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Published: October 11th 2006
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Church in Kyoto
All of us chillin' before the service with our shoes off (it's required). Ohisashiburidesune. Well, it’s now October 11th and it’s been forever since I’ve had contact with the world outside of Japan and a ton has happened since we left Prin on this epic journey. We arrived at the Pense the first night after being awake for over a day and then had to go out on our own and find dinner in the heart of Kyoto. Walking down the street we found our new favorite restaurant called Sukiya don. It’s as close to fast food as the Japanese get. Then we went out to ice cream next door. I have a feeling that by the end of the trip we will have made very good friends with the owner.
The next morning we began our walking tour of Japan which hasn’t ended yet even though we’ve started our normal routine. We traveled all around Kyoto learning where everything was, how to get to the train station and what bus to take to get home. From there we began our sightseeing with a tour of a temple and a walking tour of the Geisha districts of Kyoto specifically Gion. We got to see a few geisha roaming the streets on their ways to
Wishing Well
Brittany and I wishing on Pennies, that's right pennies not yen, at Ginkakuji. elegant parties and were promised that later on in the trip we would get the chance to dine with geisha.
Since that first day we have seen many, many temples my favorite of which has to be Ginkakuji or the Silver Pavillion. The building is missing the silver plating it was intended to have but the surrounding gardens are absolutely magnificent and seem to roll into the neighboring hills. After Ginkakuji we went to eat at a restaurant and I had (Austin you’ll appreciate this) my first bottle of remune. For those of you who don’t know Remune is a soda that tastes a lot like sprite but the bottle is the interesting part of this drink. The bottle is formed in such a way that the glass marble inside will stop up the hole unless it is tipped a certain way.
We have visited many other places like Osaka Castle, Eikando Temple, Kinkakuji or the Golden Pavillion, downtown Osaka. We have had movie nights, dance parties, birthday parties, eaten with Geisha (one of them complemented me, in Japanese, on how well I used chopsticks, yay) and of course gone to class. Class is Mon. - Thurs. on normal weeks
Ginkakuji
Tom and I in front of the Silver Pavillion from 9:00 - 10:40 and we learn the Japanese language. Not much of our time at all is spent at the pense but when we are there most of us are writing in our journals, completing our scrapbook assignments, and doing our language homework.
Many things done, many still to do. We are off to Fukui on a weekend excursion starting tomorrow and immediately after we return we meet our homestay families. Ahhh. It will be an awesome time and I’m grateful because at one point they thought that I would have to share a family with a Japanese major from Colgate University. Now I have my own family and no one else to show me up. Thanks for reading and hopefully from now on I will be able to keep this better updated.
sayōnara
さようなら
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Wade
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Looks Like Fun
Looks like you guys are soaking in quite a bit of Japanese culture and history. Seems like you have recovered from the jet lag. Keep on posting the pix and descriptions. Enjoying following your adventures via the blog. It is true they have wasabi flavored ice cream?? Found it interesting in the picture of the church that "God Is Love" was in english, though it would be in kanji. Take care.