i had a very interesting trip over here. after spending 6 long weeks in australia, i flew home, 27 hours, waited at luggage terminal for an hour. no luggage. so i went to the luggage recovery station, described my bag, gave my contact number & left without any clothes to bring on the next trip. it was a disappointing ending to a very long trip from oz. in oz, i got picked up by a shuttle that was supposed to take me to the brisbane airport 3 hours away, but instead decided to drop me off in the middle of nowhere at a train station because they had broken down shuttles & it was schoolies weekend & also the important cricket match in downtown brisbane. basically a crazy weekend. so i get a train ticket & am told there is work being done on the tracks & i will have to get off at some town i can't pronounce & take a bus several miles to the next station, get back on the train, go to downtown brisbane, get off the train there & take an airport train, which i was booted off as well because it decided to go express somewhere else. so i'm on this train wondering if i will make it on time, which is crucial because of my tokyo flight that i could not miss because i have to get to work. so i sit by a man dressed in a pink dress, pink nail polish, pink watch, giant "happy birthday" ribbons in his hair. he was on his way to audition for the reality show" big brother" and was surprised i talked to him. "can i ask you where you come from?" and i tell him "chicago" to which he replies, " do they have many of my kind over there?" to which i reply, "sure." because i actually don't much notice his "get up" being used to it & non-judgemental. a comment from another aussie was "are you going to the cricket match, cause they dress even stupider than you." i thought that was a very rude thing to say. many of the aussies in that area are conservative & if you stick out at all, you are judged. i had my share of comments & stares, as well as anti-american comments, but those were mostly from non-aussies. i even started pretending i was from canada because the reaction was easier. it sucks to be hated by others for being american. thanks, mr. bush.
anyhow, after going through every kind of security check sans an anal probe, the plane is delayed an hour, which is bad news for me cause i only have an hour to go through security & immigration in LA. i am running from one building to the other with my luggage trying desperately to get on that flight. i must catch the flight because i only had 14 hours in chicago before leaving for tokyo. i hand the luggage to someone i assume puts it in the right place, the plane is waiting for me, and i get on just in time. whew! sweating like a swine, the dude next to me has been through the same ordeal.
the story has a happy ending, though. my luggage was miraculously delivered to my doorstep at 11pm that night!
the flight to tokyo, 13 hours, was cake. shuttled to shinjuku where i'm staying with a teacher who works at the studio. mindy, my friend from chicago, is with me, which buffers the entrance to this complicated city. we meet yuka & go to her place, then plan a dinner at a famous high rise building on the 40th floor. the 4 of us(also another tokyoite living in san diego but visiting who has been to my class in chicago) eat one of the best meals i have ever had in my entire life. this is not a tourist place, but a real local traditiona japanese restaurant. no english anywhere, so luckily they just order everything. i don't mind because i'll eat anything. food keeps coming, like it was never going to stop. everything from sashimi to udon to soft tofu, daikon salad, nato okra, even rice soup with little fish and eyeballs, which surprisingly i ate and enjoyed. i even ate sea urchin. the fish here is so good and fresh you can not go wrong.
the next morning we got up early & went down to shibuya on a bus to the yoga studio to practice. it's a very small humble space with a concrete floor & very humble, quiet, serious yoga students. an incredible vibe. i have a wonderful practice because the energy is just perfect. and every single person is warm & greets me with respect. very friendly people who are very inviting. i am very happy here.
they have a yoga tshirt contest and the shirts are all on the wall for us to vote for. the one that is chosen will represent the studio. i find this to be brillient and will most likely steal the idea when i open my own humble studio. another thing that i found great was that they had bottles of mat wash solution and everyone sprays their mats when they are finished practicing. something else i plan to steal. i have never seen that before and i think it is an awsome idea.
afterwards, they take me to tullys, a local coffee shop and photograph & interview me for the website. it is very casual & i just talk away about the importance of teaching the traditional way, which is what this studio is all about.
i am gifted with a box of sweets from the owner, a cultural thing is gifting here.
and i am very happy for the first time in a long time.
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