Cramps Bring Kyoto Cheer
This morning, I awoke around six in the morning with the worst cramps I have ever had in my entire life. I felt like I had been stabbed. I couldn't even stand up, I was so nauseous and dizzy that I crawled to the kitchen, took way too many painkillers, and rocked back and forth with a bag of frozen mangoes pressed to my stomach. The very same mangoes we put on Blakeney's Irish mukade wound. After that, I couldn't wake up on time to go into the city early as I had planned. I couldn't physically wake up until about 10:30, and it was a very slow start. Eventually I made it to Kyoto station and from there hopped a train to Toji station, where Lauren's apartment is located near. I walked a ways past the amazing Toji Pagoda (東寺パゴダ) (the tallest pagoda in Japan, 5 stories, built in 794) and met up with Lauren. Lauren is a 1st year ALT in Kyoto who is from Hawaii. Her parents are both Japanese, so she looks Japanese (and speaks it quite well!) She is really cool and a very together person, as she majored in something like Super Smart Science and so on. She knows things about stuff. So I dropped off my stuff in her small but adorable apartment and we went out for a quick sashimi lunch set at Maguro (a small restaurant near her). The food was delicious!
After that I was ready to do some exploring. I had planned on going to the Golden Pavilion （金閣寺） but because of its distance, and the heat and crowds of the day (a national 3 day weekend in Kyoto and about 85 degrees), I decided against it. Instead Lauren invited me to meet some of her high school students to go over their speeches for a recitation contest. Although it wasn't touristy, it sounded like fun and I couldn't turn it down! So we all met at Starbucks. Chie and Kana were the students, and they were the sweetest girls in the world not to mention their English was amazing! We went over how to say difficult sounds like "R", "L", "TH" and "V", which Japanese people generally have a hard time with. They did very well and we all had frappucinos! It was a very fun time and it was nice spending teaching time with another teacher/friend. I left a bit early to walk the 2 or so miles up to Nijo Castle (二条城).
Nijo Castle was amazing!!! I couldn't have picked a better time to go either as the sun was starting to set and the weather cooled down, leaving a nice breeze and some really fantastic lighting. The castle grounds are huge with lots of old style roofing and interior. The castle was built in the early 17th century I believe and is a small fortress protected by a large wall and a daunting moat (full of friendly koi, or carp). On the inside however is an expanse of lush gardens with ponds and trees, medium sized palaces (all one floor with tatami) and a tea house for tea ceremony. After all, tea ceremony was revered by Samurai and was developed in Kyoto, so they take their tea very se
riously. I won't go into more art history, but I will mention that the castle's palace are famous fro their "Nightingale floors", which squeak as you walk across them. The purpose of the floors was to alert the guards of intruders to the castle who might assassinate the Lords and Shoguns staying in the palace. The floorboards are made to rub against each other so even the softest footstep creates a sound similar to that of a songbird. It's really interesting! Otherwise, it is fun to see the beautiful ink paintings on the paper walls that cover the palace (lots of tigers, leopards, and birds).After all that walking, I was completely exhausted. I met up with some in Gion, which is the district in Kyoto famous for geisha (or Geiko and Maiko) who wander around at dusk. Unfortunately I did not see any, but I did not stay in the area long. After meeting up wtih Liz, Leigh and Jer, we then walked over to Sanjo (a nearby area famous for people drinking and playing bongos by the river) and met Marina, Jarrad, Scott, Paulette and Johnny. They had been sight seeing all day too! So we walked to Pontocho Alley (in Gion) and found an empty Mexican restaurant where everyone ordered incorrectly and there was much confusion and embarrassment! It was good times. After that we left to hang out at the river, where we were for most of the evening and met up with quite a few Kyoto city JETs (Greg, Ruth, Megan and her friend Kelly, Ian, Lauren and her friend Tyler). It was definitely a lot of fun. The river was a very relaxing place to end up, and we even got to see fire dancers and bongo musicians!
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