Yesterday was the most eventful day I've had since leaving Osaka and coming to Kyoto! Although admittedly, some of those events were school-related (aka, I have to do homework based on them).
I had to decide on a "Personal Semester Goal"that was related to my long-term goal in learning Japanese. Initially, I put down that my long term goal was to work in Japan (because it is), but Fukai-sensei (my language teacher) wants us to work on it in class each Friday, so I had to think of something else. It looks like everyone else is reading a manga; Fukai-sensei tried to convince me to read Nodame Cantabile (it looks like she's seen the drama too, incidentally). But I want to do something in class that will actually give me new skills, as I can read manga on my own whenever. At this point, I'm going to try and get a book of basic music theory, and use that as my Personal Goal. But if I can't find a good book, it'll be back to the drawing board.
For lunch, I walked over to Eze Bleu, another little bakery near my school. It was too small to use for my class, but their bread was AMAZING. Crispy crust, light and airy inside. I bought a "Garlic French" and enjoyed it in the Doshisha lounge. I'll be going back there, that's for sure!
In the afternoon we had a field trip (for my Flavors of Kyoto class) to a food market We first went to to a renowned pickle shop, where we learned about the history of the shop and about their variety of pickling methods. Japanese pickles are very different from those in the US - there's a much larger variety, but their shelf life is much shorter. We also went to one of the most famous confectioneries in Kyoto: Futaba. On most days, there's a line running down the street and around the block. We got to go behind the scenes, to the inner sanctum of the shop. All 16 of us somehow crammed into the back of the store, and listened about how the menu changes with the seasons. Since we're heading into fall, chestnuts are going to be used in the new batch of tradition Japanese sweets. We even got a few free samples (which were AMAZING). If I can find a time to go when there won't be a huge line, I'll be going there every week!
Once our field trip ended, we explored the area for a while. One of my KCJS friends is obsessed with peaches, and upon buying a fresh peach at the market (and getting a number of free samples) she skipped up the street singing "Momo~ Momo~" We made our way over to the river, where all of us took a break and enjoyed the view. Seriously, fantastic scenery there. That is, until the first drop hit. Suddenly, the skies opened up, and raindrops the size of gumballs pelted us as we ran for cover. We hid for a while under the bridge, but the rain only got worse.
Finally, the torrential downpour eased up, and we scurried off to the Izakaya for our party. On the way, I took note of an interesting restaurant: Falafel Garden. Falafel in Kyoto? I must investigate further. The Izakaya was pretty standard fare, although by no means uninteresting: yaki udon, yakisoba, tuna sushi, seared tuna, edamame, fried chicken, and french fries. Not to mention the unlimited drinks. The 15 of us (half Japanese, half KCJS students) ordered our first round of drinks and dug into the food. Umeshu, beer, beer, beer, beer, sake, sake, whiskey, whiskey, umeshu.
We all had a good time: everyone was laughing and getting to know each other, essentially the main objective in coming to Japan. Good times. When we finally had to leave (you only get to drink for 90 minutes!), we decided to hit up karaoke. Although a few people returned home, the majority of us went on to sing for the next two hours. Boy was that fun! Even with the disappointing lack of "Be A Man" and the heartbreak of someone cancelling my "Piano Man", this was the best session of karaoke I've ever been to!
We all headed our separate ways, with me going to farthest since I live in Joyo. And I witnessed something interesting on the train - a fight! In Japan! What is this madness? One businessman standing up accidentally made a really loud noise waking up all the sleeping passengers (90% of Japanese sleep on the train). Now, this one guy, another businessman, got really pissed off. Some works were exchanged (in the rudest Japanese I've ever heard real people use), and then the guy sitting down kicked the other salaryman. A brief struggle ensued, but before the doors of the train shut, the standing man exited, and that was that. Nobody really paid it any mind. But I was fairly surprised to see this happen in Japan (also somewhat amused, but whatever, I was tired). By the time the train arrived at Kutsukawa, it was only 11pm, but it was pitch dark. If it were America, I'd have taken a cab. But since it's safe to walk at night in Japan, I stopped at a 7-11 (to cure my munchies), and walked home, singing to myself. I got in, and went straight to bed. The story should have ended there. But it didn't.
The sun rises early in Japan. Six hours after going to bed, the rays of the sun roused my from my slumber. Which was bad. Since I hadn't had time to sleep off the drink, my head pounded like a judge's gavel. That is to say, ouch. I took an Advil, drank some water, and tried for half an hour to get back to sleep. I wish I had some curtains. Finally, I was able to get some more shut-eye, and when I awoke, I was as good as new.
Oh, one last bit of unrelated news: thanks to one of the coolest friends I have, I've acquired the correct ticket for the Choucho concert! YAY!
*As of typing this, I have poked a hole in the paper screen with my elbow. Whoops...*
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