<div>Hi kids...</div> <div> </div> <div>we're sitting in the kyoto international center, chatting with an american expat from richmond california by way of richmond virginia...who's lived in kyoto for 25 years after hopping a flight from tibet. We're watching cnn on the big-screen and smiling looooong overdue smiles of american pride. so long we almost forgot what it felt like. So,i had to drop a quick note. </div> <div> </div> <div>being out of the country for this is quite an experience. flipping on the tv sitting on our tatami mat floor for 5 min in the morning to try and decipher the japanese coverage where even when they're showing americans talking, you can't hear them because of the translation. trying to figure out what the fuck the numbers on the screen mean, and why their obama/mccain graphs look more like a japanese gameshow than news coverage, complete with goofy price-is-right noises. realizing that every white person you see is not actually american, but most likely european, and probably dutch or finnish, or some other "alternative" european country, and they don't speak your language either. </div> <div> </div> <div>but mostly...seeing all the I-Heart-Obama headbands on japanese heads, and sitting down in this large hall in kyoto with expats all around, and finally, finally, hearing english coverage...walking in just as obama's acceptance speach was beginning, and casting a deep sigh, squeezing a tight hug, and feeling the pride that eloquence and presidentialness and intelligence and hope and populism are, at least for now, the driving ideals of our country. it feels fucking good. and then seeing coverage of the parties just past the yellow glow of the castro theatre sign, and giggling a little too. </div> <div> </div> <div>as an aside, this morning we visited some of the zen temples on the outskirts. in addition to the above, it was surreal realizing that at the moment that the polls were closing in the US, we were looking upon a stone garden whose 15 perfectly placed rocks are regaled as the ultimate zen expression and that those stones and raked pebbles have not moved in centuries. zen garden here.....the height of political broohaha there. i like to think that modern zen is finding enjoyment in both. an ultramodern zen is realizing that you can say that only because you just knew that the good team won. </div> <div> </div> <div>so, my 100 yen time on the computer is about up and its time to celebrate with many many beers. so i say to you all what i meant to say 4 paragraphs ago...congratu-fucking-lations, and "Kompai!" from japan.</div> <div> </div> <div>from kyoto with love,</div> <div>s</div>
10:08 AM
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Tags: japan