Thoughts from Kyoto - February 24

So much for my attempt to keep a consistent diary. What’s happened since my last journal entry? Well, I’ve lost *a* glove, bought a bike which isn’t nearly as cool as I thought it would be because of bureaucratic problems, and lost my MP3 player. February’s been awesome, thanks for asking. I’m not sure if this is possible, but I think KCJS just bumped up the program difficulty level, at least as far as the Japanese courses are concerned. I can only imagine what living hell finals will be like.

Yeah, I feel like I'm back in elementary school, learning to write in Chinese again.

Valentine’s Day apparently is as big a deal as it’s depicted to be in manga and anime, which long story short means I received chocolates and will be obligated to buy/make some in return on March 14^th. It’s certainly still commercialistic, but not nearly the same scale as in the States, where in addition to all the sugary foods sold at an even faster rate than normal you’ve got aisles and aisles of icky hallmark cards that are so sweet that your significant other would either think you’re adorable or think you were a serial killer, because something’s got to be wrong with your head. Consider me jaded as far as Valentine Cards go.

Random streets in Kyoto

This is why Japan is either disturbing, or plain awesome. WTF? (They were delicious, by the way)

I’ve gotten used to how easy it is to buy smokes and booze. Yet people for the most part don’t seem to be going crazy about them. How ironic.

I love walking randomly around Kyoto on weekends, because you’ll find things you didn’t even know existed, like little alleyways that lead you into small tea shops, or stalls with unagi bento, or kimono shops and what not. This other day there were just dozens upon dozens of people walking around in kimonos around Shijo – I’m not sure if it was some sort of special occasion or what, but it was quite a sight to see. You certainly don’t see kimonos every day, contrary to the stereotype – it’s probably better to think of them as suits that people wear for special occasions, like festivals or graduation.

I also like taking walks along the Kamogawa 鴨川 (literally: Duck River). I’ll admit that if it wasn’t for the fact that I can save 2 bucks doing so I wouldn’t do it quite as often, but either way the scenery is always interesting and unless it’s raining hard or unseasonably cold, it’s easy to see people engaging in various activities, such as juggling soccer balls, or having band performances.

I’ve started going to a manga class once every two weeks, and that’s pretty much awesome. The sensei’s Japanese, and can speak English fairly well, but for the most part the class is taught in Japanese. People from various different countries show up for these events at the Kyoto International Community House – just off the top of my head, last week we had someone from Brazil, Canada, Spain, Hong Kong, Chicago, and Iran. FREAKING IRAN! Her goal is to be a manga artist. That is really cool, no other way to describe it. (actually someone with a larger vocabulary than mine would in all likelihood think of a better way to say it)

I appreciate that in most convenience stores, when you buy ramen you also have access to hot water. Great for when you’re nearly broke. Still it feels just wrong somehow (perhaps because of all the preservatives that will eventually wreck your body), so I drew a face indicating the guilt I felt on the lid.

Last Saturday was my host mother’s birthday, and we went out for dinner to a Japanese restaurant. I point that out because it specifically said Wafuu 和風 which means Japanese-style, which apparently means craploads of delicious fish. I’d say roughly 4 out of 6,7 dishes had something to do with fish, and it was all amazing stuff. I think I ate more raw fish than I have my entire life. It helps that since coming here I’ve developed a liking for it. Seafood is just *everywhere*. The next day we went to a famous bentou (boxed lunch) place, and of course the food there was exquisite as well, but I just wanted to comment on the kid’s meals. Normally if you get a kid’s meal in the States the sense is that they’re pretty half-hearted; either the same stuff as the adult meal but with cheaper ingredients and smaller portions, or burgers and fries. Here… well, first off the bowl was shaped like a bear, which is worth a lot of points in my head right there. Then that bowl was actually divided into three different compartments, each with their own goodies in them. Awesome!

Yeah, people can really draw here.

Insert pretty picture here!

Map of this really famous shrine. It was more like a whole bunch of shrines on a mountain.

Provided a good view, though.

I’m sort of curious where the “little love umbrella” 愛的小傘” first originated. (My Taiwanese friends will know exactly what I’m talking about here) I originally figured it was a Taiwanese thing, but after noticing that people draw them here as well, I’m starting to think that it was yet another cute import from Japan.

On a last note for today, I finally figured out what they do with the leftover water from baths – they drain it into the washing machine and reuse it one more time. Mad props, Japan.