Today...went differently than I expected. Not your average
Wednesday, by any means. I actually got out of bed when my alarm rang, for
starters. As it gets colder, I like sleeping later, so my being able to get up
and go at 6:40am should have been my first hint that today would be different.
I left the house 10 minutes early, too, which let me catch the early train. When I got a seat on the second train (my commute involves transferring to the subway), I fell asleep right away. I mean, I didn't get to study for my kanji quiz at all. I slept straight through to Imadegawa.
I had a fantastic discussion with Leila about this keychain she made for a mutual friend, and how it may or may not be phalliclly suggestive. Many laughs were had by all, but especially me and Alex.
Despite my complete lack of studying, the kanji quiz went decently well. I knew almost all of the readings, and a couple of the ones I needed to write. Not to say that I shouldn't study, but it was nice that I didn't fail outright today.
And during our break, Shore-san came into our classroom and told us that Professor Hirano was out sick, and that his class was cancelled. And so, as of 11am, I was free for the day. Originally, I intended to eat lunch with Angela, Roslyn, and Kenji, but fate would have different plans in mind for me. I went to the cafe, intending to study, where by chance I met up with Nick. He was on his way to Shijo, and as I was free, I saw no reason not to join him.
We walked up from Shijo through the streets of Kyoto until we reached @, a traditional Japanese paper store. Nick, being the thoughtful guy he is, was planning on making a thank you card for his host parents. I, on the other hand, wandered freely through the store, looking at their wares. It was beautiful. They had hundreds of sheets and rolls of Japanese paper coming in dozens of patterns and colors. The first floor had card stock and paper goods, and the third floor was more of a museum of paper. If I had to say why Japanese paper is so great, it would have to be the texture. It's not smooth, which gives it a nice feel and weight. Plus, it's really damn pretty. It's very likely they make all their own paper there, although I have no idea how they would go about patterning and coloring it.
While we were in the area, we walked over to this cake shop Nick had seen when heading to the gym. First of all, it smelled AMAZING. I can't even describe this aroma in words. Just, cake! And it looked like they had a great selection. One of the storekeepers saw me and Nick gawking, and invited us in. We inquired about the 'Black Cream Puff' - most of the time, black in Japanese sweets means black sesame, which actually is really tasty. But this time, it turned out to be a chocolate cream puff! We told the lady we'd be back after lunch, and with one final glance at the cakes, we headed out.
We decided to find somewhere to eat, so we wandered around, finding a number of interesting shops: a liquor shop selling Coca-Cola in glass bottles, a bento shop, a (then-closed) curry shop, and the Goblin Bar. All interesting places I'd like to check out in the future. One store front in particular caught my attention - it appeared to be selling Japanese dishes. We decided to check it out.
The entry gate led through a small garden with stone steps and a few trees, with a second, smaller gate in the back. As we passed through the shop curtain, the shop attendant called for us to come in. When she saw we were foreigners, she appeared slightly surprised, but told us (in English) to take our shoes off and come in. I took a look at some of the wares - it was lacquerware, but superbly light. Somehow or other, we wound up talking with our host. It started off with pretty basic stuff, like where we were from, and that we were studying in Japan. But we actually wound us talking more about our studies, especially what we found difficult with Japanese. She brought out matcha (the good, whisked green tea) and some sweets for us as we talked. We were in there for well over an hour, I reckon. But it was such a delight to have that sort of experience. People who enjoy talking with us foreigners really make coming here worthwhile. I don't think I've stopped smiling since we left the shop.
Continuing our quest for lunch, we walked towards Kawaramachi. We wandered in and out of a couple import stores, running across Haribo gummy bears in both. Finally, we decided on a cheap beef bowl shop, which was actually really tasty with decent portions. Oh, but Nick was super displeased that he didn't get an egg with his meal, and even went to ask the waitress if he could order one. Something about this surprised her, because she looked really confused. Still, beef bowls always come with eggs, so it shouldn't have been that much of a hassle, really. It was about this time that Obama won the elections, I suppose, because we got some texts from our other AKP friends about 'victory drinks'.
After eating, we headed back to the cake place. The same store clerk was there, and she seemed glad we returned. We grabbed seats in the back, and flipped through the menu. Nick went with coffee and a cheesecake, and I decided on that Black Cream Puff. All of it was good, if slightly pricy. But wow. All of the desserts were delicious, and the coffee was amazing. Rather than be as bitter as black coffee often is, it had a more subtle flavor that went down really smoothly. I wish I had ordered a cup too. I plan on going back again; in fact, I wish I had known about it sooner, because I would have used it for my food class.
The last leg of my journey led to me taking the subway as far north as you can go, accompanying Nick and my other AKP friends to their art class. Then I took the train all the way down to Joyo. Riding the subway from the farthest stop has its merits: you can sit the whole time.
And so closed my strange Wednesday adventures. It's gonna be a busy night, what with all the work I have due tomorrow. But I have double the time I usually have for homework, so I've practically got all the time in the world. What a fine day in Kyoto. It was for days like today that I came here in the first place.
I left the house 10 minutes early, too, which let me catch the early train. When I got a seat on the second train (my commute involves transferring to the subway), I fell asleep right away. I mean, I didn't get to study for my kanji quiz at all. I slept straight through to Imadegawa.
I had a fantastic discussion with Leila about this keychain she made for a mutual friend, and how it may or may not be phalliclly suggestive. Many laughs were had by all, but especially me and Alex.
Despite my complete lack of studying, the kanji quiz went decently well. I knew almost all of the readings, and a couple of the ones I needed to write. Not to say that I shouldn't study, but it was nice that I didn't fail outright today.
And during our break, Shore-san came into our classroom and told us that Professor Hirano was out sick, and that his class was cancelled. And so, as of 11am, I was free for the day. Originally, I intended to eat lunch with Angela, Roslyn, and Kenji, but fate would have different plans in mind for me. I went to the cafe, intending to study, where by chance I met up with Nick. He was on his way to Shijo, and as I was free, I saw no reason not to join him.
We walked up from Shijo through the streets of Kyoto until we reached @, a traditional Japanese paper store. Nick, being the thoughtful guy he is, was planning on making a thank you card for his host parents. I, on the other hand, wandered freely through the store, looking at their wares. It was beautiful. They had hundreds of sheets and rolls of Japanese paper coming in dozens of patterns and colors. The first floor had card stock and paper goods, and the third floor was more of a museum of paper. If I had to say why Japanese paper is so great, it would have to be the texture. It's not smooth, which gives it a nice feel and weight. Plus, it's really damn pretty. It's very likely they make all their own paper there, although I have no idea how they would go about patterning and coloring it.
While we were in the area, we walked over to this cake shop Nick had seen when heading to the gym. First of all, it smelled AMAZING. I can't even describe this aroma in words. Just, cake! And it looked like they had a great selection. One of the storekeepers saw me and Nick gawking, and invited us in. We inquired about the 'Black Cream Puff' - most of the time, black in Japanese sweets means black sesame, which actually is really tasty. But this time, it turned out to be a chocolate cream puff! We told the lady we'd be back after lunch, and with one final glance at the cakes, we headed out.
We decided to find somewhere to eat, so we wandered around, finding a number of interesting shops: a liquor shop selling Coca-Cola in glass bottles, a bento shop, a (then-closed) curry shop, and the Goblin Bar. All interesting places I'd like to check out in the future. One store front in particular caught my attention - it appeared to be selling Japanese dishes. We decided to check it out.
The entry gate led through a small garden with stone steps and a few trees, with a second, smaller gate in the back. As we passed through the shop curtain, the shop attendant called for us to come in. When she saw we were foreigners, she appeared slightly surprised, but told us (in English) to take our shoes off and come in. I took a look at some of the wares - it was lacquerware, but superbly light. Somehow or other, we wound up talking with our host. It started off with pretty basic stuff, like where we were from, and that we were studying in Japan. But we actually wound us talking more about our studies, especially what we found difficult with Japanese. She brought out matcha (the good, whisked green tea) and some sweets for us as we talked. We were in there for well over an hour, I reckon. But it was such a delight to have that sort of experience. People who enjoy talking with us foreigners really make coming here worthwhile. I don't think I've stopped smiling since we left the shop.
Continuing our quest for lunch, we walked towards Kawaramachi. We wandered in and out of a couple import stores, running across Haribo gummy bears in both. Finally, we decided on a cheap beef bowl shop, which was actually really tasty with decent portions. Oh, but Nick was super displeased that he didn't get an egg with his meal, and even went to ask the waitress if he could order one. Something about this surprised her, because she looked really confused. Still, beef bowls always come with eggs, so it shouldn't have been that much of a hassle, really. It was about this time that Obama won the elections, I suppose, because we got some texts from our other AKP friends about 'victory drinks'.
After eating, we headed back to the cake place. The same store clerk was there, and she seemed glad we returned. We grabbed seats in the back, and flipped through the menu. Nick went with coffee and a cheesecake, and I decided on that Black Cream Puff. All of it was good, if slightly pricy. But wow. All of the desserts were delicious, and the coffee was amazing. Rather than be as bitter as black coffee often is, it had a more subtle flavor that went down really smoothly. I wish I had ordered a cup too. I plan on going back again; in fact, I wish I had known about it sooner, because I would have used it for my food class.
The last leg of my journey led to me taking the subway as far north as you can go, accompanying Nick and my other AKP friends to their art class. Then I took the train all the way down to Joyo. Riding the subway from the farthest stop has its merits: you can sit the whole time.
And so closed my strange Wednesday adventures. It's gonna be a busy night, what with all the work I have due tomorrow. But I have double the time I usually have for homework, so I've practically got all the time in the world. What a fine day in Kyoto. It was for days like today that I came here in the first place.
Lies, there’s more. I wrote this blog while sitting in a
park in Joyo. When I went to leave, two girls having lunch at a nearby picnic
table asked me where I was from, and I chatted with them. I wasn’t sure how old
they were…gut instinct said high school, but I asked them if they were in
college. Whoops, they were actually middle schoolers. Simultaneously, I noticed
that on the ground, there were two drawings of Hatsune Miku. Since I’m somewhat
hesitant to get pegged as a nerd (because here, nerds can be kind of of scary),
I didn’t say anything…but there might be another Vocaloid fan out here in Joyo.
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