Wednesday, November 16, 2011

First day in Kyoto and Monkey Hike

Our second full day was full of making new friends and so much Japanese when someone spoke in english it took me several seconds to stop my brain from deciphering Nihongo. We woke and made our way to Meiji shrine to meet up with a couple of highschool students, Vankrey sensei's teaching friend and Yokota sensei's Aunt and Uncle.
Through self introductions and broken conversation we toured the site and took pictures with a panda clad man. Got some balloons and tied a purple one to Sensei's backpack in order to see him in crowds. We left and went to Harajuku for shopping and lunch (Icecream, caramel and creme filled crepes). Then it was off to Asakusa where we experienced a temple with huuuuge lanterns and giant sandals on gates. Watched Kodomo Kabuki (children kabuki) and wondered around the shops. By far my favorite part of the day was getting to the meeting site a half hour early and being approached by some college students doing a project about foreign reactions to Japanese culture. They asked the four of us if we would like to participate and we spent the next 45 minutes making some origami, answering questions and getting to know eachother. So much fun speaking that much Japanese.
The final stop of the day was in Shinjuku where we walked a monsterous department store. There was an entire floor devoted to food and the colors were mind boggling. We couldnt find the giant book store so I asked for directions. After a few missteps we finally found it and I 've never been so proud to have followed directions in my life.
Mos burger for dinner and a trip to the top of a tall building to see the city capped off the day and we made our way home to collapse.

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