Maybe it will be long?

Woohoo, closed-eyes shot! This is a nameplate for my school. "Kansai Gaikokugo Daigaku"

This week seems to have gone by slowly, but now it's just ended in a flash. I meet my host family tomorrow; I hope they're all nice and that their two dogs are teeny so I can smush them I won't be so freaked out by them.

I've been exploring and discovering a bit more, at least as much as my bum leg will allow, and it's been pretty fun. I just can't wait for school to start up. I'm taking ceramics and some kind of literature course, although I'm not quite sure about the teacher. We'll see when I have class Tuesday. I also don't know what level of Japanese I'm in, but I'll find out when I get to school tomorrow to meet my family.

Some kind of restaurant/building we found, I don't know, but I thought the design was really interesting. It's a bit lost on my camera, though.

I'm not used to having coins that matter, so I've never used a coin purse. I bought this one the other day so I could keep track of my 100 and 500 yen coins since they're actually worth something.

Some DELIGHTFUL chocolates I found in the convenience store in school.

We went to a rotating sushi restaurant the other night, and I finally tried Japanese "pudding" (flan). It was... interesting.

We finished all the orientation business Thursday (I may or may not have skipped a bit of it), and Friday we went on a small trip to Kyoto. I think they were matching the foreigners with Japanese students, but Rachel had her speaking partner, so we went with her. She was really cute and very shy. She told us she was nervous to meet us. Her English wasn't great, so we did a lot of exchange, which is totally fine by me. I'm very excited to find that much of what I've learned is still somewhere in my head.

Man making kaitenyaki. It had red bean paste inside.
Rachel and her speaking partner, Megumi!
Kiyomizu Temple
A shrine inside the temple. Megumi said that this one is for safety within the family.

It's the Love Stone! I did it the last time I was here, but I tried yesterday and failed. No love luck for me.

Views from the temple. It's a huge temple built into a mountainside.

Rachel and me drinking water. I believe it's supposed to be cleansing.

Ojizousan!!!! Anyone who took Akaike's class, do you remember the Kasajizou story?

A shrine, I believe, but I don't know the name.

I also don't know the name of this temple!

The trip was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to visit Kyoto again. It's really rather close, and it doesn't cost much for the train tickets. It's just a matter of finding out which ticket to buy... I'm supposed to take the train to school each day, so I hope I can figure that out. Heh heh.


Today's Engrish, found on a railing at the temple: "Caution: Please be careful. This part is hot for a summer season."

Gyaru! I found a gyaru! Or something of one. Just look at that hair!


We found a Ghibli store in Kyoto! Everything was heinously overpriced, but I bought a Ponyo calendar, and Megumi was really sweet and bought both Rachel and me Ponyo handkerchiefs.


An egg soufflé-type thing I ate today. Nom!


I'm so jealous of the way things grow here. Oranges! In January!
And narcissus!


Two of my favorite actresses in ads: Amami Yuki and Yamada Yu. Homegirls are FIERCE.


Also, along with my dead leg, I officially have a cold. Why. Whyyy. Japan doesn't seem to have a lot of cold medicine, or at least cold medicine that isn't over 1000 yen, so I'm on my own for now. I'll see what my host family says. Apparently there's also a school nurse, so maybe I'll pay her/him a visit. Feeling like a grade-schooler.


Bought a mask today because I don't want to be rude. I've been coughing and sneezing, so someone's bound to notice. It's a little small for my massive foreign nose.
"Oh no, it's just that they're terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing them in the future."