2010.11.25 07:00 - Bowing from Kyoto

The Guardian for this meeting was Storm Nordwind. The comments are by Storm Nordwind.

Storm Nordwind: Hi there!

After half an hour of silence, Yakuzza and I are joined by others.

Wol Euler: konnichiwa!
Storm Nordwind: Greetings Wol, Alfred
Alfred Kelberry: woly! :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: konnichiwa!
Alfred Kelberry: *runs to woly and hugs her*
Alfred Kelberry: wee! :)
Wol Euler smiles and bows formally :)
--BELL--
Alfred Kelberry: so good to see you :)
Alfred Kelberry: how is japan? :)
Alfred Kelberry: hello, stormy and yaku :)
Alfred Kelberry: ding
Alfred Kelberry: stormy, i'd like to ask you about aph. is her situation being cared of?
Alfred Kelberry: she's still trapped at kira cafe
Storm Nordwind: It wasn't until now. I didn't know what her problem was. It's easy to solve so I'm just raising a support ticket as we speak
Yakuzza Lethecus: storm is in fact a trapper, i builds invisible traps all over the pab land
Yakuzza Lethecus: first bruce
Yakuzza Lethecus: now aph
Yakuzza Lethecus: storm will get us all
Alfred Kelberry: ah, good. sim restart request?
Storm Nordwind: Only for attractive avatars Yaku, so you're excluded ;)
Alfred Kelberry: yaku :)
Storm Nordwind: yes Alfred
Alfred Kelberry: he's got a fancy sartre av too, storm :)
Wol Euler: back, sorry
Alfred Kelberry: woly-moly :)
Wol Euler: making tea, and splitting my skull open on low doorways
Alfred Kelberry: ok, hope aph is back with us soon

Wol is dressed in Japanese style.

Alfred Kelberry: you're so tall, woly? :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: well, her essence will still be around until then :)
Wol Euler: taller than people are intended to be, clearly :)
Alfred Kelberry: hehe
Alfred Kelberry: i'm short. i'd fit in there :)
Wol Euler smiles.
Alfred Kelberry: what tea? somethign special?
Alfred Kelberry: i'm making tea myself, btw
Storm Nordwind: mmmm yes please
Alfred Kelberry: gunpowder
Alfred Kelberry: *pours stormy a cup of gunpowder tea* :)
Wol Euler: darjeeling actually
Storm Nordwind accepts gratefully
Alfred Kelberry: :)
Wol Euler: and some marvellous biscuits :)
Storm Nordwind: Ah darjeeling... do you know where the name darjeeling comes from?

First impressions.

Alfred Kelberry: eliza (i think) told me that your first impression of japan is sumed in one word - spotless :)
Alfred Kelberry: stormy, of course, from a movie :)
Alfred Kelberry: *googles*
Storm Nordwind rolls his eyes
Storm Nordwind: Dorje Ling
Wol Euler: yes, that was right
Alfred Kelberry: which means?
Wol Euler: despite the apparent lack of teh means of garbage disposal
Wol Euler: I have since learned to spot the garbage cans, which do exist
Storm Nordwind: Dorje means vajra = diamond, thunderbolt. Ling means (sacred) place
Wol Euler: but are *far* less common than in germany, which is dirtier
Alfred Kelberry: woly, maybe they recycle everything on their own :)
Wol Euler: mmhmm, adn when they eat a chocolate bar downtown they carry the wrapper home with them on the train
Wol Euler: I guess.
Storm Nordwind remembers that too
Alfred Kelberry: oh, vajra - diamond way - one of a buddhist schools
Alfred Kelberry: woly, that's like me :)
Storm Nordwind: That's fairly new Alfred. The old one is vajrayana, the diamond vehicle
Alfred Kelberry: i put wrappers in my pocket when no garbage cans around
Alfred Kelberry: ah yes, yana
Storm Nordwind loves culture watching when in Japan
Alfred Kelberry: i think it's a joy in any country :)
Wol Euler nods.
Storm Nordwind stifles a gasp
Alfred Kelberry: you're in a hotel now, woly?
Wol Euler: though I'm surprised at how not-surprising it is
Wol Euler: most of japanese life and culture and cityscape is very familiar
Alfred Kelberry: have you been to rural areas already?
Wol Euler: for certain values of "most" and "familiar" :)
Storm Nordwind excuses himself for a very short while
Wol Euler: no, a bed-and-breakfast place
Alfred Kelberry: maybe anime and manga have prepared you well :)

By a shrine.

Wol Euler: just around the corner from the most famous shrine
Wol Euler: perfect location
--BELL--
Alfred Kelberry: where is it?
Wol Euler: there's a stream flowing past the front door
Wol Euler: kyoto, the ex-suburb of Higashiyama
Alfred Kelberry: *googles*
Alfred Kelberry: "east mountain"
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Alfred Kelberry: "Higashiyama-ku has the lowest population of all the wards in Kyoto, and a disproportionate number of elderly people." :)
Wol Euler: the temple is called heian jingu
Wol Euler: wb storm, hello eden
Storm Nordwind: Hi Eden.
Storm Nordwind was just getting Aph's exact coordinates for the support ticket
Alfred Kelberry: thank you, storm :)
Wol Euler: though in point of fact it's only "the" temple because it's biggest and most famous
Eden Haiku: Hello Storm, Yaku, Alfred and Japanese Wol!
Wol Euler: there are forty others within a km of the house
Alfred Kelberry: eden! :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: good morning eden
Wol Euler: plus the hundreds of tiny streetcorner shrines
Wol Euler: some no bigger than a doorway
Storm Nordwind: yes!
Alfred Kelberry: woly, have you prayed in one already? :)
Wol Euler: no, but I've seen them in use
Wol Euler: and heard them
Storm Nordwind: That is often the case in other Asian Pacific rim countries too
Wol Euler: there is a bell to ring (zen) or you clap your hands (shinto) to wake up the gods so that they will attend to your prayer
Wol Euler: I think Christians view god differently )
Wol Euler: I think he'd most likely throw thunderbolts if you woke him
Storm Nordwind laughs
Wol Euler: the gods here are ... not exactly servants, but they have a duty to perform and it is well to remind them of it
Eden Haiku: ;)
Storm Nordwind decides to sit on his hands ;)
Alfred Kelberry: heh, wake up the gods to draw attention - interesting :)
Eden Haiku: Nice to learn that shintoist clap hands and zen ring bells...
Wol Euler: I believe that is the split, yes
Wol Euler: I'm only slowly learning to tel the difference beteween their buildings
Wol Euler: but there are definitely two sorts
Wol Euler: I'm loving it. Kyoto is a great city
Wol Euler: and comfortable
Wol Euler: despite the language and the cultural oddities
Alfred Kelberry: woly, duty is a good word. i think it's important in japanese society as a whole.
Wol Euler: I haven't yet had the "Lost in Translation" experience :)
Wol Euler: yes, alf
Eden Haiku: hehe
Alfred Kelberry: haven't met a young lonely american? :)
Wol Euler: nor an inscruitable and irascible oriental
Alfred Kelberry: hehe

Different countries. Different holidays.

Storm Nordwind: Were you there for the holiday?
Alfred Kelberry: so joyful to hear your experience, woly :)
Wol Euler: thanksgiving?
Storm Nordwind: Labor Day
Wol Euler: it's not celebrated here, but that is why I'm here now, yes
Storm Nordwind: 23rd
Wol Euler: mm, don't know. I was definitely here that day but I can't say I noticed anyhting special
Wol Euler: I was so new that I probably wouldn't have spotted that particular degree of diffefrence, in the general noise of difference
Eden Haiku: Now that you are (almost) an American, you must celebrate Thanksgiving Storm?
Alfred Kelberry: woly, "that is why I'm here now" - why?
Wol Euler: Kiremimi's students are on holiday so she has time to talk to me
Storm Nordwind: I think it's celebrated for me Eden! ;)
Alfred Kelberry: eden, one could take it as an insult :)
Storm Nordwind shudders at Eden's description ;)
Wol Euler: :)
Storm Nordwind: But yes we're going to friends to join their family dinner
Alfred Kelberry: woly, she's with you?
Eden Haiku: oh... sorry :(

Matchmaking: an ancient tradition.

Alfred Kelberry: how is pema doing?
Wol Euler: she and Pema, yse
Wol Euler: matchmaking!
Wol Euler: setting me up with eligible Japanese :)
Storm Nordwind: very nice!
Wol Euler: asking around for jobs for me
Storm Nordwind: very cool!
Wol Euler grins.
Alfred Kelberry: jobs? you want to move?
Wol Euler: it doesn't seem lke I have much choice
Alfred Kelberry: oh

Trembling.

Storm Nordwind: experienced your first earthquakes yet?
Wol Euler quickly knocks on wood and spits over her left shoulder
Wol Euler: no
Alfred Kelberry: i hope it works out for you nicely, woly
Wol Euler: but I have seen posters in the street telling how to survive them
Storm Nordwind: Look here for the latest. There are often several a day! http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/
Alfred Kelberry: very encouraging, stormy :)
Storm Nordwind: Only three today so far!
Wol Euler: eight today apparently
Wol Euler: am I reading htat wrong?
Alfred Kelberry: i know an austrian living in tokyo. he's totally fine :)
Storm Nordwind: Click previous info button and scrol back. The tremor reports are for the same one
Wol Euler: found it, you're right
Wol Euler: it's showing the stations that reported movement
Wol Euler: there were three separate epicenters/events
--BELL--
Storm Nordwind: And learn the new scale too. The strength number is Richter equivalent as perceived on the surface = much more useful. (Richter is not useful if it 400km deep.)
Eden Haiku: Nice seeing you all. Enjoy Kyoto Wol :)
Storm Nordwind waves
Wol Euler: ty!
Yakuzza Lethecus: bye eden
Wol Euler: bye eden, take care
Alfred Kelberry: bye, eden
Yakuzza Lethecus: wol, so ur the japan retreat coordinator then ? :P
Wol Euler: I guess :)

When boring travelling is good.

Alfred Kelberry: how was the flight?
Alfred Kelberry: lufthansa?
Wol Euler: dull, fortunately
Wol Euler: lufthansa, yes
Wol Euler: and not an A380
Alfred Kelberry: non-stop?
Wol Euler: FFM to KIX yes
Storm Nordwind: dull flights are good flights, yes
Alfred Kelberry: how many hours?
Wol Euler: the last thing I want at 33000 feet is excitement
Wol Euler: 11
Alfred Kelberry: oh... 2 meals served?
Wol Euler: mmhmm
Wol Euler: and N channels of tv/film/music programming, hwere N is a surprisingly large number
Alfred Kelberry: i can hardly survive 3 hours :)
Alfred Kelberry: 11 is deadly :)
Wol Euler: I dozed fitfully for most of it
Wol Euler: didn't really sleep
Yakuzza Lethecus: hehe, maybe a good opportunity to read a book at once :)
Wol Euler nods.
Alfred Kelberry: or 5 books :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: speed reading alf ? :)
Alfred Kelberry: 2 hours a book seems alright
Alfred Kelberry: not a thick one :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: i once took a speedreadingcourse on war and peace
Yakuzza Lethecus: it´s about russians
Wol Euler: right
Wol Euler: a fair summary
Yakuzza Lethecus: woody allen ?
Alfred Kelberry: epic work
Alfred Kelberry: woody allen?
Yakuzza Lethecus: I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia. Woody Allen
Yakuzza Lethecus: i quoted him freely
Yakuzza Lethecus: <- can´t speedread
Alfred Kelberry: ah
Alfred Kelberry: funny hair, woly :)

Still awake after midnight.

Alfred Kelberry: 1 am in tokyo
Wol Euler: yep
Wol Euler: just got back from dinner with Pema and Kiremimi and Marube (friend of theirs in RL/SL)
Alfred Kelberry: yes, marube is from kira japan
Wol Euler: ah, you kow her too?
Wol Euler: *know
Alfred Kelberry: yep
Alfred Kelberry: say hi from the boxy :)
Wol Euler: will do
Wol Euler: meeting her again in Fukuoka on Sunday
Alfred Kelberry: did you make the itinerary?
Wol Euler: pema again, matchmaking
Alfred Kelberry: :)
--BELL--

We're sitting 250m from my SL Kuan Yin Oracle. Wol went to one in RL. Though since I was away when Kyoto was mentioned, I thought of Tokyo.

Wol Euler smiles. Storm, I just remembered: I found a RL Kuan Yin oracle at a temple this afternoon. Had a reading done, no idea what it said :)
Wol Euler: The text was too complex for Pema.
Storm Nordwind giggles
Wol Euler: I'll get Kiremimi or somebody to translate it
Storm Nordwind: Did you go to Asakusa?
Wol Euler: no, at a temple here
Wol Euler: the names are merging in my head, I'd have to look at the map to sort out which it was
Storm Nordwind: Ah yes
Alfred Kelberry: stormy, you visit japan regulary?
Storm Nordwind: Not any more Alfred
Storm Nordwind: Those days are probably over
Wol Euler: but you made a fair exchange :)
Storm Nordwind: Oh yes! :))
Wol Euler smiles.

Demographics.

Alfred Kelberry: many eldery people around?
Wol Euler: hard to tell :)
Wol Euler: I find it really difficult to tell ages
Alfred Kelberry: :)
Yakuzza Lethecus wonders what elderly means
Alfred Kelberry: you look about 30 :)
Alfred Kelberry: older people
Yakuzza Lethecus: oder then johannes hästers ?
Yakuzza Lethecus: ups heesters
Wol Euler: who's that?
Yakuzza Lethecus: wol, ur the only of whom i expected to actually know him
Yakuzza Lethecus: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Heesters
Alfred Kelberry: dutch actor
Wol Euler: I have a deficient celebrity-recognition gland
Alfred Kelberry: 106 yearls old
Alfred Kelberry: impressive
Yakuzza Lethecus: still an active actor
Wol Euler: wow
Storm Nordwind: You can get marube to give you a medical excuse note for that Wol ;-)
Wol Euler: heheheh
Alfred Kelberry: which reminds me of a story from japan where people were hiding their dead eldery relatives and kept getting their pension for years :)
Wol Euler: good idea.
Yakuzza Lethecus: in america there was a guy who played an elderly woman for a couple of years after she died
Yakuzza Lethecus: then she tried to get into the will of someone else
Alfred Kelberry: creative people :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: but then it somehow came out that the woman was played by a guy for years
Wol Euler: moral of the story: be thankful for what you've got :)
Alfred Kelberry: or be a better actor :)
Wol Euler: my dears, I must go, too tired
Wol Euler: and it is 1:30am
Storm Nordwind: Thank you for gracing us with your presence :))
Wol Euler: the pleasure was mine
Alfred Kelberry: yes, thank you, woly
Alfred Kelberry: sleep well :)
Wol Euler: goodnight!
Yakuzza Lethecus: good night wol
Yakuzza Lethecus: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/0..._n_216949.html

Opening a present.

Alfred Kelberry: i like huffington's editor
Storm Nordwind: Nice leftie site but a little too celeb oriented at times
--BELL--
Alfred Kelberry: as most media in the u.s. :)
Storm Nordwind: yes
Alfred Kelberry: what is it, yaku?
Yakuzza Lethecus: someone just gave it to me
Alfred Kelberry: a present?
Alfred Kelberry: :)
Alfred Kelberry: be careful
Yakuzza Lethecus: hehe, i trust her, still i woulnd´t know how to check for buggy objects
Yakuzza Lethecus: is there a method to check ?
Alfred Kelberry: let storm check it :)
Storm Nordwind: Edit. If there are scripts in it then think twice about wearing it
Alfred Kelberry: :)
Alfred Kelberry: micropayments project :)
Storm Nordwind: At 119 prims it would be difficult to check for scripts
Alfred Kelberry: 119?!
Alfred Kelberry: wouldn't tell from first sight
Yakuzza Lethecus: this was included :)
Alfred Kelberry: spanish
Yakuzza Lethecus: the object was just a box which i had in my hands
Yakuzza Lethecus: it´s from my former spanish teacher in sl
Yakuzza Lethecus: but the place closed down on monday
Yakuzza Lethecus: suddenly
Alfred Kelberry: oh, veyr nice

I rez it on the ground and find a pendant on a chain with a striking if tasteful design on it.

Storm Nordwind: A very nice fylfot pendant
Storm Nordwind: Might upset Germans ;)
Yakuzza Lethecus: actually, i was thinking of the form too
Yakuzza Lethecus: i was checking if the special cross was to the left or to the right
Alfred Kelberry: yes, i've noticed the cross
Yakuzza Lethecus: but ti´s supposed to be a 4 leaves shamrock
Alfred Kelberry: yes, clover
Blissful Badger: Hello Yaku, Alfred, Storm
Storm Nordwind: Hi
Alfred Kelberry: hi, bliss :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: hey bliss
Storm Nordwind: The fylfot is an ancient sun symbol
Alfred Kelberry: it was very popular in the 20s, before the nazis took over it
Blissful Badger: is that's what it's called
Alfred Kelberry: storm, fylfot is a good nuetral word for it :)
Storm Nordwind: The fylfot is usually the swirly swastika, yes
Blissful Badger: it's a funny word. what language is it?
--BELL--
Alfred Kelberry: "said to have been derived from the Anglo-Saxon fower fot, meaning four-footed, or many-footed"
Blissful Badger: 90 seconds of silence?
Alfred Kelberry: *nods* :)

Time to go.

Yakuzza Lethecus: well, i got to go, i am online ever since i came from work
Yakuzza Lethecus: bye for now
Storm Nordwind: Bye Yaku!
Blissful Badger whispers bye Yaku
Alfred Kelberry: yes, i should go as well
Alfred Kelberry: thank you for the company
Storm Nordwind: Me too
Storm Nordwind: You too Alfred
Alfred Kelberry: bye all and have a wonderful day
Blissful Badger: Happy Thanks giving everyone
Storm Nordwind: Namaste
Blissful Badger: I'm watching the snow fall out my window
Blissful Badger: outside my window!
Blissful Badger: It's getting whiter by the second