Regan and Kent in Asia: Day One

March 27, 2007

We lost a full day in travel because of the international date line, so essentially I was dropped off at the SLC airport around 6:30am on Friday and crashed in Kyoto Japan at around 9pm on Saturday. We awoke for breakfast at the hotel and had a sacrament meeting as a group. It was neat to hear from a couple of the members of the group about the history of the church in Japan and Asia.

We then set off for a day of visiting the ancient sites. Our first stop was called Ni Jou Castle. We learned something pretty cool about the way the old Shogun castles were protected. The wooden floor joints were structured in such a way that when you walked on any board it would squeak. As we toured the castle (we were not allowed to take pictures inside, only outside) we made quite the ruckus. I guess the idea in the day was that this would be an effective alarm against intruders. I bet it made it hard for the teen age kids to sneak out for a night on the town as well.

As this was our first stop, I was struck by both the similarities and the differences between Japan (first time here) and China or Taiwan. The people here seem much more used to having an American in their presence. The city overall is much more clean that either China or Taiwan as well. One thing I am getting a kick out of is watching those students who have never been to Asia (Regan for example) and the way they are reacting to things. For example, Dustin Smith was taking pictures of the children in their school uniforms so he could show his children how cushy life in American’s schools can be. Bearing in mind that this is a Sunday it was interesting to see how many school groups were touring the castle.

Our next stop for the day, the Golden Pavilion. This is a 22kt gold plated Buddhist temple set in the middle of a small pond. The gold bird on the top of the temple is made of over 40 lbs of gold! It is amazing how glowing the temple looks without any direct lights aimed at it. This is perhaps the best example I’ve seen in my life as to why Gold has always carried such value. The place literally glows in the middle of the day.

It is at this stop that I first realize the “flag” our tour guide is using to hold up so we can try to find her in a crowd. It is basically a pink shower loofa on a stick. Of course, I couldn’t help but craft a verse of “Follow the Loofa” to the tune of “Follow the Prophet.” I think Tyler would have enjoyed marching with me as we sang: Loofa on a stick for everyone to see, if you lose your way be sure to look for me….follow the loofa, follow the loofa, follow the loofa it knows the way!”

Next up…a traditional Japanese style lunch. Several students hit their heads on the walls as they looked for their seats; fortunately, I didn’t have this problem. The food was fairly good; however, I was far from filled up. Combined with the lack of sufficient airline food and I thought my stomach was going to start rioting if it wasn’t filled soon. Most of the dishes at the restaurant were chicken dishes. Here’s hoping I don’t come down with the bird flu.

Following lunch our group drove to the HeiAn Shinto Shrine. The Shrine itself was a green and orange structure that was similar to other shrines I had seen in both Taiwan and China. While at the shrine were able to tour some very beautiful gardens. We also really enjoyed some rather creative translations on signs. My personal favorite read “It is closed to the public besides a point, the person concerned than this.” I think if I was trying to translate this sign I’d have stuck with the traditional “no unauthorized personal beyond this point.” But that isn’t nearly as creative is it.

At the gardens I have a chance to practice my Karate Kid Swan kick while we crossed a little pond on a stone path. We also were able to talk to a couple of locals. And by talk of course I mean make silly gestures to one another without a clue what the other person means.

I am struck with the natural beauty of Japan. Perhaps even more I am impressed with the city’s cleanliness. There seems to be little smog and no litter anywhere. The people are also EXTREMELY polite and service oriented. They do not seem to be as surprised to see an American as I remember the Chinese people in both Taiwan and China. However, when we gave them attention they did seem to enjoy it.

Our second to the last stop was the “SanJuSanGen Do” Buddhist Temple. The Japanese take on Buddhism is different from the Chinese. However, the temple’s over 1,000 statues and methods of worship loked the same to my untrained eye.

Our last stop was to a place called “KyoMidZa.” According to the our “Loofa Lady” this Buddhist temple came about when a monk had a dream that he should travel to the land of clear water and there build a temple. When the monk came upon this spot he found a beautiful spring geyser and then built the temple up and around the mountainside. I think this was my favorite stop of the day because of the beauty of the trees and mountainside around the temple.

Also, you should be aware that when I come home I may look much younger and even better looking than when I left. I had a taste of the elixir of youth from the fountain. According to the folklore I am now going to live longer and look better. Life for Jamie back home just keeps getting better huh?

Throughout the trip we have been divided into teams for quick counting of all the group. I am the team captain for ten of us. We have nicknamed ourselves the badgers. We are having a great time. We have even decided that whenever someone does something really cool, we give them a one yen piece. This coin (worth less than a penny) will literally float on water. We have thereby named this coin the “badger buck.” When at the fountain of youth I was playing around with some of the children and making them laugh I earned a “badger buck.”

The evening was pretty uneventful. A large group of us went out to eat but found that no restaurant was prepared to accept so many people at once. In the end, we split into a group of about 4. Only problem was we had no Japanese speaker among us and we got a little turned around. I felt pretty cool when I was able to make just enough out of a few characters and get just enough information out of a local to get us back to the hotel. Are you swooning over my hero status yet?