(ALL) Around Kyoto (6/17)

Looking out at Kyoto from the hotel

Today marked the one month anniversary of my arrival in Asia! I woke up in a beautiful hotel in a beautiful city after a particularly beautiful night on the town and couldn't help but gush about the glory I felt to my fellow travelers as we prepared ourselves for another day of adventure. My professors tolerated my elated rambling over our eclectic continental breakfast before I wandered off to liberate a backpack-full of chicken nuggets for lunch later-- food is pricey in Kyoto!

The day's first highlight came to me in the form of a stranger at the bus stop between our hotel and our first destination, the Philosopher's Walk. I noticed the gentleman to my left paying a noticeable amount of attention to me, and when I looked his way was greeted with a kind and knowing smile. He was holding out his left wrist and casually snapped the beaded, elastic bracelet that rested upon it, nodding assertively towards the bracelet on my own wrist (the one that Myongsang Sunim had given to us at Unmunsa). Without sharing a single word, I understood exactly what he meant, and felt in that moment like I belonged to some secret Buddhist club.

Fast forward a few months-- I'm riding my bike through Athens and I pull up beside a gentleman wearing a similar bracelet. I gesture to mine, just like the gentleman at the bus stop had, and ask the biker if he's Buddhist. He cagily asks in response if anyone can call themselves Buddhist before riding off. I had way more fun with the person at the bus stop, without the words and the posturing. Was I a Buddhist in Kyoto? Was the person with the bracelet at the bus stop? It didn't matter-- we shared a beautiful single-serving moment of connectedness in one of the most temporary of places, and I loved it.