Tokyo, June 17, 1991

Kendo is the most fun thing in the world. We wore the official robes with the armor and everything. The boys teaching me were so cute! The sticks aren’t very difficult to use. You do this swinging motion and whack the opponent on his side and it makes this great sound. And you say either “doh” or “meh.” It’s so fun!!!

I’m mad that the boys get to do it again, but the girls have to do dyeing and weaving.

Tokyo, June 18, 1991

After lunch, the girls had Judo and I guess that’s better than playing basketball with the boys, but it wasn’t nearly as much fun as Kendo. A lot of the exercises hurt my knee and I was embarrassed to say anything. We did a “free judo” fight and I won all three times.

I did eventually mention the soreness in my knees when they began to teach a tripping technique. The last thing I need is to break my leg again!

Kyoto, July 1, 1991

We took the bus to a Shogun castle. It was so cool! I could envision myself living in that time period. The gardens were so beautiful. We went to a Buddhist temple with more big Buddhas (yay!) and a square hole to paradise which I managed to squeeze through.

The Shinto shrine was pretty useless. We pet tame deer – so cute! Their antlers were warm and fuzzy.

I love Buddhism — as soon as I figure out what the beliefs are — I wanna convert.