Sad anchovies and a happy landing
June 14th, 2010 by Rose RosetreeThings I don’t normally eat for breakfast:
- White rice
- Anchovy paste
Mid-bite, I realized, “There I go again.”
Whenever I travel to Japan to help clients, there’s always a transition phase. It involves a total loss of dignity. Apparently this is a requirement as I shift into Japanese consciousness.
Flying to Tokyo from Washington D.C. suburbs feels mostly like delight. Lack of sleep is a bit of a problem, however. Altogether, with door-to-door time included, this latest trip took about 21 hours.
Food can be problematic, too, although really I have no excuse for this. It’s not as if I some ordinary summer evening I yawn, stretch, and suddenly find myself high in the friendly skies with nothing to eat except for tiny packs of pretzels. Before boarding, when packing my carry-on bag, I could very well have brought myself some delightful meals-on-wheels.
Except that I never have. This trip, at least I did manage to pack several cans of sardines, plus a gorgeous cucumber and beautiful lettuce. With no insult intended to the world famous chefs of United Airlines, the food provided isn’t my favorite. Hence the need for packing.
Our third meal was served at about 1:00 a.m., if jetlagged memory serves. Incidentally, it was called “lunch” because in Tokyo that’s what people were eating. Or, at least, that’s WHEN people were eating.
Appetizer of pink, plasticized strawberry yogurt. Not my usual, but oookkkk.
On to the stir-fried vegetables, which consisted of assorted geometric shapes made of mostly unidentifiable root vegetables. Fun, in their way. Like miniature kids’ building blocks, only not tasting as good.
Now I mostly felt warmed up to start eating something I actually liked. Sadly, I beheld the only food left, a desolate wad of white rice.
Fishing around in the plastic bag that had formerly held my sardines, I pulled up an old boot. No, not that kind of fishing.
I did find my tube of anchovy paste. You see, while buying plane food, I’d thrown it into my shopping cart, meaning to bring it home. (Adding just a bit to salad dressing can really up the umami quotient. Try it!) Now I looked back and forth, back and forth: Plain rice vs. thrilling new anchovy rice. New taste experiment, right?
How bad could it be, right? Very bad.
After squirting the brownish paste into my rice, I stirred vigorously using my oh-so-elegant plastic fork. A sweet flight attendant brought me a fresh cup of decaf and I settled into my seat as if ready for the true piece de resistance.
Bad. I’ve got to tell you.
Okay I am not being forcibly compelled. And I never would ask you Blog-Buddies to eat such a thing. Even with Deeper Perception turned off for the entire flight. Which reminds me, I had spent a whole day and then some with:
- Zero aura reading,
- No Skilled Empath Merge
- Not even any face reading.
Very nice change of pace. On a typical day, I’ll use these skills for maybe a total of two hours, but then do many more hours of sessions and writing based on those quickly experienced bits of insight.
Happy in the air now. Relaxing. Letting my human self recharge. Eating a brand new taste experience. Picnic in the sky.
Suddenly the first unbelievably salty, strange rice bits made contact with my exhausted taste buds. Surreal! Coffee as a chaser didn’t help much. United Airlines coffee is usually fine, all that could be expected, really, except this cuppa Joe was a strange brown brew with the texture of miso soup (probably just many, many hours old).
Sitting in my rumpled clothes, with my half-off paper pillowcase on my pathetic flightpillow, a mashed-up blanket puddled around my feet, there I was. Yes, this was a meal worthy of Oscar the Grouch. And I had no muppet to blame. It was entirely my own doing.
Soon I was laughing in that familiar deja vu way, returning to Japan for sure.
Fast-forward to the Moving In Ceremony at my residential hotel, where my wonderful new assistant Seiko-san got my laptop working in minutes.
So, yes, I WILL be enabling your comments as well as reporting back to you from the Land of the Rising Sun. Here is also, clearly, the Land of the Rising Consciousness. Even more than November 2009 — my last trip here – Japanese people I’ve met are extremely aware and evolving very, very fast. (Okay, maybe I did a few teensy TINY bits of aura reading on the way to the hotel. And I’ve got to say, “Wow!”)
Looks like I’ll be doing six session hours today, with four of Aura Healing and one session of Energy Release Regression Therapy. Back to officially reading auras and faces and doing those Skilled Empath Merges. Once again, I’ll sit with a brainy interpreter, paid to taste the exquisite, thrilling flavors of consciousness in my clients, and helping them grow even faster. Once again, I’ll be living among a population that has way higher vibes than anything I know back in America.
Sedona? Bah! Give me the super-aware and sumptuous auras in bustling-yet-silent Tokyo. Now, that is truly delicious.
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Glad you had a safe trip, Rose! I look forward to reading your tales of the city…
You reminded me why I have always particularly loved teaching English to Japanese students the many years I’ve had them among the various nationalities in my English classes. This summer I have 3 so far in my class and they are delightful and aware. A great vibe…
Wishing you a grand adventure,
Ann
Hi Rose,
Do you have any idea why Japanese have higher vibes and are evolving faster than Americans?
Also, I remember one of your readers commented that a higher percentage of Japanese are empaths? Any theories why?
Thanks!
RENEE, good to hear from you. And from you, too, dear ANN!
For the record, Renee, I haven’t said that all Japanese people have higher vibes than Americans and are evolving faster. Just that my little sample, my experiences reading auras of people in the communities where I live, metro Washington D.C., plus my phone clients from much of America, plus Europe, Australia, India, Mexico, etc.
In general, the vibes are higher and large numbers of people seem to be evolving extra fast.
Here’s what matters most. Throughout the world, people evolve at the speed chosen by that soul. It’s an individual choice. Make sense?
RENEE, about that other part of your Comment #1, yes, some of my readers may have echoed my bits of research.
I have written numerous times that worldwide, my research with energetic literacy suggests that 1 in 20 people are born as empaths. Whereas, based on sampling I have done, reading many Japanese auras during my trips here, I estimate that 1 in 5 Japanese people is born as an empath.
Every culture has its special excellence. To be born here, a soul is going to be exploring sensitivity as a collective value in the national consciousness.
Doesn’t it make sense that, if you’re going to incarnate into such a culture, it might be especially interesting to bring the finely tuned nervous system of an empath?
Mostly I’m not keen on generalizing about groups of people, as shows up elsewhere on this blog. I do hope I haven’t offended you or other Blog-Buddies.
This last comment ties in so well with discussions we were having last night in my ESL class, with the 3 lovely Japanese students. I’m teaching the entire group of students, from 10 different countries, strategies for communicating in American culture and last night we were talking about interrupting.
It’s fascinating to see just how obvious the empathic sensibility is in the Japanese. They were explaining to the class how in Japan, in a business meeting, one person will talk, then there will be a silence, then a signaling of one’s readiness to talk. I’ve heard from several Japanese how they are able to tune in to whatever group they are in and come to consensus.
I’ve always love teaching my Japanese students over the years. There’s such a comfort in knowing that there will be a basic harmony in our interactions.
I cringe internally when I teach some of these aspects of American culture and the skills that the students will need to know in order to survive among the harshness (at least compared to that empathic vibe in Asian cultures) that exists in our culture. I was reminded this morning why I love teaching international students; most of the ones I teach seem to be empaths. This morning I was back in “America” in my dance class, where for not the first time, a woman wanting to jockey for a good spot in the crowded studio in the middle of the class plopped herself about 8 inches in front of me, which startled me. I remember thinking after the encounter with her after class, which was truly surreal and unpleasant, if anything like this would happen in Japan. Probably not typically.
I had a bit of a delayed deeper perception hit after attempting to converse with the woman that she’s a narcissist. There wasn’t one bit of empathy, understanding or compassion for anyone else in the room. It was all about her needs, regardless of anyone else and everything was basically our fault. What a contrast these experiences were. And how I love to be among skilled empaths!
Thanks for your comments Rose. I initially understood, and you made it very clear that you were not commenting on all Japanese or all Americans. I certainly was not offended! Just curious.