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The world is my school and today my classroom was at a temple in Hakone Japan. When I woke up I only had half an hour 'til breakfast. Of course I made the right choice and stayed in bed. I cozied in my covers until it was only 7-minutes before breakfast. I was going to wait until it was 3-minutes before breakfast but a lady knocked on the door and said it was already ready. I quickly put on my Yukata (This is a traditional dress for the Japanese, both men and women wear them. They go on like a coat then tie up by a string around your waist. Most people wear these with bamboo flip flops and socks with a split in the toes- my sister calls them deer feet socks.) I brushed my teeth then walked down the hall to breakfast. There were so many foods at breakfast. My favorite- sushi. It was my favorite because it was make your own sushi. It guess it wasn't really sushi because there was nothing in it, just rice and seaweed. There was also fish, tofu hotpot, and little sides as well all in REALLY pretty dishes. When we got back to the room we got out some cushions then took a nap. We slept for a little while then went out on a search for the temples.
We had around a 1½ hour walk then found the temple entrance. In the temple I watched other people then copied what they did- stood near a bell attached to a giant rope, put money in a box, bowed clapped my hands twice then prayed. It is a Buddhist temple and I have never prayed that way before. It was cool to experience it. Apparently praying makes you hungry because we were so sat down for a snack. In the beginning of our walk through town we bought apples, bananas, clementines, and little cookies so we broke them out. The cookies tasted like two of our family Christmas cookies mixed together. The Christmas tree, and the chocolate log. They were soooo good. We started walking back then ended up taking another path and walking the opposite way. I kept begging to turn around and go back but we just kept on walking. We walked for probably another hour then ended up on the side of a twisty turny road where there was a blind curve every 5 feet in front of you. After we went by 3 big buses, Mom stopped and said we should turn around, because there was no sidewalk and Japanese drivers are crazy! By the way, did you know they drive on the left hand side of the road? I don't think the British ever ruled them or anything so that is really weird.
It felt a lot quicker on the way back because on the way there we had the unknown ahead of us, but on the way back we knew exactly where we were going. We finally got back after a wild day and I did some math. Before you know it the same lady came and knocked on the door saying that dinner was ready. This dinner was so good, and I kept thinking to myself, "I sure am going to miss this place." After the last dinner we went for our last onsen.
I loved the onsen hot springs the best. I also loved wearing the Yukata.
Goodbye Hakone
<3 World Rings Bell
- comments
Gran Gautney Hi Bell, So glad you got to experience some Buddhist prayer. Much of their prayer is "embodied" and expressed in a bodily way. What do the temples look like inside? Thanks for explaining their dress code. Love, Gran
World Rings Bell The inside had many rooms and outside pathways beside the rooms. In almost every room there was a heater.