I apologize for not writing sooner. Honestly, I spend a majority of my time in Haruka’s apartment watching Hulu, reading, improving my abominable touch-typing skills, video-chatting, and doing absolutely nothing — which is exactly how I planned to spend my summer vacation in Kyoto. It also means I have less blog-worthy material. But, in the past few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to see some of the sights of Kyoto, and I have some news.

The JET Program

Back in May, the JET Program informed me I would be living in Hyogo Prefecture. I immediately commenced frantic Google-ing about Hyogo, only to discover it’s one of the largest prefectures in Japan, with large urban cities such as Kobe and Himeji, and also tons of rural land to the north. Lots of varied topography, and different weather. Basically, I still had no idea where I’d be living.

Three days ago I finally received the long-awaited news from the Hyogo Board of Education. I will be living in a suburb located on the inland sea between Himeji and Kobe, on the JR Kobe line. I have been in contact with my predecessor (the Jet participant who has decided to not renew their contract with the JET Program), and I will be meeting her for lunch tomorrow in Osaka. Usually incoming JETs only communicate with their predecessor via the internet, but since I’m currently in Japan, perhaps this is a rare opportunity. I am really, really excited to meet her (she sounds fun in her texts) and I already have soooo many questions to ask her! About the school, the students, the city, accommodations, life in Hyogo… More to come!

Vacation

So, now to my summer vacation thus far… I knew it before coming here, but summer in Japan is warm and humid. June marks the beginning of the rainy season, making sight-seeing a little challenging.

My first weekend here, Haruka and I went to Kiyomizu Temple. While I’ve probably seen literally dozens of various temples in Japan, I wasn’t about to turn down the opportunity to see another, and Haruka confessed he had never taken the time to visit one in Kyoto. We took the subway from Saiin Station across town towards the notably touristy historical geisha district, Gion. It was a relatively short, slightly uphill walk to the temple, and Haruka complained most of the way up because he never exercises. The beautiful thing about Kiyomizu Temple, like many other temples, it that it is located at the edge of the city on the side of the mountains. This makes for beautiful canopies of trees and little streams running along winding paths, and a nice view of the city. At the temple we sat down and ate some kakigoori, which is essentially Japanese shaved ice flavored with syrup and sometimes milk.

A few days later Haruka and I went to a nearby shopping center called Aeon, a huge multi-level shopping center with a grocery store, restaurants, an arcade, and clothing stores. We went to have dinner (soba) and afterwards Haruka played games at the arcade while I went in search of a belt (I forgot to pack one). Walking around the various stores, I couldn’t help but think that Japanese fashion is so much more diverse than American fashion. And, I really wish I’d had a girlfriend to walk around and shop with me!

Haruka and I have also gone out on a couple dinner-and-a-movie dates, and I love how apparently all Japanese movie theatres have caramel popcorn and churros.

On Fridays Haruka only has one class, from 10:30 to noon. One day I went to school with him because the university is right next to the Kyoto Botanical Garden. In order to get there you walk right past the Kamogawa River. I spent an hour and a half walking up the river and through the various gardens ranging from Japanese native plants to European style gardens.

This past Monday was Haruka’s birthday, and we booked a night at a hot spring resort in Arashiyama, on the western edge of Kyoto. Even though it is so close to the city, it feels really rural, on a little piece of land wedged between the river and the mountains. The hotel was Japanese style, with tatami mat floors, sliding doors, and shoji screens over the windows. Once past the lobby, we had to remove our shoes and store them in a locker nearby. Haruka chose some yukatas (summer kimono) for us to wear. It’s typical for guests to wear yukata at all times during their stay at a resort… even for meals, and even if they go out drinking. I rather enjoyed spending all of my time in a yukata. The fabric is thick but cool, and easy to wear.

All meals were included in the reservation. We had a fancy dinner (I took pictures of almost every course), plus midnight ramen and desert, and Japanese-style breakfast in the morning.

On Tuesday Haruka and I took the train to Osaka to have lunch with his Aunt. Her name is Mika (so cute!) and she is really nice! She spoke English quite well, and so we had good conversation. The restaurant had tatami floors, and the dining rooms were all private. Each dining room had a small sliding door which you had to duck through to enter. But the most interesting aspect of the restaurant was that it was a tofu restaurant. That’s right, several courses of tofu. There were also some vegetables, meat, soup and rice. But mainly tofu — and it was actually really good.