Saturday, July 25, 2015

Journey to Japan

The next step in my journey is a trip to Japan. I'm leaving Maryland August 16th to drive back to Colorado to regroup but stopping on the way in Illinois to see my Sister, Brother, and nieces and to give them some of my worldly possessions. While in Colorado, I'll see my daughter, get rid of stuff in my remaining storage unit and hopefully downsize to a smaller unit.

After a week or two in Colorado, I'm considering attending a Sesshin and/or heading to the San Francisco Zen Center for awhile before leaving for Japan around mid-September. Haven't decided but leaning towards not getting a Visa at this time and just staying within the 90-day limit; I can always leave the country for a few days and then come back for another 90 days. While I hope to enjoy the beautiful Kyoto autumn, the primary purpose of my trip is to learn the language. The more I study Zen Buddhism, the more I want to learn, but much of the history and language is rooted in Japan and China so I feel the need to study these languages and cultures. Of course I could study Japanese in the US and indeed, I'm taking a couple of lessons from a local Japanese women I met here in Maryland, but, living in the country and doing a homestay and/or immersion language classes will be much more efficient.

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