Charles and Christy’s Weblog

Last night, I was awarded my first colored stripe in my martial arts class.  At my dojo, you go through 3 hour tests for each new belt… and I haven’t done that yet.  I have been a “white” belt since I completed my first beginner’s class, thinking about when I will be ready to test for my yellow belt.  Last night was a judo night, and during judo, we line up before class based on rank, with all of the white belts and people without belts in the back row.  I was the highest ranked in the back row as class was starting when my teacher looked at me and said, “You don’t have any color in your belt?  Were you missing at the last promotion?”  In fact, I was out of town for work.  She asked me to come to the front of the class, took my belt, added a yellow stripe, snapped the belt over my head, and handed it back.  Then I sat as the lowest ranking person in the front row.  Maybe this sounds silly to some of you but I am really proud of my yellow stripe.

During class, I realized that it was actually my 1 year anniversary exactly.  I began training at FEMA (http://www.fema-wuchienpai.com/) last June during the first judo class - what a funny coincidence that I was promoted on my 1 year anniversary.  I went through the rest of class with a new energy, feeling like I needed to work as hard as I could to be an example for all the women in the class without color in their belt and to prove what I have learned during the past year.  I also left thinking that if I could stick with martial arts for a year and earn this yellow stripe, then I can certainly get the first manuscript from my independent lab out and published (I’ve been a little slow on this front).  I know these topics seem wildly unrelated… but it’s funny how something as simple as a little yellow stripe can inspire confidence and motivation.

With two trips in less than a year, I thought I would give some travel tips that I have not found in any guidebook (in no particular order).

• Bring a handkerchief. Most of the bathrooms do not have paper towels, and it is nice to have something to dry your hands.
• Bring a washcloth. Most hotels only provide a bath towel and a hand towel.
• If you don’t speak Japanese, use the plastic food in restaurant windows to order what you want.
• Exchange money at the Japanese airport when you arrive instead of at the US airport. The exchange rate is MUCH better (i.e. 1.18 vs 1.08 this time)
• Watch out for service charges in hotel bars - sometimes they are larger than your bill.
• If a Japanese person gives you their business card, look at it and then put it in your breast pocket. It is considered disrespectful to put it in your pants pocket.
• If you are traveling to multiple cities in Japan, ask at your hotel desk about sending your luggage. There is a very efficient shipping service that allows you to carry a lot less stuff on the train.
• Don’t bother bringing a blow dryer (they are in every hotel) but do bring a travel iron (almost nowhere).
• In most hotel rooms, the electricity does not turn on unless you put your key card in a wall socket. The trick I learned for when it is really hot and you want your room cool when you return is to put another card (like your library card) into the socket… seems simple but I originally assumed that it had to be the key card.
• Bring cold medicine just in case. The Japanese “drug stores” don’t have anything recognizable (to me, at least).
• Reserve train seats early to get a window.