My First Trip to Kyoto: A recap

4/29/2013

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Hey everyone! It's been a while since I posted anything; I got pretty busy with school and traveling. I've seen a lot of noteworthy things, but I've been going out so much I haven't had any time to sit down and blog about any of it. So- the next several blogs will mostly consist of things that I did during the past two months. I hope you have as much fun reading about my adventures as I did having them (though let's be honest- you probably won't ^^;)

Anywho- This happened a while ago (The 21st of April) but I wanted to give a quick recap of my first official touristy thing in Japan and my overall impressions.  

My first train ride in Japan ( ^o^)/

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Since I only live a short distance from school, I generally only ride the bus; if I get a bit adventurous I take the subway. After meeting up with a classmate, we went to the bank to grab some souvenir and traveling expenses and bought train tickets. 

Kinkakuji 

Our first stop was the kinkakuji  (or golden pavilion ). This place was really big and fun to explore. The highlight of course was the golden temple; which is actually coated with gold leaf. The place was actually a lot bigger than I initially expected ( you can see a map of it here) and I enjoyed walking around and enjoying the scenery.

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Japan at last!

4/9/2013

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    Well, I finally made it in one piece! The 11 hour  flight was pretty exhausting. But this is mostly due to my inability to sleep on planes. Anyways customs wasn't too bad. I got a neat little resident card, which I need to have on me at all times (no pressure). I was meet at the airport by a teacher of the University of Hyogo named Byun Ryu. From the airport, we to an express bus to a station in Tarumi, and from there we took a taxi to my new apartment.
    You'd think I'd get to collapse on my new bed and get some much needed sleep as soon as I got my keys, but my welcome party had other plans. I was quickly given a tour around the new place, debriefed on how to use the appliances and keys, and even trash pick up days.
    My two neighbors Sho and Cho were nice enough to take me out to eat a quick dinner and briefly showed me around the mall (which is no more than a 10 minute leisure walk).  After which I gratefully passed out in my new apartment. xD
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