Quite a surprising day, this one. Although, it started with a fairly big (although relatively unimportant) disappointment. I ate the last bit of ume jam for breakfast today...and there won't be any more until next July! Such a shame, especially considering I eat bread for breakfast EVERY day.
Upon boarding the train at Okubo as usual, I ran into Yuka, the super-friendly KCJS student worker. I had no idea anyone at KCJS besides me and Hiro lived off the Kintetsu line. Anywho, it was pretty funny running into a friendly face so early in my day.
During lunch, something quite unexpected happened. Ah, but let me back up. I brought lunch today - there's a cheap bento shop close to Doshisha, and to save money, I picked up a lunch there. I was eating with Hiro, Nick, and a whole bunch of KCJS friends today. Oh, and Nick lent me his old Denshi Jisho! Yay, not spending money! Now I can look up words more efficiently, as long as I can learn how to use it. As I was leaving, someone called out to me, and it took me a second to realize who it was. I knew it was someone from my high school...and then it hit me. Jared, whom I had had a class with pretty much every year at BHS. Of course, since entering college, a lot of my high school memories have gotten fuzzy, but I'm super glad to see a familiar face. I had to run off to class, but it's kind of funny that in addition to one of my close Tufts friends, I've got a BHS friend on campus as well. What an interesting year this is turning out to be.
And the encounters don't end there! I had a meeting with Professor Hirano, AKA Katsu, (guest lecturer from Cornell) about life at KCJS. Aside from informing him that we were all about to die from overwork, I pretty much expressed how much I love being in Japan. On my way out, I learned two interesting factoids. One, Katsu is not only aware of Gary Leupp's writings, but is using them for his new book. Two, his daughter goes to the same Kyudo Dojo as I do. Really, today is a fantastic example for showing just how small our world is! I haven't mentioned it yet, but Professor Yotsukura has met Uncle Charles before (that's Professor Inouye to those not in the know). Tight knit community, us Japan-studying folk.
At the Kyudo Dojo, another unexpected foreigner showed up. This man, Sebastian, was friends with the artists I met last time, and he too wanted to try Kyudo. I interpreted as I had last time, and then we all got set to practicing. No bow, again, but probably next week. Although most of the college students didn't show up, I introduced myself to the one girl who we had seen practice on Monday. I'd like to be friends with the other young practitioners at the dojo, if possible. Unfortunately (I can't believe I'm saying this), Monday is a holiday, which means NO KYUDO T_T
But there is a Kyudo competition, and Kawaguchi-sensei may be shooting, so I've decided to go watch.
Anyway, weekend plans are as follows: go to Osaka, stay with the Fujiwaras again. Party hard. Come back to Kyoto. Go to Beer Garden with host mother. Go to Rakugo performance. Go to Rakugo afterparty. So I don't think there will be a full day where I'm not drinking :/ Is this a problem? Probably not, after the work I've done this week. I DESERVE a break, honestly and truly. Look forward to the next installment of shenanigans, because this weekend is going to be wild!
Ooh, Rakugo? That sounds fun. One of the few things I wish I had done was see the classic performance arts such as Kabuki when I was abroad, so I hope you enjoy it. And I'm sure you're in the know already, but this season had an anime called Joshiraku that's about five female rakugo performers, and is really good. I'm sure you can spare a half hour sometime to check it out if you haven't already.
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