In Love With Kyoto

Hello from Japan and welcome to my first official blog post! I have been in Japan for 1 week now and, on the whole, it's been wonderful!  The only problems I've had were mother nature made.  I left PDX on the 20th, scheduled to arrive in Tokyo in the afternoon on the 21st.  Unfortunately, Typhoon Roke beat me there.  Shortly before our scheduled landing the captain informed us that the plane woul not be able to land in Tokyo and that we were being diverted to Seoul.  Then, half way to Seoul, we found out that we were being diverted once again and would be landing in Osaka instead.  We landed in Osaka without incident, but since customs officials in Osaka weren't originally expecting us, they wouldn't allow us to deboard the plane.  About an hour after landing, an American passenger got really frustrated with the wait and started cursing and screaming from his seat.  Japanese airport police entered the plane and got him to settle down, then left the plane again, leaving that passenger and the rest of us to sit for another three hours.

By the time we actually got to put our feet on solid ground it was too late to make it into Osaka to get a hostel, so I ended up staying overnight in the airport.  The airport was full of passengers stranded overnight, so I had plenty of company.  The airport seats were quite comfortable and there were blankets that the airport loaned out to people who were staying overnight.  In the morning I was even pleasantly surprised to find a realy nice, clean shower inside the airport.

After a few hours of sleep and a hot shower I caught the first train from Osaka to Nara the next morning.   I spent Thursday in Nara with the deer, then traveled to Kyoto on Friday.  In Kyoto I met up with Miko (a friend of a friend), and have been staying with her since.  She is an English teacher with three teenaged children.  Her family has been amazingly kind and welcoming.   In addition to letting me stay at her home, Miko also invited me to visit her schools.  Miko teaches both at an elementary school in Kyoto and at a University in Osaka.  On Monday we were at the elementary school teaching second-graders, and then Tuesday we were at the university teaching freshmen.  Miko even designed her lesson plans so that I could help her teach.

The remainder of my time has been spent enjoying the sights of Kyoto and getting to know the city.  I've visited several of the shrines and temples that Kyoto is known for, and I've done a LOT of walking!  Kyoto is beautiful! It has an amazing balance of natural and man-made beauty. Its gorgeous red structures, stone statues and wood carvings are all situated among bright green trees that create lacy shadows. The air is fresh, especially when there is a slight breeze, and the crickets and frogs that live around all the gardens and ponds balance out the city sounds.  It has been a perfect place to start my trip.  Between the green tea and seaweed, the walking, and the shrines, temples and gardens, I feel really healthy, happy, and peaceful.  I'm also feeling really opimistic and excited about what the rest of my trip has in store.

Tomorrow I head to Hiroshima and then finally to Tokyo on Saturday.   I'll post again soon.

Until then,

Sarra

(Full photo albums at: https://picasaweb.google.com/sarra.yamin)