FruitsPunchoSamurai: The Ryukoku adventures

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For those who know me, sorry that I haven't started writing earlier, haven't been at my best these last few days. When I arrived after approximately 12 hours of flying(including the flight from Stockholm to Helsinki) the first thing that struck me was that everyone looked very.....japanese. Shocking observation, I know, but jetlag does crazy things to you. The second thing was the wall of heat as I and my fellow JAS students dragged our baggage out of the airport. "Wasn't it supposed to be almost autumn?", was one thought out of thousands that zoomed around behind beneath my hair roots, colliding and honking angrily at "Crap, I didn't bring any shorts!" and shouting obscene words at "Why didn't I bring a water bottle?!". I won't bore you with all the details of the next few days, let's just say that I wasn't exactly bursting with joy on the inside.

However, things started to look up about 2 days ago when I accidentally knocked on the wrong door at the dormitories and discovered David Allstrin, another swede, and later in the evening ate shabu-shabu, one of the best things known to man, right up there with air-conditioners and electric wall adapters. It was introduced to us by the charming Shotaro, who's greatest wish is to eat an entire cow(not a calf, mind you) and almost succeeded on that sukiyaki-blessed evening. Yes, he is a bit of a monster, but very pleasant nonetheless.

The day after Shotaro and Shiori, our most esteemed tutors, took us to the paradise for any lover of Japan, Yodobashi, a place filled with a ridiculous amount of electronics, capsule-toy machines and everything else between heaven and earth. All this in a single building in downtown Kyoto. That is also where I obtained my japanese cell phone. The weather was still hotter than a room filled with maxed out radiators.

Today was a really good day, though I didn't think so at first after a night with only 2 hours of sleep. It started with me and my friends getting the most underestimated transportation vehicle of all time, the common gear-less bicycle. It was also much more windy than the previous days, meaning there was any wind at all, and combined with the effortless riding of the bicycles we were provided with natural air conditioning. Spurred by the success we made our way to the mall where we had eaten shabu-shabu, much more quickly and painless this time around. There I discovered, a little later than the others, the joys of the 100 yen store, and after that, along with them, alcohol. At half the price one would need to pay in Sweden. "Eureka", "Banzai", "Fan vad nice!". I also bought the Lonely planet japanese phrasebook and now I have "made" prefab pasta bolognese. I shall now enjoy the sheer calmness of doing nothing useful. May your noodles always be cooked properly!

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