So much to talk about...

So I shirked yesterday cuz we didn't get back into Kyoto until about 8 and then we had some work to do for today (Friday, March 4)

Yesterday, we went to Nara to see some of the oldest Buddhist temples in the world. They were much more ornate than the Shinto shrines we saw in Ise. The Shinto religion is much more based in nature so the trees themselves are thought to contain the gods, whereas in the Buddhist religion, idols and images are used. So there were statues and paintings of the gods and idols inside the buildings.

The first place we went to is called Horyuji. It is the oldest Buddhist temple that has been used consistently throughout history. We ended up taking an incredibly long and incredibly expensive bus ride to get to Horyuji. Don kind of dropped the ball on that one. The temple was really interesting and I'll post pictures of it later.

The other important place we went was Toodaiji. This temple is often considered the largest wooden structure in existence, and it was incredibly huge. It was almost unneccessarily large. Inside was a huge statue of Buddha. The size of the columns made you feel like you were standing in a forest. Just the pure scale of the structure and the statues was enough to inspire awe. Pictures will be up later.

Another interesting thing about Nara is that it is covered in deer...that's right...deer. They're everywhere! They follow you around and come up and sniff you while you're trying to take pictures of the temples and pagodas. At first they were cute, but then you watch them more and more and they are all a little mangy and they act like scavengers. It was actually kind of gross after a certain point. They are so used to people that they just walk right up to you and try to take any food you may or may not have.

We got back to Kyoto at around 8 and then had some work to do. I did some translations from English to Japanese and then Jeff and I had to put together a presentation on our basic ideas for the metal store, which we have now officially named "Slashed and Torn". I will put up some pictures of our presentation that we did last night cuz it's pretty cool.

So, that's architecture and Japan...now on to more important things...

My sister got engaged this week (on Wednesday night I think). I was so excited for her, I seriously started crying. I'm kind of sad that I'm not there to experience how happy she is right now, but she said she's going to wait for me to start planning, which I'm happy about. Now I'm excited to go home and help her plan her wedding. So congrats to Ashlyn and Jeff, I'm so happy for you guys.

Anyways, I have to go to my design class now, I'll be back later with pictures and more writing.