After months of putting it off for lack of funds, I went ahead and took an aikido class. I remembered that "the first one's always free" at the dojo in SE Portland -- Two Rivers Aikikai. I enjoyed it. Other students were very welcoming, and the instructors too.
It wasn't as intense as the class I watched at Portland Aikikai, but that's partly because I attended an open session rather than intermediate/advanced. The nuances of the different feels would be boring reading for the uninitiated... I'm still undecided, but leaning toward Two Rivers for both convenience and compatibility.
My one concern is that there weren't as many advanced students at this particular Two Rivers session as I would hope to have available -- maybe I should check the tags on the wall, and see what the actual count is. I'm too ambitious to train "just for fun;" I want to challenge myself and improve, and belt-ranks are one of the few ways to do that in aikido. Working with more advanced students is another. (I liked it in my "home" dojo in Christchurch, that there were a number of excellent instructors with very different styles -- from a young massage therapist who taught out-of-this-world warm-up stretches, to an old ham who liked to show us street-fighting tricks, to the nearly-Japanese demeanor and rigor of the head instructor. Two Rivers is more focused on a single style, which makes things easier for students learning, but might not be as exciting for me as I progress.)

There's no rush to decide. Walking back to the car, I realized I left my gi there, so I guess I'll be going back. ;-)

***

Earlier:
Today, I woke up blissfully aware that there was, for once, not a single meeting on my calendar. I "slept in" from about 7:30 am to 9:30, when Terry the cleaning lady arrived, followed closely by the church lady who comes to give Grandma communion on Thursdays.

Then we started puttering -- emptying the dishwasher, making grocery lists, tidying things out of the way for the cleaning lady. I called work to see if anyone was hoping to see me there today.... and Grandma remembered that her prescriptions needed to be picked up ... and I remembered an urgent errand downtown... and my day filled up fast.

We had lunch around noon, when Meals on Wheel came. (I'd like to cook, and get Grandma out of the habit of eating leftovers reheated in styrofoam, but I don't think I have the time or dedication at the moment. Their entrees are great, but the veggies are invariably boiled to a pulp.)

After lunch, and several false starts between getting the laundry from the basement, checking the appointment calendar, finding cash, and re-writing the grocery list which I had misplaced, I was out and doing errands by 2 pm. First groceries and Rite aid, and deliver them back to Grandma. Then downtown, to pay my own parking ticket (first one ever, but it was a tow =*[ ) and then I put some cash in my bank account to cover the parking-ticket check.

Then across the river again, stopping at the post office for the mail, and then into work to touch base on a half-dozen little details like shared tasks and bank paperwork. Picked up a (signed! yay!) check, and things to photocopy, and the funds to do that, for the printer. Checked the class times and location of the Two Rivers dojo online while I was there.

Drove over to Lloyd Center, where I thought the printer was supposed to be, only it wasn't. Looked it up in a phone book at Wolf Camera. Got dinner. Split it before I started eating to give some to a beggar, who was gone by the time I returned with the food. Went down the street to where the printer is actually supposed to be, didn't see it, and noted that the time was now after 5:00 anyway. Gave it up to do tomorrow.

Continued driving back into SE to the Two Rivers dojo. Carried gi two blocks to the dojo, arrived to find that I had looked at the wrong day, and a beginner's class was underway instead of a kid's class when I arrived. Most of the students seemed to be waiting for the "open" class to start. Everyone was enthusiastically welcoming, and they have showers! I dressed, chatted, joined the lesson when it started, trained, warmed down, thanked everybody, chatted some more. Had a surprise rush of emotion as the class was about to start -- realizing just how far away my first aikido friends, from New Zealand, are. Shook it off for the class.

Afterwards, I got a chance to talk to the head instructor about the aikido scene in Portland generally. Among other things, I realized I know nothing about which teacher and style means what -- so there's not much point being picky on that basis.
When I went to roll around afterwards, he noticed that I do a particular thing with my feet that I was taught, that he also teaches, that "nobody else" seems to do. Another tic in the compatibility column.
Made me feel proud of my training in Christchurch, too, that they taught me this good technique and I learned it well enough to execute it without thinking about it.
I'd been wondering, since I only got to train there for six months or so, if any of their style would be imbedded enough to remain recognizeable once I started training with someone else back home.

After I got changed again, I ended up chatting while putting shoes on by the door. One of the remaining students gave me some raw cacao, which I liked. We traded cash for a bus ticket to get him home. I spent the cash (which had been a bus ticket only moments before) on a tiny ice-cream on my way back to Grandma's. It was yummy.

Back home, Grandma and I traded stories about the rest of her day and mine. We ate some apple and cookie together (well, I had half a cookie, and she had two pieces of the apple I cut up for myself.) I read her story about "Winter at Seaside," since I might get to go there this weekend if Kacy's still up for it. Not as strong storytelling as the two I've posted, but full of little real details. She showed me another one, a tiny anecdote about Phil's college years, with a long-ago teacher's comments.

And then I checked Uncle Phil's comments on the Isp story I posted here. Next I'm going to give my sore-but-relaxed body the hot shower it deserves, and head for bed.

Not quite the restful day I had in mind when I was dozing this morning, but at least it was a variety. Felt good to get it all done.

-E