Japan for the first time (finally!) / Chefoo Reconsidered Japan (finally!)

Though I have a one year visa I knew that I wouldn't be in Thailand for a full year given important things like 90th birthday and high school graduation celebrations. So I knew I would be in the US from mid April until Mid June for those celebrations. I didn't realize when I arrived in Thailand in January that a couple weeks later I would be flying to Poland for the week and then return for 'take two' as I 'restarted' my time here. And I repeated this pattern when I returned to Thailand in June, spending just ten short days in country, before making my way back to Bangkok and on to Japan for twelve days. However, this was not a last minute trip but rather a trip that had been planned since before Covid rearranged almost everything in the world. 

I've been involved with the Chefoo Reconsidered community in various ways for quite a few years now. In what seems like a lifetime ago (sometime in 2019), the committee that was planning the CR Japan event asked me if I would be interested/willing to facilitate the group sessions during the week long get-together that was planned for June/July of 2020. And then Covid happened and this event that had already been postponed at least once, was push backed again... and again... but finally the the committee (along with Japan, the world and all the powers that be) were able to confirm that at long last we would  be able to gather. And so five years after planning got underway, Chefoo Reconsidered Japan finally happened the week of July 3-7 and it was such a great week on so many levels and definitely worth the wait. 

It was great to be reunited with Elwyn ten Brink who co-led the CR Philippine Bus trip with Jon Fuller and me in 2017. We had been speaking during the past few months as we planned the general direction and content of the week and were both very happy to find ourselves on the same page - desiring to go beyond some of the important TCK information that has been presented at past CR events - to really encourage and give permission to those attending to feel the impact of being sent away to boarding school and being separated repeatedly from our parents. We wanted to offer ways of building resilience and paying attention to our bodies and what they might be telling us - and of course we wanted to include much time for sharing and listening to stories as that is where the real magic and healing happens. 

Planning Committee before everyone arrived (mountain hidden in the background)

The CR Japan planning committee did such a fantastic job planning the events of the week - balancing our structured sessions together along with sightseeing and revisiting familiar places to some and introducing Japan to those of us who did not attend Chefoo Japan. So many details were worked out that just made our time so easy and delightful to be together. There were close to 30 of us who gathered for the week - twelve or so Japan 'kids', six or seven other Chefoo 'kids' and then eight or nine spouses and family members. We stayed at the Onuma Prince Hotel (a step up from CR Malaysia sleeping situations) and held evening sessions at the hotel while having morning sessions at the former Chefoo Nanae school - now being used as a school for Japanese students who have dropped out of the Japanese school system. 

Committee visiting Chefoo before everyone arrived

Welcome dinner at the hotel

First night - Welcome

Arriving at Chefoo

The Yew tree - touchstone for many

And there she is...Chefoo Nanae

Exploring every nook and cranny

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Family Celebrations

 Grateful for two months in Seattle bookended by my dad's 90th birthday and Hana's graduation. In between these two events and ongoing work I was grateful to be able to spend time with family and a couple friends and ensured my mom's little side garden is bursting with vegetables and other mysterious seeds that she won't know what to do with. I posted many of these on fb but if you didn't see them there, please enjoy them here!

I also spent time prepping for the long awaited Chefoo Reconsidered Japan (see future post)and now after a short ten days in Thailand, it's on to Japan whose airports I have passed through so many times but I have yet to step outside the airport doors!

Easter / Holy Week 2023

My Easter/holy week began last Sunday in Maehongson at the Huanam Mae Sakud church where Ninae talked about trees in the Bible, taking us from Genesis to Revelation, pausing midway to mention Christmas trees and the connection to the Cross. The Christmas decorations often are still up this time of year at this church but through 'high tech craftsmanship', they were magically transformed into crosses as the kids waved Palm branches while they sang.

Most of the week was spent at the beach which can always be an odd juxtaposition during a week commemorating significant suffering and loss. Yesterday (Holy Saturday) I had two good meals with friends in Bangkok - which is often/usually the best thing to do when suffering loss - be with people and feed yourself. Both the company and the food were so good!

This morning I realized I couldn't face a raucous Easter service but I needed quiet contemplation so I was up early - but definitely not before those sleeping rough on the streets and the street involved - making my way to the first of my favorite three parks here in Bangkok. It was starting to get light as I crept out of my guest house and across the khlong bridge where a neighbor I know from former visits, who is usually intoxicated at most times of the day, was frying up mackerel for the 50-60 cats he feeds, thereby helping to increase the feline population that roam this particular corner outside the temple where he lives.

At each park I joined the early morning walkers and joggers, contemplating/looking for signs of life overcoming death. At Rommaninat Park (stop #3) the site of the former Khlong Prem Prison, this becomes painfully obvious. Initially built by King Chulalongkorn, it was converted and officially opened in 1999 as a beautiful park - but cells and guard towers remain in place. At Saranrom Park there is a beautiful monument that King Chulalongkorn dedicated to his Queen Consort and young daughter who both drowned in a boating accident. (And if you're looking at the map in the photos, I did end up adding a 4th stop to my holy trinity of parks - seriously - if you are ever in Bangkok, they are all worth visiting.)

And so from beginning the week contemplating trees, to being nourished by the waters of Huahin to celebrating Easter walking along the waterways of Bangkok and through the beautiful green oases that contrast with the grit of the city, I am grateful for reminders of life overcoming death, providing reminders that death is not the end and that love wins. Happy Easter!

Duncan