Ahh Sunday

So today is sunday. So far it has been pretty productive. Granted this weekend I have spent too much money, today was great. I woke up and did laundry, ate some oatmeal, hung my laundry. Then around 11:15 head out for church. The church I have been attending is St.Anselms in Meguro, about 30min and 320yen away from the dorm. There is another Catholic Church closer with an English mass too, but I like the Meguro Church because it was built by the Monks of St.Johns and has teh same feel to it as the Abbey in Collegeville ( Oh how I miss thee). The one thing that doesnt have the feel of St.Johns is the speed at which they pray. I have never heard the Hail Mary prayed so fast. I think next week I will check out the closer Yotsuya Church to see if I can get the nice slow paced praying that I learned to love behind the pine curtain.

After mass I walked to a Ikebana (Japanese Flower arrangement) show close by that the leader of the trip had an extra ticket, so i got in free. Earlier in the week when I first found out about the show I mentioned it to my boss and she made a point to say that the guy who is doing it is a modern Ikebana artist and is gay. the whole gay thing to me was like ok whats the point. After the show I can say that I dont think I would ever have used glitter or bedazzeled a flower. I stood in line for about 30min waiting to get in. The facility where it was held is defiantly used mainly for weddings and big get togethers I believe as they had bridal salons and what not all over and a kimono rental shop in house. The area where the show was is like an old japanese temple/house/something. I think they brought in all of the walls and ceilings from an outside source as they looked very old. The ceilings and walls were covered with beautiful paintings, almost making it hard to pay attention to the flowers. The displays varied from very modern to more traditional including everything from Blue, Yellow, and Red painted 1x2's to more varieties of orchids then I have ever seen in my life.

I believe the major difference between western and japanese flower arrangements is not the simplicity that most people think, but the treatment of the whole plant as beautiful. In arrangments you will see everything from un-blossomed buds to dead flowers, pods and sticks. In the art they treat all parts of nature as it is beautiful and not just the flower. I mean to be honest some of the orchids are not really that pretty, some are kind of scary looking.

After the show I had a nice late lunch and then came home to put away my dried laundry and now I am about to start on some work.

I hope in the next week to have my website up. I have been paying more attention to my diet as of late as I am beginning to see the negative affect of having a 7-11 a block away.

Also in my next post I will show my adventures with Kit Kats.