Touring Kyoto

It is now Saturday at about 12:30, and I've written nothing about Friday.

Yesterday I woke up at about 6 am and couldn't get back to sleep. So I got up, took a shower in our tiny bathroom and went into the lounge to go online. I got to talk to my family and Andrew on Skype which was nice. I'm not sure how often I'm going to get to do that as the trip progresses so I'm going to take advantage of it now.

At around 10:30 we went out for some breakfast. We found a noodle place, but it's hard to tell what exactly is supposed to be breakfast here lol. The place is pretty cool, especially for us since you don't really have to talk to anyone. You go in and there is a sort of vending machine with pictures and descriptions (in Japanese of course) of different meals and items with the prices listed next to them. You put in your money, and the items you can afford light up. Then you select one of them based purely on a wild guess about what will be in it based on the picture, and you get a ticket. When you go sit at the counter, you are given tea and you hand your ticket to the guy behind the counter. He then brings you your meal, which usually consists of and includes things that you were not expecting, and there is very little language required. It's pretty much perfect for us and the food is not bad. It seems like all of the meals I've had so far cost about $5 at most. That is excluding the cost of biiru (beer) of course.

After we ate, we went to a large department store called Mina, which is a few blocks from our hotel. I found a present for my sister Taylor there and I hope she likes it. When I was purchasing it the girls behind the counter were talking to each other and giggling a little bit and they finally asked me if I was American. I answered "hai" which means yes, and they were so impressed with my incredibly limited Japanese that they started talking to each other again. Of course, they didn't know that Jeff speaks some Japanese and was catching a good portion of what they were saying. So when they called us cute, he said "so dessu" which means "that's right". The girls got really embarassed and asked him if he spoke Japanese and he said a little. They were so impressed with us for just that little bit of Japanese. I find it so interesting because in America, it seems like we usually expect foreigners to know or learn our language. Here, they are just so happy if we even make an effort. It can really make you consider our attitude about tourists and foreigners in the states.

At 1 pm, we met with our class to take a tour around Kyoto. We went down to the Kyoto International Community Center where our design classes will be held on Wednesday and Friday afternoon. There is a message board there and Jeff and I are planning on posting an ad as English conversation partners as a way to meet some people, and potentially make a few extra yen. We also checked out the library there, but it doesn't seem like it will be that useful to us.

After that we took the subway to the Imperial Palace to make appointments to tour a few of the palaces in the area. It took us a long time because there are so many of us and they usually only take groups of 4. We finally got it figured out, but we scared off everyone else in the office in the process.

We walked through the Imperial grounds which were beautiful. It's amazing to walk through what was once the palace of the Emperor of Japan. The traditional architecture is so amazing and it seems like there is a strong focus on framing views and allowing small glimpses into the more private grounds through somewhat elaborate gateways. Some of us ended up lagging behind to take pictures while Don Choi (our teacher) kept going on without us.

From there, we walked on to where our Japanese classes will be held. The building is a little house that was built 100 years ago. It was constructed as a complex of 3 townhouses and our sensai (teacher) has broken through a wall upstairs to connect to one of the next door townhouses. He fixed up what was once an old storage room and turned in into a classroom where our lessons will be held. He seems like a very sweet man, but I think we are all a little nervous since very few of us know the hirigana and katakana characters even though we are supposed to. The lessons will be pretty intense, but I am really looking forward to them, despite my nerves.

The whole house is covered in tatami mats, which means that we cannot wear shoes once inside. It is very interesting because the floor is treated more as a piece of furniture than a walking surface. I am learning to tell the difference between floors that are meant to be walked on and those that are more for sitting. The distinction usually involves a level change. The stairs to get up to our classroom are incredibly steep...more of a ladder than anything else. There are obviously different codes in terms of safety here.

By the time we were done at the Japanese school, we were all pretty tired of walking. But, of course, there is always more to see. We walked back towards our hotel but we ended up stopping at an electronics store to pick up a router so we can all have wireless internet at our hotel. Setting it up took much joint effort by Jeff (our official computer guy) and Norio (our official Japanese guy) and was finally finished at midnight.

After the electronics store, we walked through a fish market filled with strange foods. One of our assignments is to try a food that we've never tried before, so Trudy and I found some strange balls filled with....ummm...something. We really have no idea what they are, but we're going to eat them tomorrow and document the process.

Next, we went to a department store that has a strange sort of grocery store on the basement levels. Jeff and I were starving so we found some sort of fried things and ordered them based on randomly pointing at them and saying ichiban, which is the word for one when the thing you're counting is elongated in shape. We almost got left behind because we were the only ones who stopped. Luckily Don found us before everyone left.

Lastly, we stopped at a large store called The Loft which carries everything from makeup to household goods and electronics. I found a traveler's clock which tells me the time here and the time in LA at the click of a button, which is nice. I also got a passport holder so my passport doesn't get all beat up.

We were finally released for the evening. Jeff, Blake, Norio and I decided to go get some Chinese food at a place that Norio recommended. We all ordered gyoza which are essentially pot stickers that we have in the US. They were pretty good and it was a good amount of food for about $6. Then we went to an Irish pub for a beer. It was interesting because the owner obviously spoke English, but no one else did. The place was surprisingly empty for a Friday night.

After walking across Kyoto all day and having a beer, we were all pretty much falling asleep so we came back to the hotel. Jeff and Norio stayed up to get the router working, but I went straight to bed. Overall it was a productive, but exhausting day. Now I just have to try to remember where all those places are in relation to our hotel...I'll let you know how that goes.

Anatagata die suki des (I love you guys)