Once in a Lifetime
The Great Buddha of Kamakura (Daibutsu) "Ichi-go ichi-e." --from the Japanese meaning “every encounter is but once in a lifetime” Every so often you get a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. Our recent trip to Japan was just such an opportunity. To travel alone with my fifth grader, to a country where he speaks the language and I do not, with his former classmates, many of whom will be off in new directions in the fall, to send him off to be hosted by a family who accepted him (and me) sight unseen, truly was a "once in a lifetime" trip. This week I would like to attempt to share some of the trip with you through words and pictures. This will not be an exhaustive account of all that we saw and experienced, but rather an attempt at capturing the spirit of the trip through a few shared stories. "Ichi-go ichi-e" was a phrase I learned on the plane. I think it might have been in the in-flight magazine. I immediately connected with...