If there is one thing we have heard over and over on the ship about travel – and we know from our own past experiences – it is to stay flexible. Things sometimes don’t go as you plan or expect. With this in mind, we had our first test right off the bat:
Wrong
Bus (and the Mayes Family’s Moment of Zen)
On
our first day in Yokohama, Japan, we were supposed to go on a half-day tour
called the "Tokyo Temple & Drums Experience”. We went over to the tour
buses, gave our tickets to a person leading the program, and she must have
misread them -- focusing on the word "temple" -- and sent us to the
wrong bus. We didn't pick up on this until too late, after the buses had all
pulled away. As it turned out, we were on the "Zen Temple & Meditation
Experience" bus. When we arrived at the temple 25 minutes later, there was
a Buddhist monk who greeted our group (mostly people 40 years old and older –
and then Tim, Ben, and Ali). He explained that he would be teaching us how to
meditate and that there would be three 15 minute sessions. 15 MINUTES OF ABSOLUTE
SILENCE. THREE CONSECUTIVE TIMES! I (Jen) was pretty sure that this would be
challenging enough for me, let alone Ali who was sitting on a separate pillow
next to me and then the boys next to her. Rick somehow had conveniently found a spot
across the room. The monk walked around the whole time, watching and helping
each of us with our posture and breathing technique. You should have heard Ali
working on her breathing: in for 5 seconds, out for 10 seconds. I had the
giggles to start and was so fearful that I was going to lose it in front of
everyone (all facing toward each other, mind you) that I had to keep
pinching myself. Thankfully, I didn’t, and lo-and-behold, Ali embraced the
experience and rose to the occasion. Tim and Ben were good sports, too, though they still don’t know that it was a mistake.
Japan! Rick's ppt
- We found the people in Japan to be incredibly helpful and patient. The language barrier was definitely an issue for us, but there were many people who spoke English -- or at least more than our Japanese which is limited to “hello” and “thank you”.
- We were told in advance that Japan is one of the cleanest and safest places in the world and definitely found this to be the case.
- We visited the Ramen Noodle Factory with two new friends of the boys and learned about the history of the Cup of Noodles. Very interesting. Being there brought back memories of our poor college and graduate school days when this was a “go-to” meal on a regular basis.
