I staple down my heart; won't somebody please undo this dream

I’m sorry I didn’t post at all this weekend. I was very busy. Saturday I went with David T to my friend’s, Alexa’s, birthday party. We got there after 7 some time and met many people. I ate some delicious yakiniku. It got a bit cold when it got dark, so the party moved inside. After hanging out inside for a while, a circle formed and it was decided (by who, I don’t remember) to play spin the bottle. But as many of us has boyfriends and whatnot, it turned into question spin the bottle. That was interesting. It was a very strange night. I ended up putting myself in charge of the wonderful, but VERY trashed Veronica. We kept trying to put her to bed, but she just wouldn’t stay. She would drunkenly get out of bed and come and destroy something, bless. After one particular episode, she went to the bathroom area. I hear a thud, so I went to check it out. Turned out, she was just laying down outside of the toilet. So, I helped her up, and put her to bed again. I was laying her down and gave her a pillow and then I sat next to her on the bed to help keep her there. Then, she just climbed onto me and fell asleep. It was cute for a while, but when it was time to get up, I realized that she’d clamed her arms around me, so getting out was tricky. I managed it, and in return, I got a back rub from Dennis. Thanks Dennis! I have been so tense lately, I needed it. The knots weren’t fixed, but I felt lots better anyway. Then, I did something that I haven’t done since before I left America. Then I stopped talking.

After going to bed around 3, David T and I got up at a bit before 6:30am. We took the first train in to Niihama. We went to his normal Sunday morning hangout with some of the Niihama kids. We went to this temple where they do zazen Sunday mornings. We got there around 8. First, we went into a quiet room with a bunch of people sitting on cushions. I started to sit down, but Yasu and David T instructed me that you sit down a certain way and then turn to the right to face the wall. Then, a monk came in, and meditation began. We sat for about 4 hours just being quiet. For zazen, you are supposed to keep your eyes open (so you don’t fall asleep) and stare at a spot on the wall. Then, the real point of it is to just be in the present. You are supposed to pay attention to your breath. I did David T’s counting to 10 technique for a while, but I kept falling asleep. I almost thought of getting a hit to wake me up (the monk will hit you on the back if you turn your head and put your hands a certain way). I didn’t know what would happen, but I was thinking about it, but just when I was making the decision… KERSWAP!!!! Some guy somewhere in the room got a smack. And it was SO loud and SO painful sounding and SO scary that I decided completely against it. After quiet time, we read a chant outloud, which was fun. I liked that. Then, we did walking meditation where you barely move, just breathing and walking itty bitty steps. At first, I was very impatient. The guy in front of me was barely even moving! How could I walk around the room if this dude couldn’t go ANY faster. Then, it hit me. I realized the point of walking meditation. We take life much too fast. If we took our time, we could enjoy more things, things that we never even noticed before. It was a pretty amazing thing to realize. Abie, be patient. We are all going at the same speed. Just relax. Don’t get stressed about things so much. Take a deep breath and enjoy the taking two breaths for each movement.

Then, we went to a pottery place and it was wonderful. The house was old-skool Japanese style, like a bajillion years old, old-skool. Then, Yasu dropped David T and I at David T’s place. We ate mac n cheese for lunch, which was yummy! Then, David T, Jackie, and I walked to Aeon (the big shopping mall in Niihama) to see DaVinci Code. I liked it. I read the book so long ago that I don’t really remember tons of the details. So, perhaps when things weren’t accurate to the novel, I could overlook it. It wasn’t the best movie of my life, but I enjoyed it. It was cool.

After the movie, I hopped into a cab and went to the station to catch my train home. There, I met up with Veronica and we rode the same train and chatted. When my train arrived, I rode my bike to Rich’s and then was straight off to my old Kyoto-sensei (Vice Principal)’s house. Rich, Kyoto-sensei, his wife, and I had delicious yakiniku in their front yard. Hooray for Japanese BBQs. Hehe. After the BBQ and dessert, Kyoto-sensei took us back to Rich’s I was planning to bike home, but that was too “abunai” for Kyoto-sensei. So, he shoed my bike into his mini-van and drove me and my bicycle home. What a nice guy.

Then I went home and cried. Lucky for me, Karl wasn’t mad when I called and woke him up. Big brothers are amazing.

1. “Have you ever paid for sex?” “Of course! It’s part of being a man in Japan!” (not exact quotes, but close enough).
2. David T surviving V’s many attacks.
3. Alexa’s birthday cake was shaped like a pumpkin. It was yummy and cute
4. Eating yakiniku 2 nights in a row (I am happy about it, even though today I feel so ill from it).
5. Getting a copy of the first Harry Potter book from a nice man from the meditation group. I will finally begin the series, I think!
6. Eating mac n cheese! Yummo!
7. Drinking a cookies n cream drink at Seattle’s Best in Aeon.
8. Having the Glass Doctor talk some sense into me.
9. In class today, my 2-nensei students were very surprised that I had a middle name. They were all yelling “Abigail Lee Mohn.” It was random. I never expected anyone to be excited about that.
10. I am going to watch movies tonight at Duncan’s with Dunc, Rich, and John. I need it. I need to not be in the house. (edit: I should NOT have gone. We watched a Japanese movie called "Audition." Oh my GOD it was fucked up. I literally had throw up in my mouth during one of the scences, it's THAT fucked up.)