manji

deery-lou.
i've had a few comments recently about the "swastikas" in some the pictures. well i thought i'd clear the matter up a little. these "swastikas" are actually called manji and are symbols in buddhisms. The manji represents the fluidity of the universe and the foundation of life. you can often see them on temples, lanterns, statues of buddhas, and braclets. it funny how westerners look at this symbol and immediately associate it with the swastikas. after all its kind of hard not too. the symbol has actually been around longer than buddhism. its just unfortunate the hilter had to use the reverse symbol [swastika]. there's a lot of information out there if anyone is interested in reading more about. here's another link to check out: manji. that about does it for my history lesson.

in other exciting news we just had a brief thunder storm. how i miss the days of when i was little and living in florida. we use to have midafternoon thunderstorms on a regular basis. it was always great when the the power went go out. i'd lay in my bed listening to the rain fall and watching the lightning. it can be so peaceful. with my new found schedule of taekwondo four nights a week my apartment has become a total mess. i might have to hire an ajumma to do some light cleaning. i have a feeling i'm going to be a homebody this weekend. there are a couple projects i want to start working on. my tkd class is actually going pretty good. my sabom-nim [instructor above fouth degree black belt] the other night asked if i'd teach him english. i'm going to teach him for ten minutes a day before class. i was suppose to start yesterday but he was absent. there was another instructor there besides the kwan-jang-nim [master instructor above 5th degree black belt]. this other instructor taught our class. he seemed to be less nervous around me than the sabom-nim. he was really trying to speak english to me. instead he'd show me using his body where i was suppose to place my hands for punches and blocks. i don't as bad anymore cuz i'm not the only one getting singled out. it is still funny to watch all the kids stare at me. this one little girl is constanstly looking at me and when i look at her she turns quickly. we had a push-up test on monday. i think i did about 40. usually i only do 15 so i was impressed that i made it that far. of course three kids beat me. oh well there's always next time. be well…