I can't say I had ever talked to a monk.  We see them a lot in Thailand, with their orange robes, shaved heads and quant smiles.  I have been curious about monks and buddhism for a while and this was my chance to learn about their daily life. 

The MCU Buddhist University in Chiang Mai has a program called Monk Chat, where laypeople such as myself can go and talk to monks for a bit in a relaxed environment. The monks are all students at the University, which has the longest name evar: Mahachulalongkornrajvidalaya Buddhist University.

I had the pleasure of meeting Souk (above), who is from Loas and in his 4th year at the university.  His English as very good (the program is, in part, meant to help their English) and he was no different that the nice guy you'd meet in the street.  In fact, he takes great pride in presenting himself with humor and laughter as it enables people (like me) to feel more comfortable in his presence.  I talked for about an hour with Souk and his friends and got a feel for their student life, which involves a lot of early mornings and meditation.  He knows more about the World Cup than me and seems to be more of a typical college student than I would have thought.  He imparted some of his philosophy in saying that as a monk, there a number of rules, but the most important thing is to do good and serve as a positive example. I consider Souk a friend and I hope he is reading this. Hi Souk!

Monk Chat occurs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5-7 pm. The University is beside Wat Suan Dok, which is nice for a visit as well. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

A Royal Spectacle, originally uploaded by LeeLeFever_TwinF.

Thailand is currently in the midst of an event that is somewhat incomprehensible to Americans like us. The Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej is celebrating 60 years on the throne (making him the world's longest serving monarch) and this event has the Thai people entranced. A couple of nights ago, the King welcomed royalty from over 25 countries to his palace for a gala and it seemed that every Thai TV in the country tuned in for the event. As we learned the next day, it was extremely rare for the people to see their beloved King, even on TV. As one restaurant manager explained to us "everyone is just so happy for the King". The event even took precedence over the World Cup. More on BBC News

The reason I say it is incomprehensible to us is that we have never known an enduring personal symbol of our country. Seeing the incredible love, dedication and almost religious devotion to the King, it makes us realize how important his role is for national unity and stability. He is, to an astounding degree, the symbol of Thai success, morality and stability. It makes us wonder what it would be like to have American royalty. Would the country be so divided? Would the American equivalent of the Thai King be a positive influence, or a joke?

A Ryokan Inn, or Japanese style hotel, is really a must-do while visiting Japan as it offers a traditional Japanese traveler experience that, for foreigners like me, is highly unusual and surpisingly luxurious.

A few days ago, we visited the small mountain town of Tsuwano, population 5,500.  Having had our eye on staying in a ryokan, we figured this would be the place. Unsurprisingly, a train conductor ended up leading us through the town to two different inns.  The last of which we chose to spend the night, as the other was full. It was called the Meigetsu Ryokan- and we recommend it.

A night at a ryokan usually involves a single room for the night, dinner and breakfast, a private bath, an ofuro or group bath (more on that later) and the love and care of the host. Most ryokans are in scenic locations and are often costly.  Ours was about $175 for the night- but well worth it.

In no other place have I been immersed in so much traditional Japanese culture - from the environment to the food to the people. Our room had the traditional tatami mat floors- 8 mats on the main room, 6 mats in the entry way (traditional rooms in Japan are measured by the number of tatami mats that fit on the floor).  The sliding doors, or shoji doors, were made of light weight wood and paper. In the middle of the room was a single table holding on it a tea set.  In a closet in the entry way were the mats and comforters used for making a bed on the floor, as is the tradition.  Simple and elegant, the room had everything we needed.

Before dinner, I went to the bath, for another traditional Japanese experience.  In Japan, people bathe often in onsen or ofuro baths, which are steaming hot group baths with men and women separate. It’s like Japanese people soup and is another must-do in Japan.

 I had hoped for an empty bath where I could be my foreigner-self.  As my luck would have it, I found three aging Japanese men, all naked and in various stages of the bath.  And then there was me - six foot three inches of pure self-consciousness, a true bath rookie holding nothing but a small white towel and a nervous smile.  

According to standard bath behavior, you are supposed to rinse off before entering the actual bath, which amounts to a large wooden bathtub.  Two of the men were currently in the rinse cycle and I had no where to go, so I stood there wishing I knew more Japanese or had done this sort of thing before.  Luckily one of the men left and I was able to use the handheld shower nozzle for a cursory rinse.  Of course, I had showered before ever arriving at the bath, but felt the need to send the message that I knew what was going on and respect the tradition of entering the bath clean.  So I rinsed and climbed into the bath with one of the men who knew much more English than I did Japanese, thankfully.  He was from Sapporo, in the north of Japan and I couldn’t help but tell him that I knew about Sapporo from the beer.  He laughed.  Then, as is the case with every male in Japan who learns I’m from Seattle, we discuss baseball and mainly Ichiro, Seattle’s star outfielder from Japan.  I’ve found that Japanese men know much more than me about American baseball on the whole.  He promptly left and I finally found myself alone in the bath, relieved and wondering about my chances of getting out without any more weird, bath-based interactions.  I made it out, dried off with what seemed like a large facial tissue, put on my robe and went back to the room to relax before dinner.  Sachi met the Ichiro fan’s wife in her bath and surely had more productive conversation than me.

Part of the cost of the ryokan is justified by the excellent Japanese food and this ryokan was no exception.  Dinner was served in our little room and included about 17 dishes of various sizes per person. The meal was a spectacularly elegant and delicious affair, all laid out before us in a particular and precise manner by our host, a sweet little lady in a kimono.  She took a liking to Sachi, who could talk to her in Japanese.  At one point, they even had a playful argument about who was going to make the bed.  I couldn’t understand a word, but knew exactly what was happening.

I’m finding that Japanese food is more delicate in flavor than I would have thought.  Much of the traditional food- sushi, tempura, noodles, rice, etc. has a light taste, nice texture and a sensual kind of aftertaste that hangs in your mouth, begging for more. This meal was similar. It was not rich and savory.  It was delicate, unique, exotic, healthy, impeccably presented and genuinely tasty.  As there wasn’t a main course, we laughed at our dilemma in choosing what to eat from the many plates of small things that included a soup, sashimi, fruit, various pickled vegetables, sake and soup with egg that we cooked at the table.  My favorite was the sashimi.

We both like escargot covered in butter and garlic, but had never eaten a snail right out of the shell like this one.  It was good, but had a bitter aftertaste that I do not wish to taste again.

After the meal, we drank a little more sake and moved the table out of the way to make room for the bed, which is made by piling beach towels-sized mats one on top of the other.  We used all the mats, maybe 10 of them, to create a soft bed on the floor that was then covered with big comforters; all quite luxurious, even for a bed on the floor. 

The next morning we had a traditional Japanese breakfast, much in the same style as the dinner before, ending our experience at the ryokan.

I personally feel somewhat lucky that I made it out without punching a hole in the paper doors while putting a shirt over my head or something- that would totally be my luck.

Rudyard Kipling was said to have facetiously suggested that Japan should be put under a glass case as it is too pretty to be part of the real world.  Now, about 100 years later, I feel the same about what I’ve seen of Japan- it seems too good to be true.

Throughout our journey, I’ve struggled with the authenticity of the tourist experience.  In so many places the experience of the tourists seems manufactured with cultural dress, performances and practices being on display with the tourist dollar front-of-mind.  As such, I’ve become a little cynical about the tourist experience in places like India’s Golden Triangle, where it ‘s obvious that the essence of the true culture is sometimes being abstracted and displayed in a way that cheapens and demeans it to a point that it becomes unreal or inauthentic.

In contrast, the daily experience in Japan serves as a full helping of culture that is free from the pretense of purely tourist displays.  For example, we are staying in a district of Tokyo called Monzen Nakacho which is far from the tourist trail and offers a true-to-life view of daily life in Japan- a view that, to me, seems authentically real but still unreal in a too-good-to-be-true sort of way. 

Just a block from our hotel is a street that leads to a beautiful Buddhist temple. Along this street are authentic Japanese restaurants and shops filled with Japanese locals, slurping their noodles and drinking their tea just as they do every day.  The street itself is stunning in it’s cleanliness and style, as if someone set out to create the quintessential Japanese street scene, complete with lanterns, cherry trees, friendly people and noodle shop owners rolling noodles from scratch right there on display. 

What is most striking to me is that this scene is, without a doubt, the real thing.  Tourists were not considered when this street became a reality.  It is simply a random street in a nice neighborhood of locals that came to being in an authentically Japanese way. 

Each evening when we go out, we invariably see women and sometimes men wearing the traditional kimono.  Like the shops above, these folks are not thinking of tourists, or making money, or anything but what they feel is the proper attire for their evening out. To the tourists, this is a treat- to see such an authentic and truly beautiful expression of culture in daily life. 

We’ve witnessed authentic local culture in many places and I don’t mean to sound like authenticity is hard to find.  In Tokyo though, it seems to take on a new level of uniqueness and in a environment that is perfectly clean and extremely well-cared for- and that is a big difference.

It’s no wonder I have a crush on Tokyo.  I"m excited to get out of the city and experience more of Japan.

That question is something I've only heard in Hawaii.  In Seattle and other places on the mainland, people tread lightly in discussing race, nationality or ethnicity.  I could not imagine meeting someone in Seattle and asking "What are you?"

Not so in Hawaii. Hawaiians (which I'm using to mean people from the state, not just by heritage) have no problem asking, quite bluntly "What are you?", meaning what ethnicity, or race.  To outsiders, it seems pretty odd.

Hawaii is a big melting pot of many races and nationalities. Of course you have your Caucasian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Philipino, Vietnamese, but what's interesting is that Portuguese is mixed in as well.  The Portuguese settled in Hawaii starting in the early 1800's.  Most left the islands off the coast of Portugal and worked in sugar cane fields in Hawaii.

With the melting pot comes a lot of mixing of races, which is very normal and expected in Hawaii (Sachi is half-japanese).  "Hoppa" "Hapa" is the word that usually connotes a mixed race person.

 Below is census data about Hawaii's racial makeup based on US Census data.  I think it's particularly interesting that 21.4% of the population is two or more races.

Race:                                             Population      Percent

White, Caucasian                              294,102          24.3%

Black, African American                      2,003             1.8%

American Indian/ Alaska Native            3,535             0.3%

Asian                                              503,868          41.6%

Hawaii Native / Pacific Islander            113,539          9.4%

Other Race                                      15,147           1.3%

Two or More Races                           259,343          21.4%

Hispanic or Latino                             88,699            7.2%