post modern and traditional fusion way. There were some walls and floors that were completely glass. There were sharp angles everywhere, and things like a bathroom door that was two walls of the room. It was an L-shape, and swung open so that a wheelchair could enter. The traditional aspect was that prior to this place, there were two traditional timber-framed storage vaults located there, and they were incorporated into the design. A few of the rooms had high cathedral ceilings with ancient beams exposed. They were very beautiful. My impression of the place, which has not yet included seeing it in action, was that it was too spacious and too expensive. There was way too much emphasis put into the archetecture, and not enough into the interior. It did not feel cozy at all, but there were some nice parts which show some potential. The first thing I asked was if it gets cold in the winter. The woman who was leading me around said that indeed it does, and it gets very hot in the summer. I asked that because Japanese buildings do not commonly have central heating, and that place was so spacious and exposed with the windows. The nicest thing about the whole place was the garden, which was a traditional rock, tree, and flower garden. It looked as though it had not been altered from its original state because there were huge trees that had been pruned with care for many years, and there was moss and lichen growing on the rocks.
Yukako-san was very excited to meet me, and was very interested in having me work at the center. She asked me what I was interested in doing there. I was kind of taken by surprize, but said that I am interested in learning about elderly care in Japan, and getting more experience in helping with massage and other types of assistance. She asked me what I would do if a person wanted to die even if they were not physically ready to do so. I said that I would encourage the person to accept life and death as part of a whole, and that if he or she would benefit from not dwelling on death, but trying to fully experience life until death comes. She told me that her grandmother is depressed and that she wants to die even though she does not show physical signs of dying. She asked me if I would take care of her grandmother every day to help her through the suffering. I had to tell her that I have a very busy schedual, and that I am still a beginner in healing. I said that I could only afford to visit the home one day a week, but that I would do my best to help in any way within my capabilities. I told her that i would talk to my adviser on Monday, and then we could arrange the logistics of me helping at her facility.
Kobayashi-san was very excited that I was interested in helping there as well, and she kept thanking me over and over again. she said that it is very important that I visit more places than only Hanasaka-so. I could not stop a tear coming to my eye for all the help that she is giving me in finding my path.
On Friday night I went to Kyudo practice where the next big change happened. My sensei told me that my form was beautiful, and presented me with my first practice arrow. The difficulty of the form increased three-fold with the presence of the arrow. First of all, it is hard not to get a little nervous that I might slip and let the arrow fly into God know what. On top of that, trying to be aware of every aspect of the form, form the stance, to the grip on the bow, to the positions of my arms, the opening of my chest, and the collecting of ki in my hara, was challenging. The grip of the arrow it the drawing hand changes a little too, and the hand mush be laterally rotated slightly to ensure that accidents do not happen. Practicing the way of the bow takes every ounce of my attention and consentration to perform, and yet I am still not able to focus on the target during the movements. I am only starting to realize the intricacies of this art, and am not yet able to fathom the difficulty once there is a traget to hit that is 28 meters away. I think that soon I will be able to shoot at the practice target four feet away, but now my hands are quite full with just learning how to hold the arrow.
Yesterday was another full day. I spent the entire day at Hanasaka-so bathing people, giving massages, and eating a fantastic lunch. Just before people starting going home, Kobayashi-san called me into her office. She told me that she had something to teach me. She brought out many pamphlets with pictures of people lying in caves and on top of rocks. She said, with great difficulty and the help of a dictionary, that this healing method was a way that I might be able to put my intentions of helping people to use. She said it was "rock power", and pointed to a sentence in katakana. I sounded it out, minus ion medicine. She explained that in Austria and in Hokaido, Japan researchers have found that certain geothermally heated rocks have the capability to heal many ailments, and even cancer. The process is through negative ion transmission, and people have started making their own healing rock beds with certain types of rocks to heal people. She said that I could be able to spread this knowledge in other places. She said that it is important to try for peace and compassion in this world, and that there are so many people killing eachother that it is important to help people to try to find peace. It seems so simple now, but when she was telling me this there was passion and intensity coming from her, and each word was such a struggle that the meaning was coming from a different place. The words only ensured that I would not loose track of what she was trying to convey. She asked me to study this type of healing so that I might be of use to this world and help to spread peace.
Later that night, I went out to a bar with some of the employees of Hanasaka-so to watch Japan vs. Latvia in a world cup soccer match. It was a great time, and I think that I used every single japanese word in my repetiore. After the game I took them over to the reggae bar, Rub a' Dub, for some dancing. None of them had ever danced to Reggae before, so I had to teach them a little about listening for the drum because the music is so different form other types. It was a blast, and I was glad to build a few more friendships.
Today, I am focusing on papers and schoolwork, which is a little sad because the day is so beautiful. I have been moving so much from one activity to another that I have not had time to sit down and write my papers or do research for my independent study, so today I have to focus.
I hope that you all are well, and life is still interesting. I am sending out my love to all my people, and especially my new cousin, Brianna.
posted by Kyle Weaner at 9:14 PM
1 Comments:
WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL work, and opportunity for your growth, healing and development. And what a gift to the world, as your fine teacher says.
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