Kyoto

The morning started with 48 spiders (I was able to count to 21 in Japanese before they started appearing too fast) on the way to campus.  This was followed by an academic and alien orientation meeting, which I immediately bolted from to check my mailbox for my classes.  They were there and I got my two Japanese courses, Intro to Japanese History, Visual Anthropology of Japan and Religion in Japan; I'm waitlisted for Shinto.

Then there was a sexual health orientation meeting, which was completely uneducational and included the Indian condom song...  and gumby sex figures.  Then I had the woman's orientation meeting which was almost entirely dealing with chikan on the trains.  If someone gropes us, we are to grab their hand and yell chikan and the rest should take care of itself.

I picked up my ID card and poked around the Interwebs waiting for the Kyoto tour.

And there were so many people!  For every international student who signed up, there was at least one Japanese student as a guide.  We all traveled by bus to Hirakatashi station and bought our tickets to where we wanted to go.  My group got off at the Gion-shijou station in Kyoto and made a bee-line for Kiyomizu Temple.  On the way there, I encountered my first Starbucks since arriving.  The buildings must be rustic in color, though not in design, from what I saw.

When we entered, we stopped to purify ourselves with water.  Fill the scoop from the running water, pour over the left hand, pour over the right hand, catch in the left hand and drink to cleanse the mouth, pour over the left hand and you're done.

There were many shops and restaurants lining the streets up to the temple and our group window-shopped to the max.  One of the shops was entirely dedicated to Miyazaki film merchendise, including items for the up-coming film whose name I do not know.  I picked up a pair of leggings in one of the shops that hopefully I can wear my shorts.  The heat today was unbearable--I was on the brink of passing out by time we reached the top.

It cost 300 yen to enter the temple, but it was worth it.  I purchased an omamori while there; somehow it didn't feel right to get more than one of the same type and I know I'll have opportunities to find more at other temples and shrines in the next few months.

The sun was beginning to set as we reached the top of the hill and we got some great pictures.  We stopped by the spring pool and each drank some of the water, which is apparently supposed to promote healthy/safe childbirth.  By that time, the temple was closing, so we made our way out and went in search of food.

Our guides, Arianna's speaking partner Ayana and her friend Momoko, wanted to go to sushi, but they had trouble finding it and we ended up at an Italian restaurant (which also had those doorbell things on the table for when you're ready to order!).  I got spaghetti with meat sauce (and it was delicious).  We stopped to look at a couple ice cream places on the way back to the station but ended up not getting any.

We did stop in a sock shop and I picked up a new pair of socks, either some tiny socks or tiny booties and a pair of sock-garter bows.  After that, we headed into a pikura place to take ridiculous photos and then on to the station.  We saw two maiko (maybe a maiko and a geisha) in a taxi on the way there, it was kind of exciting.  A maiko is a geisha-in-training, not allowed to entertain on her own, must be in the company of her elder sister to learn from.

Then it was back on the train and the bus and the seminar houses for showers and water and sleep.