Still learning...

---Program Update---

Classes officially started on Monday, and looking back on the week I feel like I've learned so much already! Before arriving in Japan, I was unsure of what I'd face in Kyoto. Now that I've explored a bunch of neighborhoods and started my Japanese study, I feel increasingly excited about the upcoming weeks. I'm finding out where I specifically need help, and trying to strengthen my grammar. The teachers are very helpful in answering my questions and in guiding me with my individual project (reading the newspaper).

What I really like about the program so far is that it plans fun events! On Friday, KCJS and CLS held a mixer with Japanese college students from Doshisha, Kyodai (Kyoto Univ.), Handai (Osaka Univ.), Kansai Daigaku (Kansai Univ.) The event started out with us awkwardly talking to each other while enjoying the free food.

When I met the students, they tended to give me confused looks because my name and looks are Japanese. As I talked to some kids, one of them told me I suck at Japanese, even though I grew up speaking the language. It sucks to be a heritage learner sometimes! But hey, I'm here to learn the language, and I ended up really enjoying talking to the students so things aren't too bad...

----Weather---

Weather-wise, things are getting rainy. Until today, I could feel the sun beat down on me. Now, with the rain soaking my clothes, the humidity exponentially rising, and things still being hot (steamy...), I yearn the sunny days.

---Weekend Adventure---

On Saturday, I met up with a few of my classmates to go explore Arashiyama (嵐山). We took the Randen (嵐電) from 四条大宮 (Shijyo-Omiya) and arrived about fourty minutes later. Since we went in the morning, it wasn't too hot, but boy is Arashiyama in the countryside. We walked around the small town.

We visited the 天龍寺(TenRyu-Ji), an UNESCO World Heritage site. It's pretty famous for being beautiful and historic, but also because of its dragon ceiling painting. Since it costs about ￥500 to go tour the garden, then more money to go tour the garden from inside the temple, I wasn't willing to drop another ￥500 to look at the dragon painting. But I'm pretty sure it looks like the picture in this post.

Now, looking at dragon paintings are pretty cool. What's interesting, though, are the claws. Every temple has a rank, and the number of claws the dragon has symbolizes the temple's power. Tenryu-Ji's dragon has five, meaning the temple is of the highest rank!

Today, I walked over to Shijo shopping district in the pouring rain. Sounds miserable, but the Shijo sidewalks are covered by a large roof so I had a great time shopping. Now I'm off to do homework! Toodles~