On Saturday Fred and I took the train to Kamakura, a small beach town south of Tokyo. The most visited site is the Kamakura Daibutus - the Great Buddha of Kamakura. At 13.35 meters it is an impressively large statue. It was cast in bronze in 1252 and has survived till today. Over the centuries earthquakes and tsunamis have damaged the statue, but even earth's calamities could not interrupt the Buddha's peaceful meditation.
A lot of Japanese visit the statue and apparently it is also a popular place for school outings, since hundreds of school children were running around. About 40 kids assaulted us in hopes to practice their English. Similar to our previous experience the had a small list of questions about our name, our hometown and our favorite Japanese food. After we had given our autograph at least twenty times each, their teacher came up to us and thanked us for our willingness to help. We then got in line to climb inside the statue. Since it is hollow you can stand on the inside and admire the intricacies of bronze casting. Done with seeing the Buddha, we went on to visit many Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples which Kamakura is famous for.
Another thought on traveling: When I left Utah after my semester at BYU was over, I put the majority of my belongings in storage. Then I drove down to California where I left my car at my sister's house (she is very kind to take car of it and make sure the battery does not die). After that I flew to Germany where I spent a few months. Before flying to Rome I left some things in Germany which I would not need in Rome. Once in Rome we got ready to leave for Japan and so I only packed what I needed for two weeks, once again leaving belongings behind in Rome. I'm in Tokyo now and I have belongings strewn across three continents, four countries in five locations. Needless to say, I have become accustomed to living out of suitcase. It takes some getting used to but I am really grateful to have to this great opportunity to travel.
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