On Aikido frustrations- followup

So.... I ended up going to class on Tuesday, and it was wonderful. Not that I did particularly well, but I went to my not so ouchy hurty dojo with a very open mind and it was great. Thanks to everyone for their advice and experiences on my last entry.

My friend Tom Newhall from Oberlin College Aikikai has been in Japan since the start of January, and finally made it down to the Kansai on Friday night. So we met up in Nara to train at Sanshozenji Zen temple and Aikido dojo (www.aikinara.jp). Why? Our wonderful sensei from Oberlin, Jim Klar Sensei, trained their about 15 years ago and we felt we should make some sort of "pilgramage" out there. The dojo is a short ride on a local train out of Nara, Tom and I promised to meet at the train station near the dojo. I got off the train, and started looking around for Tom and/or the right direction to the dojo when a little old man noticed that I was looking a little lost. I asked him for directions, but they were a little too complicated for me to coordinate with the ones Jim Sensei had sent us, so he offered to drive me and Tom there as soon as I found him. Tom soon showed up, and we piled into our new aquantance's car. The drive took a little longer than we expected, but we managed to try to make small talk (in Japanese!). Tom and I stepped out of the car, and walked into the temple grounds.

We wandered into the complex, if only to try to pick out which building was the dojo, which was the monk's quarters, and which one we would be attacked by ninjas if we entered. We decided the first one looked like a residence, so in the darkness we proceeded down the gravel path through an ancient cemetary trying to identify the dojo. We eventually found it, but the lights were out and no one was there yet. We sat down on the steps in the dark, surrounded by ancient graves, and broke out some onigiri goodness, followed by chocolate covered almonds. Dinner of Champions. Twenty minutes before class the first car pulled into the parking lot and the first aikidoka greeted us and led us into the temple...

More later...