Read JOURNEY - on Mastering Ukemi for Free Online Page A

It’s a sort of ‘Have Fun’ present, so I don’t want you to think anything weird. But I want to take a trip, one like you described and I want to take you along and go to that place in Nepal you were talking about. The monastery.”
    “ Tengboche?” I asked, surprised. I’m always surprised when anyone actually listens to anything I say.
    “ Yes,” he said. “That one.”
    “ Really. Wow. That’s, well, hmmmm. You must have gotten a pretty nice present. That is an expensive trip. You have any idea how much that will cost? And, how long it will take, and how hard it will be? I think you need to spend a little more time thinking before you decide to do something like that and although I appreciate your invitation I can’t accept that kind of gift. Thank you, but I really can’t accept it.” I drank my beer and walked through the house and out the back door and went all the way back to the dojo. I needed to put some distance between me and the idea, because it was seriously tempting.
    “ Sensei, wait!” Christian came walking up.
    “ Christian, I won’t say that I don’t want to go. But I can’t accept that kind of gift from a student, especially one who just got through school and I know damn well could use that kind of money elsewhere.”
    “ Sensei, please take a minute and listen. I told my folks about the idea that you and I discussed; that I should see some of the world before I settle into a profession. My dad agreed completely, but my mom freaked out. My dad served in Korea and was in Viet Nam and saw all kinds of places in the world and thinks it’s a great idea. My mom is completely against me going anywhere. So I asked Dad if he and I could go together, him and me. But his health isn’t very good and anyway he hates to walk anywhere. He won’t even go into a store if he has to park more than fifty feet from the entrance.
    “ My grandfather thinks it’s a great idea, too. But when we talked about it I thought Mom would just lose it. So my grandfather said he would pay for the trip if maybe we could get you to agree to go along as a kind of guide and mentor. You know, you’ve been there and could watch out for things. You could arrange the trip and organize things. It would be like you were a paid tour guide, or something. The deal is this. If you won’t go, my mom won’t let me go, or at the very least won’t ever speak to my dad again. And Grandpa won’t give me the money for the trip unless Mom is happy. I guess I could just go by myself, but I can’t afford it, either. So in a nutshell, it’s this. Grandpa and Dad want me to go and Grandpa will pay, but only if you go along as a guide. My mom will accept the idea of the trip as long as you are willing to go. Otherwise it’s a long weekend in Chicago visiting my cousins. What do you say?”
    He stood there staring at me and I realized that he was not only serious, but that this was something that he really wanted to do. Other members of the dojo were watching as well, and I turned to look at them and then back at Christian.
    “ You don’t need to pay for it. Hell, I’ve wanted to go back for a long time and I have a little money set aside. I’ll tell you what. You pay for the land costs, and I’ll take care of my own plane tickets and expenses and we’ll call it even.” Then I went into the house and told my wife that I was taking a trip. But, she already knew that.
     
    Organizing an expedition to Nepal can be easy or hard. It’s easy if you know people and only have to send an e-mail requesting transportation, accommodations, porters, Sirdar, (guide and translator) and let someone you know at the other end take care of all these things for you. Or it can be difficult for someone who cannot readily find Nepal on a map, knows nothing of third world diplomacy and does not understand how things work in this part of the world. I do.
    After Christian’s parents came to dinner and we discussed the trip I began to get excited