May Days

Hello!

WOW, it has been a long time since I've updated this blog! I'm sure you're all feeling the same way I am: May was BUSYBUSY, and I can't believe it's already over. My youngest sister is now a high school graduate, my cousins' baseball team made it to the College World Series, and I've officially purchased my plane ticket home in August. It's all happening so fast!

One of the highlights of May, of course, was Andy's return to Japan. He finished his finals on Friday and was on a plane on Saturday morning to arrive in Japan on Sunday evening. It was so much fun to have him around for another week and a half. This time, I had no days off, other than the weekend, so our travel time was limited. Instead, we spent a lot of time playing games, cooking our own meals, and hanging out with my students. It was a pretty relaxed vacation, but we both had a great time! And my students loved having him in class!

Trip to the art museum!

Authentic sushi counter

Japanese tea ceremony at my student's house

We did manage to make it to Kyoto on the Saturday that he was here, and if any of you remember my trip to Kyoto with my mom, it is not my favorite place. It's a beautiful and historic city, but the public transportation is confusing and difficult, and the layout of the city, at least to me, makes very little sense. (I know it's because it's so old, but that doesn't ease my frustrations any.) But we braced ourselves for the worst and trekked on anyway. We were, I must say, pleasantly surprised. We found the bus terminal with route maps (how is there only one place to find these in all of Kyoto Station?) and managed to make it to Sanjusangendo and Kiomizudera with no trouble. I've also got to thank my boss for giving us excellent travel tips in Kyoto beforehand.

At Sanjusangendo, home of the 1,001 Buddhas

Beautiful garden

Orange!

Kiomizudera pagoda

Now I know why this is one of the most famous temples in Japan. GORGEOUS!

Our next stop was Kinkakuji, the famous Golden Pavillion, and while we got a little lost on our way, we managed to get there in time to have our picture taken and get interviewed by some Japanese high school students. It was so funny to watch them read through their list of questions for us, in English, completely terrified, hoping they'd understand what we were saying.

Our final destination was Kawaramachi Catholic cathedral, and this time, we got hopelessly lost. We wandered around the same 3 blocks for a solid half hour or 45 minutes looking for a cathedral. In Europe, you just don't have these kinds of problems.We finally found it, but it was tucked away on a little sidestreet (naturally), almost connected to the huge hotel next to it. It's like they had a third of a city block leftover after the hotel and thought, 'Hey, let's fill this with a cathedral.' Of course, none of my students had heard of it before, but it was fun to see real stained glass and a western-style church.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but perhaps the highlight of Kyoto for me was the dinner we had a T.G.I.Friday's. Those of you who know me know how much I love this restaurant, but it was especially exciting this time because in the past couple of months, I've just grown tired of Japanese food. Don't get me wrong: I still love it. But sometimes, you just need those American flavors. And did T.G.I.Friday's have them or what! It tasted exactly the same as an American restaurant, and I ate more than I'd ever eat on a trip there in the States. But it was so fantastic. And it provided me with a great lesson for the next week of classes!

Andy made his way back to Montana with no problems, and life has not slowed down one bit since he left. I've somehow managed to fill almost every hour of my days in the past couple of weeks, and since I've only got about two more months here, I don't imagine that that will change any time soon. Before you know it, my time in Japan will be over!

I hope June brings with it for you sunshine and summer relaxation. Take care!