Day 4

Today was definitely not as full and crazy as Day 3. But the day focused on Japanese culture. The first thing we did was go to a Japanese tea house and attend a Japanese tea ceremony. It was very intricate in nature with many precise steps. We got to eat a sweet and drink some matcha tea. Some students even participated in working through the steps on their own while we watched. After watching the ceremony, it is easy for me to see why the Japanese are so exacting in everything that they do. One part I liked in the ceremony was when the woman running it reminded us all that this was one moment in time that would never be repeated, and that's why made the tea ceremony so special. I think that's a message that's worth remembering about life, is it not?

The other major part of the "culture" day was a visit to the Japanese National Museum. I wasn't thrilled with the LONG walk to Ueno Park, in the rain nonetheless. But once we got to the museum, I really enjoy looking at many of the pieces there, including Japanese warrior outfits, swords, beautiful portraits, Buddhist sculptures, pottery, and scrolls. The art seemed to be distinctly Japanese: I wouldn't call it an international museum by any means, but there was so much to see that I'm sure we didn't cover it all. After the museum visit, most people went off by themselves, but Kerry, Lynette, and Venus and I decided to go back to the hotel.

We pretty much took the rest of the day off, mostly due to the crappy weather: it was raining off and on all day, and that dissuaded me from attending a festival dedicated to sumo wrestling, which would have been interesting, but already my feet are KILLING me and we just rested most of the late afternoon, so nothing much to report there. We had dinner in the hotel: a lovely salad with apples and avocados, lobster tomato bisque, and some of Kerry's bacon-mushroom pizza. Tasty stuff.