[Aikido] Yet another mass e-mail

[chhudson at vassar.edu]

Hi all, Charlie again, still in Japan. My trip is winding down here, it
seems like each day now I am trying to take advantage of my final
opportunity to do something. Tomorrow I am going to wake up absurdly early
to try and see the auctions at the biggest fish market in the world. I am
still practicing aikido, but it seems like I may not see the Waseda club
again. On monday this week a senior instructor at both Waseda and Seijou,
Inoue Sensei, invited me to a community dojo that he practices at. It was
a very interesting experience, and I am very greatful to Inoue Sensei for
taking me.
The Ogikubo club had a very diverse collection of people there, there were
some small kids who I don`t think came up to my chest, men in their
twenties and thirties and a couple men who were in their 60`s if not 70`s.
Needless to say, this club had a very different atmosphere to that of a
college club; it seemed a little more laid back and loose. Like all of the
new clubs that I have visited there was an new set of drills that I hadn`t
seen before, I spent more than an hour that evening trying to remember
them all and write them down.
I am also practicing at Seijou university this week. Yesterday a bunch of
people came up to me and wanted to speak english. I was very surprised, I
had spent 4 days there already, and I thought almost none of them spoke
english! I guess they were just shy. Anyway, it seems like I will soon be
on a plane flying back to the states, but this trip really has been fun.
Take care everyone and enjoy your summers, Charlie.