Tuesday, May 27, 2008

M. says... (quotes from my 5 year old)

“Everything has an engine, except people and alligators.”

Mama, I promise, next time I'll bring coffee...

Our first official tourist stop in Japan was to a Buddhist temple. Before entering we all traipsed along the surrounding graveyard and oohed and awed over the intricate family burial plots. All Japanese are required to be cremated so naturally you can fit many people into a small space. My first inclination was to be respectful and save the photos for another day - but dammit, everyone else was doing it!

So this is pretty much what they all look like, in various shades of natural stone. Most had drinks placed on an alter, thoughtfully opened and ready for spiritual partaking.
The wooden "sticks" are placed at the gravesite for certain anniversaries of death, 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc. I think the tour guide said they have prayers carved into them, but don't quote me on it.

Forgive the blurry indoor pictures but I could not bring myself to use a flash in the temple. I have no idea what anything in the above picture is, or what it's used for. I do know the carved ball thingy gets hit with the short stick thingy next to the bowl thingy on the table thingy. For some of you this won't be enough information, but be grateful, as I was told any other day this stuff is usually covered with cloth.

If one cannot afford a family burial plot outside, small alter spaces are available for rent inside the temple as you see above. They keep the ashes in delicate fabric boxes that kind of look like gift bags, taped closed along the top, for lack of a better description. They had them placed about on tables and such and I couldn't seem to find a reason as to why they were just hanging out there, so accessible. I tried quite hard to stay in there and learn more about it all, but those lovely fabric containers came in all different sizes. The smallest, with their gifts of candy and toys, were too much to take. I had reached my emotional limit and made my escape.



Left-handed Person in a Left-sided World

To any Lefties out there this sounds like heaven. Drive on the left, left on red, stick to your left on the sidewalks, stairs, etc. Even the books open the opposite way, so one turns the pages with their left hand. If I could only find a way to free my left-handed ways, long since repressed. What a shame to be born with such power, and no idea how to summon it. I should be excelling here, but alas, I am grouped with the right-handed people. I’m a “new guy” who turns their windshield wipers on instead of their turn signal, accidentally flashes their brights, and is overall a threat to pedestrians and drivers alike, forced, once again, to adapt to an opposite world.

Where the Streets Have No Name

In case you were wondering, Bono was definitely singing about Japan. A newcomer, trying to find their way anywhere, is sure to hear something along these lines:
From the main gate head to the big red Universe grocery store, turn left after the second stop light, look for the sign with the grumpy man on it, make a right, drive half a mile to the Happy Drug, make a u-turn, look for the paper cup, stop, get out, spin around twice, dance a jig, click your heels three times and say, “There’s no place like the ramen house!” And BAM! You’re there – easy as pie.

Life Lessons

Japanese Life Lesson #1 - More luggage than hands does not make for easy travel.
2 adults, 2 kids, 1 dog, two dog carriers (hard & soft) 2 car seats, one stroller, five suitcases, one guitar, and three backpacks – oh my! At least the fancy luggage carts were free. If only Matthew was tall enough to push one of them we wouldn’t have had to pile it all precariously onto just two. Praise Buddha for the graciousness and infinite patience of the Japanese. Should my children pick up anything from this mostly overcast, usually windy, yet somehow still beautiful country - please let it be their gift of selfless hospitality.

Japanese Life Lesson #2 – You Americans, as a whole, just don’t get it.
In Italy, this was lesson #1. Then we returned to the states and managed to get caught up in the rush. Upon our arrival to Japan we were, most gratefully, smacked over the head with the truth yet again. Don’t get me wrong, I think the majority of us really, really want to “get it” – I certainly do. But c’mon, aren’t we proud to be an American, where at least we know we’re free, yada, yada? From childhood we’re told to be grateful we have it better than everyone else and somehow that morphs into the thought that we ARE better than everyone else. We base our quality of life on the size of our cars and how far we have to drive to Starbucks. We live in our little bubble, concerned only about what happens inside of it. I implore you; break free from that tiny bubble and you’ll see this world has so much more to offer than lattes and Super Walmarts. And you don’t even have to cross the border to do it.

Japanese Life Lesson #3 - Generalizations suck.
Amen!