Man, it is August already? Time sure passes in a flash. I only have about 10 days left in Japan, and then I go back to LA! On one hand, I am dying to see my friends that I haven't seen since winter break. But on the other hand, I definitely know that I will miss Japan once I leave. The thing is, I don't know when I'll be able to come back here.
It's been a while since I last blogged. So after the elementary school visit, I went to Kyoto with 6 other people. Kyoto was the imperial capital of Japan before the Meiji Restoration; it's a city that's rich in history and ancient Japanese culture. To be honest, I actually liked Kyoto more than Tokyo. Compared to Tokyo, Kyoto was more slow-paced, composed, and elegant. Tokyo is the typical metropolitan city that's fast-paced, busy, and oppressive at times. Kyoto, however, was hotter than Tokyo. And we stayed at a really cheap and ill-conditioned hostel. I felt like I was in rural China or something.
First day, we took the Shinkansen to Kyoto. I don't know what's up with the public transportation in the United States, but the public transportation in Japan is amazing. You can go anywhere in Japan without a car, and that is definitely not true in the States. The Shinkansen, which is like the Amtrak, takes about 2 hours to go from Tokyo to Kyoto. It was super awesome, albeit the tickets were expensive. After we arrived in Kyoto, we dropped off our stuff at the hostel and went site seeing. We went to a couple of shrines, temples, and then went to a Gion Matsuri, a kind of Japanese festival. It was so much touring that by the end of the night, I was completely exhausted.
Next day, we did some more touring around Kyoto, went to a World Heritage Site, Kinkaku Ji, and couple of other places. At 5, we took a train to Kobe to meet up with our first year Japanese teacher, Nishimura Sensei!!!!! I was so happy when I saw Nishimura Sensei because she was my favorite teacher in Japanese class. During my first year in Japanese, I was probably the stupidest student in the class. I would always ask the most retarded and obvious questions. I never knew the answers to the questions that the teachers asked. I was just such a retarded kid. But, Nishimura sensei was definitely the most patient and nicest teacher to me. She was always there to help me when I needed her help. She was definitely one of the reasons why I decided to continue Japanese. After we arrived at Kobe, we had a delicious dinner and then went to her house. Her house was so freaking huge (by Japanese standards) and clean. She already set up our rooms with futons and pillows and gave us towels for showers. This, in contrast to the night before, was heaven.
Next day, we went to Himeji Castle, which was another World Heritage Site. It was pretty cool. By then, I've become pretty numb to touring historical sites. After that, we said goodbye to Nishimura Sensei and took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. Overall, Kyoto was an amazing experience because it represented a completely different face of Japan.
Now for pictures!
That is it for now.
Until next time,
Hans
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