Because it seems that everyone is just CLAMORING for another update, I suppose I can oblige.  When I’m home I usually get the impression that everyone just wants me to stop talking, but as soon as I leave, it seems you all just can’t get enough of ol’ Andrew.

As I recall, I left off you all hanging with the promise that I would soon discuss my first trips to Kyoto and Osaka. I’m actually really tempted to blow you all off and discuss the current market share of the 3DS and software sales trends, as well as the results of the latest Magic Pro Tour, but as I always say, my word is my bond.

On Friday morning of my first week in Japan, the university scheduled a Kyoto tour in which a group of us foreigners would be matched with an equal sized group of Japanese students. We were all told to wait patiently while this process was being organized.  However, being the ambitious and overzealous youngsters that we are, my friends and I set about finding our own group of Japanese students, with precedence given, of course, to the ones that looked the coolest. Surely the best paradigm on which to base the decision of a tour guide, right? In any case, our search ended quickly when our eyes alighted on a Japanese fellow sporting an orange Mohawk, hereafter known as Mohawk-san.  (I feel that Ava, at least, should support our choice based on this fact alone.) Mohawk-san and his posse agreed to go with us, and so our merry crew of 3 Americans, 3 French, and 6 Japanese set out for the train station.  This group was perfect, as we all fell in line and started up conversations with our new friends.  It took all of 5 minutes to realize that they were incredibly helpful, earnest in helping us learn about Japanese language and culture, and eager to hear about our lives and countries as well. 

My first use of the Japanese train system could not have gone more smoothly. From arrival at the station to stepping onto the train took roughly 5 minutes, and the ticket from Hirakata-shi to Kyoto was roughly $3 USD.  The train itself was incredibly comfortable, with large windows providing a view of the country as we sped by and surprisingly plush seats to support my heiny.  Given that the trip only took about 30 minutes total, this wasn’t even that necessary, but I imagine for long trips these seats are soft enough to sooth even the tenderest rump.

I was also surprised at how clean everything was. One would be hard pressed to find a single empty water bottle, candy package or gum wrapper carelessly tossed aside.  The cleanliness of the station made me realize how spotless Japan is in general.  I honestly don’t think I’ve seen a piece of litter yet. (I actually asked Rina about this, and why exactly Japan was so clean. Did Japan have lots of full time trash picker uppers? High-tech robot slaves? A squadron of trash-eating goats released every night? She seemed bewildered at the question though, and after thinking for a while, slowly said… “Well… sometimes people drop things, I guess.  But then they pick them up.” Even the concept of purposefully littering because of laziness seemed foreign to her.)

After arriving in Kyoto, we made our way through the throng of people to Kiyomizu-dera, which is an enormous temple seemingly located in the heart of Kyoto. It only took me about an hour to fall in love with this city, which surprised me given my usual dislike of hordes of people stampeding about.  Kyoto was so unique though; it managed to somehow seamlessly blend the traditional with the contemporary.  One minute I was surrounded by people, cars, and noise, and the next I was in what seemed to be an isolated area with steps leading up to a compound of ancient-looking wooden buildings.  As it turns out, this temple is actually still in use by monks, but open to tourists and visitors as well.  I’ll shut up now and let some pictures do the talking.

Aforementioned stairs complete with aforementioned French girls.

The whole gang, minus Charline, who was relegated to camera duty.

From left to right

Back Row: Brett, Mohawk-San, Andrew “Ace of Spades” Broscoff, guy who’s name I can’t remember but reminded me of someone from Death Note, Kei.

Front Row: Yuuya, Mai, Daisuke (kneeling) Marissa, Alix, Gauthier

An absolutely ENORMOUS graveyard. When I inquired about how bodies were laid to rest, I was told (if I understood correctly) that the bodies are cremated but the remaining bones are placed inside these stone doodads.

Lotsa stone doodads. Enough stone doodads to choke a camel, I reckon.

More Pictures of us, because that's what you're really here to see anyway.

Behold, the big orange thing.

You know you're in Japan when an enormous Totoro greets you at the entrance to a store.

Oh yeah, and when you can buy a Totoro outfit for your child.  Unfortunately they don't come any bigger.

Someday I'll come back for you, Catbus Hat.

While at the temple, we took part in several activities.  The first involved descending into some pitch black location and gripping onto a rope as your only guide to make it through. I think it actually may have been the darkest place I’ve ever been. I was terrified that I would drop something and never see it again. In any case, I believe the whole trip was supposed to symbolize a journey into the womb of Buddha’s mother or something, with the aforementioned rope representing Buddha’s umbilical cord.  When you reached deep inside there was a large, dimly illuminated rock that one was supposed to place their hand on and make a wish.  If this was representing Fetus Buddha, I hope I didn’t offend anyone by sneezing on it. Maybe I’m allergic to uteruses (uteri?). Meh, it was so dark in there no one could tell it was me anyway. (And based on the dampness of the rock, I’m forced to conclude that lots of previous visitors sneezed on Fetus Buddha as well.)

Following our journey to the center of the womb, we emerged in an area where three small streams of water cascade down from above, and each one symbolizes… something that I can’t remember.  Love, wisdom, and luck or something like that. Anyway, using a cup attached to a long pole, you’re supposed to collect water from each stream and then drink from it.  The thing is, there’s only like 10 cup/pole combinations, and everyone takes turns using them.  I was astonished at first. “This is so unlike Japan!” I thought in that adorably naïve way that I often do. The Japanese think shoes in any location other than the entryway is disgusting, and heaven forbid you ever walk into the bathroom with your normal slippers on; there’s special bathroom slippers for that! Upon further inspection, however, I saw that there was some sort of Ultra-Violet Sterilization Machine from the future that everyone set their cups in after they’d used them.  Once again, a small, anecdotal example of how Kyoto combines the archaic with the modern.

After quenching our thirst with the Super Water, it was time to try a series of green-tea based candies. Unfortunately I didn’t think to take any pictures of these, but that’s probably for the best. They don’t look like anything special, and I doubt most people could imagine a green-tea based candy being anything but gut-wrenchingly awful, but they were AMAZING.  If I go back again I’ll definitely buy some to bring back home.

The only downside to these candies was that they served as a reminder of how hungry we were.  After taking a leisurely walk down the hill that the temple was located on and browsing the countless stores that lined the steps, it was time to make our way to the restaurant.  Our Japanese guides highly recommended it, and for good reason, as the food was marvelous.  Typically, from what I’ve experienced, the way Japanese restaurants work is very different from American restaurants.  You don’t just order what you want to eat, but instead your entire table orders a wide variety of appetizer-sized mini-meals that everyone shares.  I love this idea, as it’s a great way to try new things, but the only downside is that when it comes time to pay, everyone just splits it.  So regardless of how much you ate, personally, you’re still going to be responsible for a significant fraction of the bill.  Lesson learned. 

I sat at a table with three of our Japanese guides, and at first I was intimidated, because I was the only one from our group without a fellow English speaker at the table.  By the end of the meal, however, I was very grateful; we had a series of very interesting conversations, and the situation pushed me to use more Japanese than I would have otherwise.

Following dinner, it was time for the quintessential Japanese activity of purikura.  You may not know it by name, but you’ve no doubt seen it.  Purikura are those photobooths where everyone piles in and has tons of pictures taken, after which the girls all crowd around the screen and edit the pictures however they wish.  This results in the following inevitable transformations.

Guys----à Girls

Girls---àSuper models

I also greatly enjoyed the sign plastered on the side of the machine:

This was fun, but the real highlight came when I spotted the Pikachu costumes.

You REALLY know you’re in Japan when you can do this without getting so much as a second glance from anyone.

Oh, so about that pose. Japanese people don’t even know why they do it. I’ve asked probably going on 10 of em now, and they can’t give me a real answer.  They just smile and say “posu” as if that explains everything. Well, it doesn’t Japan, it really doesn’t.  But that doesn’t mean I won’t play along.

I was going to try to cover the following day’s trip to Osaka as well, but seeing as this post has already eclipsed 1700 words and it’s getting close to 2AM as I type this, I think it’s time I think about heading to bed. Hopefully this will give you all enough to chew on till I can continue!