Been awhile... off to the final monastary!

What a week it has been! Sorry for not writing. I found an interesting pay-internet that is rather expensive, but worth 100 yen to send a quick note before I head off to the final zen monastary. I am a little nervous because this is the one without heat on a mountain top where we aren't allowed to wear socks, hats, or gloves and will be sitting in meditation in lotus with the monks. I hope that my cold doesn't get worse again (I am almost better)! The last few days have been fantastic. Right now, we are in Hiroshima. We are staying at a gigantic hostel that looks more like the most luxury hotel we have seen in awile. Our last hotel was about the size of a dorm room complete with two long beds, a tv, a desk you had to climb over in the hallway to get in, and another pod-bathroom... I will try to upload pictures of those when I get the chance. Yesterday and the day before were spent exploring the peace museum, looking through the atomic bomb museum, hearing from a survivor, and talking/discussing/singing karoke with Hiroshima university students. That was the best part of the trip so far... all 20-ish of them took the 22 of us out to karoke where we sang out hearts out... culminating with all of us in one karoke room singing Bohemian Rapsody at the top of our lungs. Speaking to them about the Hiroshima bomb and the war and relations between the two countries was very moving. They were extremely suprised how little our students knew about all of the events of those few days. Almost nobody knew about Okinawa, either, which shocked them. I was amazed by the fact that they start reading books about the bomb and its effects as young as elementary school, but they are not instilled with a general hatred or fear of the US. They just want to make sure such an atrocity never happens again.
Yesterday, my friend Jacob was in town (on vacation from work) and the two days prior, my friend Xander met us (he's studying abroad here and met with us). It has been fun to see both of them. Xander joined us for karoke and we stayed up to talk to him, but he sightsaw on his own with other friends during the day. Jacob joined us yesterday to explore an island a little ways away where a very old shrine is still in tact. It is known for the torii (the lintel-construction gateway you enter through) that is out in the ocean. The temple itself is built on posts out of the water. Very beautiful! The island is also populated with a breed of very tame small deer that reach about my knee or hip (depending on the deer). They love to share any bit of food or clothing you might be willing to share. SO CUTE!!! (like many things here)
Well, sadly, I am out of time. I hope that suffices for a very quick run down on everything going on! Take care... I will be home in just four days!