We’ve Got A Way With Words

Tea party with Doshisha students today! We’ve met students randomly through our first visit to our host family’s house, as well as the campus tour, but since school doesn’t start in Japan until next week Doshisha students have been far and few between. Not today, sir. There were about 20 students there for us to…

Kamishibai

Back at it at the Manga Museum, what what! Today was a make-up for what we were supposed to do when the typhoon struck last week. We got into the museum around 3 and at 3:30 they had a special kamishibai performance for us plus some other weirdos who wandered in. Kamishibai was basically some…

Thoughts On Kyoto: Part 2

What a Wednesday! Nothing happened today. I had a nice meeting with my 会話 (かいわ/kaiwa, or conversation) partner and we talked a lot about politics and Japanese vs American school systems and such, which was definitely interesting. But otherwise pretty rainy and lackluster, so I figured it’s time for another ‘thoughts on’ post. People here are…

Cool Cat Kou

Going up, on a Tuesday. Nothing much happening here, but today saw a bit of an uplift. Through my どんどん話す (don don hanasu), or rapid speaking class, I met this nifty guy named Kou-san. He mentioned during our group convo that he’d done a summer leadership program in Hawai’i for two weeks, so of course I…

A Depaato Day

JLPT practice test today, dear god why. I’m testing N3, and although we just had the listening part it kicked my ass. It’s more the structure of the test than my language skills, but it still kicked off a smokin’ start to my day – not. Basically the test plus my tired-ness was a weird mix…

I’ve Got That Jinja Jive

I know life gets hectic, but before you get caught up in the crazy, stop and smell the flowers. If you’re really too busy, then don’t worry about it – Miao-chan’s got you covered. After the long hike we did yesterday, okaa-san and I played it chill today and just hung out until after lunchtime….

Yama Girl

These legs were made for walking and this blog was made for writing about it. Okaa-san and I were supposed to go on a hike together this past Thursday, if y’all remember. Only we didn’t get to because of the false rain. No such folly today! We had to rush a bit, but we made…

What Up Wagashi

We had a wagashi workshop after class today! Wagashi are traditional Japanese sweets, typically including anko and prettiness. I’ve eaten them pretty much everyday after dinner since okaa-san is a boss/food addict, so I’m pretty well-acquainted with them at this point, but making them is a whole ‘nother  thing. We made 3, although 1 was eaten on-site…

Ohaka Mairi

Another day off, this time an intended holiday that even us AKPers were granted off. I’ll discuss what it was later. Okaa-san and I were supposed to go on a hike to and past Fushimi Inari Jinja with her friends from Osaka, but the inclement weather cancelled those plans to free me up for today’s…

Ba De Ya, Say Do You Remember?

Ba de ya, dancin’ in September. Ba de ya, never was a cloudy day – unless you’re in Kyoto, in which case bring on the rain. No cheers for typhoon season. Anyways, I think y’all needa take a minute and appreciate this once-a-year opportunity to jam to Earth, Wind & Fire in as real a…

Typhoon 16

Typhoon today, which I could say was kind of scary, but no school so woo hoo? It’s been fine as far as I’m aware, so I have no shame in saying that. I woke up at 6:30 to check if there was class, learned there wasn’t, enjoyed some fics then headed back to bed ’til 10….

Gates Closed – Go Away!

A day off from classes? I think not! Despite today being the Respect for the Aged Day and a national holiday, we still have class hours to kill so to class we went. Or tried – all gates but 1 were closed, so it took a bit more maneuvering than usual to get to class….