kobeintern

06/01 Today was the first day of internship. I had been told to attend the morning Eucharist, and then we can talk about how to proceed with my time in Japan. Fr. Seyama officiated and Deacon Miyata read the readings. Fr. Hayashi who is my supervisor had other obligations and could not be present.

Few things were quite distinct.

• No Sermon
• Nicene Creed was not recited.
• White Wine was used.
• They use intinction.

After the service, we discussed what to do about my time in Kobe. I provided them with what I wanted to experience (which I’ve already done with Fr. Hayashi):

• To attend the Sunday services in Japan, and experience and note the differences with the American Episcopal Church services.
• To see how Baptisms and Confirmations are done in Japan.
• To see anything unique that they might do that can be applied in the U.S.
• To see if there’s anything I might be able to bring to them in exchange.

What they said in return was that there are many churches and places of worship in the area, and that they want nothing more for me than to learn about the City of Kobe and what it offers.

They gave me a list of seven places I should visit all in one area:

	Religion	Facility Name	Comment
1	Christian (Episcopal)	Saint Michael’s International School	Related School. No tour as school is still in session!
2	Islam	Kobe Muslim Mosque	Admission: Free. Avoid hours of prayer
3	Judaism	Chabad of Kansai Synagogue	Admission: May be difficult
4	Jaina	Bhagwan Mahavir Swami Jain Temple	Admission: Sundays only, Reservation Required
5	Christian (Baptist)	Kobe Baptist Church	Admission: Inquire in advance
6	Christian (Orthodox)	Kobe Dormition Orthodox Church	Admission: Inquire in advance
7	Christian (Roman Catholic)	Catholic Kobe Central Church	Admission: Inquire in advance

It’s obvious that can’t do the visits today. So I will plan my visit for the coming weeks.

So, for today I decided to walk around – first and foremost – for grocery shopping for the essentials! So from 11:15 pm to 1:45 pm, I went shopping, made soba lunch, then went back out at 4:15 until 7:30 pm to an area called Motomachi, a bustling port town with a 3/4 mile-long “mall” or “arcade” of many small stores.

It’s always with a mixture of pleasure and fascination that I visit these, in every major towns and cities in Japan, and one can spend hours visiting mom-and-pop stores mixed in with major chain outlets strewn with cafes and eateries of all sort. There’s always something for everyone!

Major purchase was a wooden Miso-soup bowl for 780 yen – less than $5!

I got back to my room at 7:15 pm, and it was tough to begin cooking as I was extremely tired from walking over 11,000 steps! The end result was at 8:30 pm I was finally ready to eat!

It was a good beginning to my internship. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying while studying. In a way, that is how we should study – by being open to learning from everyday experience.