Well, I know many of you won't see this post until after you get back from Thanksgiving break, but it will long anyway, because I had a great day. Today was our "free day" where we didn't have any structured activities. 2 ladies I met wanted to go to Kyoto and I tagged along with them, because I was going to go on my own. I had bought a train ticket when I was in Texas. Anyway, one of the other teachers had a friend who lived there-- an older man and his wife, who were going to meet us and show us around. We took a subway to a trainstation and then took a train for about 2 1/2 hours to Kyoto. The first thing that we did after we met the older couple was take a taxi (pronounced tackashi). The Taxi's are sooooo clean and they have lace seat covers. Also, taxi doors open automatically so you aren't supposed to use the handle at all. We took the taxi over to a the Nijo Castle. IF you remember, right before I left, we watched a video about this castle. It was the castle that was built for one of the Shogun and the floors squeak to prevent assassins from sneaking into the building. The floors are called "nightingale floors" ( I will explain how they work when I get back) but when you walk through the building, it sounds like hundreds of bird chirping. It was AMAZING! I wish I could have recorded it for you. After we walked around the castle (which does not look anything like what you would think a castle looks-- remember what their houses look like, with the tatami mats and cushions for sitting on and alter alcoves etc.-- it looked like a huge version of that with the walls painted by a famous Japanese painter Kano Tan'yu.)-- anyway, afterwards, we walked around the beautiful gardens and had a tea ceremony in a garden tea house. It was so peaceful. Then we did a little shopping at a market there ( I bought a necklace) and then left for lunch. Ooto-san and Shisu-san ( the couple who was guiding us) brought us to a special Japanese restaurant that makes a kind of pizza/pancake dish in front of you. You sit at a bar which is a big long skillet and they put ingredients in that you want. It was delicious and fun. Then we took a short walk through Gion which is called the Geisha district. Geisha are women who are Japanese entertainers. They are kind of like hosts that have tea with you and play instruments and sing and dance and talk to you. They are very very famous. Although this isn't as popular anymore, there are still many Geisha in this area. They wear white make-up and silk kimono. Then we took another "tackashi"up to a shrine called Keyomizu which is famous for it's water. The water comes out of the mountain in fountains that are said to bring you good luck, health and love if you drink from them (which I did, of course) In Japan, there are 2 major religions that are practiced-- Shintoism and Buddhism. Most people are both of these religions because Shintoism is concerned with life andBuddhism is concerned with life after death. Anyway, there was a Buddhist temple and a Shinto shrine together at this site ( which is common). It was very very crowded today. We saw some Geisha-in-training while we were there. :) Then we did LOTS of great shopping. I bought my first kimono. It is cotton, because the silk kimono are usually $500- $1000 and up! Finally we went back to the train station, ate sushi and then took the train home to Tokyo, very tired. OK enough for today. I have to get up and pack tomorrow because I am going to fly to Shimonoseki, my city for most of the rest of the trip. I may not have Internet the whole time I am there but I will update as much as possible! Miss you all!
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