St. Louis was nothing short of great!
After moving to Wyoming, I realized that the next time for me to see my dojo boys again would be if one of them, ANY of them, not only came to Japan, but braved public transportation out to my tiny peninsula. Feeling rather down in the dumps about the whole thing, my parents suggested that I go to the upcoming Jigoku Kai seminar in St. Louis. Not only would I see all of my dojo guys, but the Witt Kids, and the St. Louis dojo, too! It was perfect!
But expensive. With a move to Japan only a month after the St. Louis trip, I wasn't sure how I was going to make my hard-earned Panera money work on both excursions. I tried to figure out some way to catch a bus from Casper, but when I couldn't purchase a bus ticket online, I decided to go to their office and see what was going on. Only to find that the bus office was closed and there were no close stops to my city. Cue tears as I call my mother with the news and then drive home in silence. That is when Daddy came in for the rescue!! In exchange for my helping to unpack, he agreed to pay for the flight out to St. Louis and I could handle the rest on my own. Woooohhooo!!!
I was able to go down a few days early and stay a few days late because two of my dojo guys were going to be there too. My total time on the trip was about a week, but it felt like two with all of the people there to see and talk with, the places to go, and the Budo to learn! My head was swimming after the weekend, so I'm glad that my flight wasn't until that Monday. This was the first time that I even had time to go around St. Louis during a seminar, too. Usually we only come down to train, but with the extra days (except the Thursday we were snowed in) there was plenty of time to hit the mall, have lunch with the other budoka, and just relax!
I don't think that I could explain how it was to have everyone in the same room again. Thanks to Facebook and the internet, we can still keep in contact and see what everyone is up to, but since they all stayed together and I was the only one who left, it felt like I was a ghost, in some ways. I was able to see what they were doing and think to myself how nice it would be to go back, but I knew that I couldn't. Since I wasn't around anymore, it was like my relationship with everyone was put on freeze, to be thawed out when we meet again; our relationships turned static. My dojo boys message and call me, trying to keep me from feeling so lonely, but distance does change how you interact with someone. That was what made that weekend so wonderful! I was learning from some great teachers, interacting and training with people far better than I, and enjoying not being on the other side of the glass divide; actually in the moment with everyone, not gazing at the photos of the time I missed out.
A truly great trip, all thanks to my Bujinkan friends and teachers and my parents!!
I hope that we can all meet up in Japan sometime. :)
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