Obama campaign from a Buddhist light

A quick aside here to let you know about a very interesting 2 part article by Nash Siamwalla that I recently read in The Bangkok Post about viewing the Obama campaign from a Buddhist perspective.

http://zen-sense.blogspot.com

नो इ कैन फिनाल्ली रेल्स.

Now I can finally relax! (The title will only print in Thai!!!)
(Remember, you may click on any photo to enlarge it.)


Ever since coming to Thailand 2 weeks ago, I've been tense and nervous surrounded by the craziness that is urban Thailand. The contrast with Japan is palpable. The word I always used to describe Japan was "civilized." The word that instantly came to mind to characterize Thailand for me is "chaotic." Bangkok is a jumble of noise, exhaust fumes, constant motion, cooking odors, colors, streets and sidewalks jammed, people everywhere. In addition, or in contrast, it is also a space age city with huge shopping and office complexes with multi-level walkways, escalators, sky trains, ramps, etc., that make it look like something out of a futuristic cartoon. Then venture around the corner and people are selling food on the street, literally, on a mat on the street, or on a rickety table set up on the sidewalk. There seems to be no regulation at all as to use of the sidewalks. People set up for business right on the sidewalks making shopping and eating easy, but walking difficult. Fortunately for me, on my first afternoon in Bangkok, I was able to meet up with Rebecca's friend Roger who helped me to understand the chaos that is Bangkok. Talking to him helped me to calm down a little. He led me to a pad thai place in the Ari neighborhood where I was able to eat a green papaya pad thai dinner while embracing, even enjoying the wild scene in front of me on the street.

I'd had enough of Bangkok after 24 hours, and booked a plane the next day to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand. Before my plane left, for some strange lapse in judgement, I decided to go to the famous Weekend market. For someone who tends towards agoraphobia, going to the weekend market was about the stupidest thing possible. Even so, I wandered through the very narrow lanes, shoulder to shoulder with the multitudes of Thais and tourists alike shopping for everything from pets to furniture. After an hour or two I finally left without purchasing a thing, not that I could fit anything else in my backpack anyway.

Finally, that evening I arrived in Chiang Mai and found an ok guest house for about $15/night, on the high side by backpacker standards in Thailand. Venturing out the next morning, I found the moat-enclosed Old City of Chiang Mai to be totally infested by foreign tourists (like me). Vacant eyed westerners wandering around in the heat browsing at the multitude of opportunities to spend their bhats. Almost every block on the eastern side of the Old City has numerous internet cafes, clothing and souvenir shops, tour operators, bike and motorbike rentals, English book shops, tailors, yoga studios, massage parlors, and of course restaurants selling hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza, and fried chicken as well as Thai food. Luckily for me, there are also over 30 vegetarian restaurants in Chiang Mai, some of them even organic. There are also over 300 wats (temple complexes) in Chiang Mai, each one extremely elaborately built and decorated with bright colors and mosaics made with mirrors and ceramic chips, most of them hundreds of years old. Needless to say, I was totally overwhelmed with all this stimulation. I had been excited about landing in Chiang Mai and was expecting to settle there for about 4 weeks until Lily joins me in mid-December. But my first reaction was major disappointment with the crazy scene I witnessed there and the tense feeling I felt within. I wanted to like it and find a home there, but I just felt disgusted (maybe that's a bit strong, but close).

My friend Tammy, who spent about 6 months in Chiang Mai last year, gave me a bunch of contacts for which I am eternally grateful. One of them was a couple, Yao and Grit, who run an organic vegetarian cooking school on their land about an hour and a half north of Chiang Mai (www.yousabai.com). Not that I'm all that interested in cooking, having been on a raw foods regime for the past 2 years before leaving on this journey, but I did want to get out of town, so after a couple of days in Chiang Mai, I took a sangtao (a pick-up truck with benches in it that operates like a bus) to Mae Tiang.
Grit came to pick me up on his motorbike, and off we went, up to their mountain setting. They also teach building with adobe/mud bricks. There are NO building codes in the countryside, so they can and do build whatever they like. They seem to have a lot of fun building in this free-form, whimsical manner. We are in the dry season now, but this type of building necessitates a large overhanging roof so the bricks don't melt.

I enjoyed the cooking lessons very much, and ate all that we made for ourselves -- curries, papaya salads, spring rolls, pad thai, tofu, soy milk, etc. It turned out to be too much of a good thing, because I broke out in a rash all over my trunk that itched like crazy. I guess it was the rich, spicy food that did it, because it calmed down after a few days of eating more simply. What I enjoyed most of all was getting to know Grit, a renaissance man now doing what he likes best. In past lives he has been an engineer, a journalist, a chef, yoga instructor, and no doubt more things that I don't know about. Now he teaches cooking classes, with his wife Yao, and is building a community as well as adobe abodes. So far, he's the only Thai person with whom I've had a deep communication, and I am grateful to have connected with him.

After leaving You Sabai, I met up with Jeff and his wife Sarah on their one acre of paradise-in-the-making. Read about what they're doing at www.fairearth.co.th. They have taken a chemical laden rice field about 45 minutes north of Chiang Mai near Mae Rim and are turning it into an organic farm/agra-forest with a vast variety of plants and trees from all regions of the world, as well as fish and soon animals, creating a sustainable utopia for themselves and a model for all of us. Jeff and Sarah welcomed me into their home where I stayed overnight, but I was unable to contribute much because I had hurt my back doing yoga the day before. (It's better now.) I loved playing with their very bright 7 year-old daughter Annie.

Back in Chiang Mai agonizing about 'trying' to make a go of it there, I was still getting down on myself for not getting into the swing of the place. I went to Chabad for Shabbat and met some new people who made some suggestions for me, but it wasn't what I was looking for. The second to last straw was moving to a cheapo guest house that had kitchen and laundry privileges, etc. The room for $6/night was dismal. The only decorations on the wall were dirt smudges from previous tenants. But the very last straw came as I walked a half a block from that guest house and was bitten by a mangy dog! I was really feeling down already, but that did it. I left Chiang Mai the next morning!

By noon the next day I found myself in the small village of Ban Tha Ton, and it is here that I can finally relax। This town is more my speed -- one wat, one internet place, a few simple restaurants and shops, and for the same $15/night, I have a luxurious large beautifully decorated bungalow with a deck right over the river. It's quiet and peaceful here. The people are friendly, the pace is slow, the air is clean. I love it!!! Last night the restaurant owner where I was eating sat down with me and looked at the photos on my camera as I ate my pad thai with veggies. A monk at the monastery has befriended me and we discuss meditation and life choices.

Tha Ton is located in the far north of Chiang Mai province right on the Burmese border. This morning I walked about a kilometer or so to the border. There was no one there. Not too exciting, but there it was. From town you can look up to the top of the hills to the north and see the Myanmar army lookout posts. Drug running is still prevalent here, so police on both sides are after the smugglers.


I've been here a few days now, and I feel very happy to have finally found a part of Thailand that I can enjoy and appreciate. One of these days, I'll check out the mountain villages/hill tribes around here and eventually, head east down the river to Chiang Rai. Until then, I'll just be kicking back and revelling in the Thai village life I've found here.

Impressions of Japan

When I arrived in Japan on September 11, it was a hot and steamy summer day. Now, eight weeks later, it’s cool and crisp autumn. The fall colors that Japan is famous for are dazzling. I feel nostalgic as I prepare to leave tomorrow. Japan has gotten a hold on me, and yet it’s time to move on.

I’m so impressed with Japan. The people are industrious, hard-working, both conventional, yet at the same time outrageous. Of course I can’t generalize about a whole nation. They are a nation of individuals, yet I see a sea of black suits of the businessmen and women along side those with red hair and plaid pants, and the fur-cuffed short shorts, black tights and knee-high boots of the fashionistas, the little old ladies carrying umbrellas to shield themselves from the sun, the little kids in their school uniforms and caps, and all of them riding heavy-duty bicycles in the most haphazard kamakazi way. That’s one thing I certainly haven’t gotten used to yet – the game of chicken that all the bicyclists play, heading right for the only tiny open space, and not dodging until the last possible second. I’m afraid I am a woos when it comes to this game, and I’m constantly giving way to all these fearless devil riders! Somehow everyone gets to where they are going without too many collisions.

Most everything WORKS here in Japan. It’s an incredibly efficient country, a very civilized country where people take pride in what they do and do it very well. The gas company sends someone out periodically just to inspect the gas in the house and make sure it’s all working right. The school children and teachers are given full health examinations each year by the Ministry of Education at virtually no cost. You can set your watch by the trains arrivals and departures. Postal workers climb to the top of mountains to deliver the mail.

I love the Japanese way of bathing – washing first outside the tub, and then soaking in a hot tub and relaxing in clean water. The Japanese toilets are great. The toilet seats are heated, and they spray warm water on your butt and some even blow you dry! All homes have an entryway where all outdoor shoes are removed and left. You wear slippers indoors, and even different slippers in the toilet room/wc. Another feature I love is having a drain board above the sink allowing the rinse water from the dishes to drip into the sink as they are drying. And just about all houses use drying porches for drying clothes outdoors.

There is so much attention to and appreciation of details, to display of food, of packaging, of decoration, of architecture, of gardens. It heightens my appreciation of all aspects of life here. I’ve found the people I have met and even those I’ve connected with on the street to be welcoming and very generous towards me as a guest in their homes and in their country. I’ve really loved being here in Japan and leave reluctantly. I look forward to returning some day.

Additional observations of Japan written after three weeks in Thailand

I keep thinking about Japan। I miss it and the friends I met there। I miss the beautifully presented meals of many small dishes and many different and complimentary flavors served on a variety of beautiful small plates or bowls. I miss soaking in the deep tubs of steamy clean water after washing. Cleanliness is a hallmark of Japan - almost no litter or graffiti anywhere. I was continually impressed with the totally efficient use of space both inside the houses with multi-use rooms, and externally in the gardens and land plots neatly and closely placed together. There is no such thing as a vacant lot that I saw in Japan. All available land is turned into a vegetable garden or rice paddy. And I was continually amazed by the ability of most all the Japanese people I saw on the trains and subways to SLEEP, from the minute they got on, right up until their destination, even standing up!!!

On the other hand, there were a few things that were difficult for me, the major one was the language barrier. I didn't feel Japan catered too well to non-Japanese speakers. Outside of the major tourist areas, there are few signs that are transliterated in Roman characters. Luckily, many restaurants, even in the non-tourist areas have photos or plastic models of their dishes in the window or on the menu, so I could point to a dish that looked appealing. It was not too easy to find organic produce there. Hopefully that is changing with time. They still haven't done much to disguise the massive webs of electric wires hovering above most streets in the cities. Unless you can view it as an art form, it's pretty ugly. And lastly, while the major public parks and gardens are exquisite, the neighborhood parks are pretty dismal, with just a few benches and maybe some play equipment on a dirt plot. So Japan isn't perfect. Is there any place that is?

Aside from these few not-so-positive impressions, I still love Japan and hope to return there someday soon.

I keep thinking of this nebulous metaphor for the difference I feel between Japan and Thailand - in Japan the toilet paper (at least some that I saw) is in a large roll wound very tightly around a very small hole through which a very small tube holds it in place. It lasts about a week or more. In Thailand the rolls I've seen are small, very loosly wound over a large cardboard tube. It lasts about a day in a female household. Hhhmmmmmmm....................

Final weeks in Japan

Here in Kyoto, I’m watching the election returns preparing to celebrate with my friends Diane and Hikaru, and Diane’s nephew Kyle from Seattle. I’ll be flying to Bangkok tomorrow, so I want to bring you up to date on the last weeks of my visit to Japan.

Thanks to Diane and Hikaru, I have spent about half of my 8 weeks in Japan, in Kyoto as a recipient of their warm hospitality. Truly they have welcomed me as a member of their family and given me full access to their comfortable home along with a bicycle and 24 hour computer access. I’ve been able to enjoy the wonders of Kyoto and the warmth of family far from home.

Picking up from the end of the last blog entry, I’ll share with you my travelogue of where I’ve been in the last few weeks. Before leaving Shikoku, I toured Matsuyama Castle and took a bath at Dogo Onsen, the oldest hot spring spa in Japan, and visited a very old shrine and temple there. Coming home from Shikoku after another visit with Hitomi and her family in Mishima, I again stopped in Okayama to visit Miyuki and receive another lymph treatment. Not quite so painful this time thankfully. On the way back to Kyoto, I stopped to see the famous Himeji Castle and Kokoen Garden in Himeji. I have made a couple of other side trips of great interest. First I went to Koyasan, a hilltop monastery of the Shingon school of Buddhism. I stayed in a temple, was served delicious vegetarian food in my room by the young priests, and attended an early morning prayer service. In spite of the pouring rain (hey, I’m from Seattle),
I ventured out to stroll through the amazing 1000 year old cemetery in awe of the beauty, the dedication, the antiquity, and the enormity of the ancient trees. I also, quite by chance, wandered in to a Buddhist service held in a small temple lit by only 2 candles, with chanting and a 15-minute address by a priest who was completely in the dark. Even though it was entirely in Japanese, I could tell that what he was saying was profound and moving to all present. When I left Koyasan on a very very steep funicular, a magical mist hovered below summing up my emotions on visiting this very special place.

From Koyasan I headed north to the ancient Japanese capital of Nara. I stayed in a B&B in Oji about 15 minutes by train outside of Nara. From Oji, I bicycled to Horyuji, a massive temple complex containing the oldest wooden buildings in the world. Some of these temple buildings date back 1300 years, yet they are so well maintained and still in use that they don’t appear so old. October is the month for Japanese school children to take field trips to important historical sites, and I found them everywhere I went, including many groups in Horyuji. Unfortunately, vying for space with these hordes of boisterous school children detracted from my ability to sense the awe, grandeur and spirituality of most of the temples and shrines I visited.

The next day I went into Nara, an ideal tourist city for me. A large area of the city was reclaimed from wasteland many years ago and made into a vast city park. Many of the important historic sites are located in this park heavily populated by the ever-present Nara deer. Some of these deer act like deer, wandering around, grazing, sleeping, while others are totally obnoxious, pandering for handouts from the tourists. While I was trying to eat a pear, one particularly persistent deer even tried to take a bite out of my leg! By far the most impressive thing I saw was Todaiji, the largest wooden building in the world. It’s so big because it houses an enormous Buddah and supporting figures. Again there were thousands of school children following their teachers around. They were most excited to worm their way through a hole in one of the massive pillars said to be the size of one of the giant Buddah’s nostrils. See the hilarious photo of one kid who got stuck and was pulled from one end and pushed from the other by his teachers.

After another week in Kyoto obsessing about planning my futures steps, I headed out to visit the Konohana Family, an intentional spiritual farming community and eco-village living at the foot of Mt. Fuji. This is a utopian family of about 55 members whose aim is to promote oneness among all people. They operate a thriving organic farm on 60 different nearby parcels of land all given to them by neighbors who no longer are farming that land. They also raise chickens for eggs and goats for milk.

The food was all super delicious and knowing it was totally organic made it all the more enjoyable. I helped out during the two afternoons I was there by harvesting adzuki beans in what would have been the shadow of Mt. Fuji if the sun had been shining, which it wasn’t until the day I left.

I went from this small farming community via one bus and three trains to the mega-metropolis of Tokyo. I had dreaded going there for fear of being trampled to death by the crowds or freaking out in the packed subways. Au contraire, I found Tokyo to be a delightful, highly energetic city teeming with all sorts of life. As with all the cities in Japan that I visited, I found both huge modern wide boulevards and small quaint back streets. I had to go to Tokyo to pick up my visa for Thailand, and I’m so glad I did. The innovative modern architecture of Omotesando, the high fashion on the streets, the bustling activity in Shibuya, the ease of getting around on the trains and subways, walking the small side streets all fascinated me. But after an evening performance of Traditional Japanese Performing Arts, the mountains were beckoning.

The next morning I boarded a Shinkansen bullet train for Nagano, and then a smaller train for Matsumoto at the entrance to the Japanese Alps. I stayed in a traditional ryokan, ate soba noodles at a restaurant where they are made, and afterwards walked to see the famous Matsumoto castle lit up at night and reflected in the ancient moat. Very impressive. I really liked what I saw of Matsumoto, but the mountains were still beckoning, so the next morning I boarded a train and then a bus to get to Norikura Highlands high in the Japanese Alps. There I found an amazingly wonderful couple who welcomed me into their inn, fed me some of the most delicious food I ate in all of Japan, and introduced me to their other guests who ended up taking me, the following day, to the entrance of the tunnel leading to the astonishingly beautiful mountain valley of Kamikochi. I was very lucky to get there when I did, because I believe now the entire village has closed down for the winter. I hiked from one end of the valley to the other snapping photos and admiring the views.

Okay, now I have to tell you about the bus trip between Kamikochi and Norikura Kogen. I took it both ways, and marveled at the skill of the bus drivers on what is the most terrifying mountain road I have ever seen, and I’ve seen quite a few. Not only was this road very steep and very windy but also incredibly narrow. What appeared to be a one-lane road miraculously allowed two giant busses to pass each other with only inches to spare! There was evidence of landslides all over the place, and the drop offs on the side of the road plummeted many hundreds of meters! OOOOOhhhhhhhh, it was scary. See the photo if you doubt my description!

After this terrifying bus ride, I bid the mountains good-bye and boarded another bus to Takayama and then a train to Furukawa. Both towns feature excellent examples of craftsmanship in their canal-side houses. In Furukawa, I also visited a candle shop where a sixth generation candle maker fashioned candles in the traditional way as had his ancestors. I also bought local apples and persimmons, some Japanese sweets, and some sake at a sake brewery to bring back to Diane and Hikaru. On the train back to Kyoto that afternoon, we passed through the height of the fall colors along the winding Kisogawa River.

Now I’ve wept with joy at the confirmation of what I knew was going to happen – a landslide victory for Obama and Biden and big gains for the Democrats in the House and Senate. Yippee!!! I’m so thrilled and relieved, knowing that hope is revived not just for the U.S., but for the whole world! Tonight we’re going out to a super neighborhood restaurant to celebrate this joyous victory.