May 24th:

As today approach I constantly wished to sit for a while since my feet hurt. I wished incorrectly. We had meditation early in the morning and I had to use every ounce of my strength to keep good posture and attempt to weave my legs into a braid. It was really interesting process wise, however I am weak willed and not very good at sitting still. One part that was really surprising was being hit by the long stick to help you focus or wakeup or if your back hurts. It really did do what the monk said I felt very energized directly after.

After that was visiting the national treasure of the Sanjusangendo Shrine. This was sort of a speed run and photography wasn’t allowed but there were 1000 golden (colored not material) buddha statues which was a little spooky. The building was massive and every time I thought we saw all the statues there were more.

Next was a look into the Japanese tea ceremony. Our guide told us that an actual ceremony takes FOUR HOURS. However we had a summary version and even got to try the tea ourselves. The most interesting part was that when holding the tea cup you have the most beautiful facing side of the cup towards you, but when you drink you face it away as you don’t touch your lips to the most beautiful part.

Finally we got a look around the area and some smaller temples!