Ryukoku!

So this past week has felt quite long and exhausting but it was rather productive and I did quite a few things... I guess that is why I have not written on the blog for about a week. The highlights from the previous week include completing orientation week for school and having my first course (Japanese language) as well as getting to spend more time in Kyoto. Ryukoku University has three different campuses, two of which are in Kyoto (Fukakusa and Omiya) and then Seta, the one I will be attending here in Otsu. Orientation lasted three days and began at Seta campus. Over the course of the three days we learned about the classes offered to us, how to use the university computer system, daily life in Japan, traffic rules and also had a formal entrance ceremony. The orientation itself felt quite long and I am glad that it is over haha. The entrance ceremony was interesting because it was all in Japanese, I was little disappointed there was zero translation because it would've been nice to have an idea of what was going on or who some of the important people were who talked/ played a role in the ceremony ...but oh well. Over the weekend I spent some time at PopEye ( the local bar here in Otsu that we like) and I had a really great time. I got to drink Meyers Rum (Jamaican rum I always had in my fridge when I lived in Jamaica) and they even played reggae music. It felt a little like home. The staff there is awesome and remembers all of our names. They are talkative and love to joke around. On Saturday I went to Kyoto with Jaana and Mii. We had planned to go to the Golden Temple (Kinkaku-ji) but unfortunately we were too late to reach there in time for the last tour. Instead we went to Gion which is a district in Kyoto well-known for Geisha. We wandered around and got to explore some shrines around the area and also enjoyed the sunset. Eventually, we got hungry so we decided to try and find a Ramen restaurant that Jaana had heard about. Although it was a bit of a struggle trying to find it, once we finally did it was well worth it. They had a vegetarian ramen and it was definitely the best meal I have had in Japan so far, hands down! I cannot wait to go back :) After dinner we went down by Kamo River and met up with the boys (Teemu, Wiktor and Francesco) we got some drinks and watched fire dancers perform-- so amazing! It was a man and a woman who had their faces painted along with a woman who played some sort of flute and also dj'd some music (all with a sleeping baby on her back) & there were also two little kids running around the whole time! A little unsettling at first because of how dangerous it seemed for these children to be running through their parents fire dancing but they definitely added to the show. After the performance ended, we headed to a pub in Kyoto and had some more drinks before finally returning to Otsu via the last train of the night.Today,  I had planned to be a little bit more productive but have only gotten out of my place to do a bit of shopping and other than that I have been having a pretty lazy day. Hopefully, preparing me for school tomorrow and allowing me to be well rested. Its nice to be getting into a bit of a groove here so I am looking forward to this upcoming week of classes and to see what they'll be like!

Here are some pictures from the last week:

Okonomiyaki - crepe-like deliciousness

Kyoto Tower from Kyoto Station Skywalk

Kyoto Station @ Night - this building is unreal.
(15 stories, has restauants, malls, and a ton of other amenities)

In Kyoto Station

Ryukoku's Formal Entrance Ceremony

JAS

Temple

Gardens 

Simplicity 

Shrine 

Gion

Sunset

Shrine

Lanterns

Bad Fortunes 

Best Ramen !!!!

Kyoto 

Tower Beer!

:)

Weekend Recap

A quick recap of my weekend (including pictures!) :

-I got to spend some time exploring more of Otsu...lovely. I am feeling blessed to live in such a beautiful city and more specifically, I am so thankful to be a 5 minute walk to the lake; which I have already fallen a little bit in love with...

-I got a bicycle.. yay! The process (all in Japanese) was quite frustrating and it involved registering and getting insurance for the bike but luckily our tutor Tomo was there to help us with that. Now, it will be so much more convenient to get around and do more adventuring and exploring. 

-I also went to a little pub/bar on Saturday night called Popeye which was alot of fun - although the inevitable happened and I had my first accident with eating what I believed to be meat...I ordered Tofu Lasagna which through the language barrier I understood did not have any meat in it (unlike the tofu pizza I wanted, that I was told had bacon in it). Anyways, it was very small amounts and once I realized, I passed the rest of the dish onto my friend Teemu. I was upset at the time but I guess given the circumstances, it was bound to happen and probably will again until I can develop a basic Japanese vocabulary. All the more motivation to learn!

-Sunday evening the group and I watched the sunset at the lake which was spectacular... I included the most pictures from that :)
-This morning (Monday) we decided to also watch the sunrise. We woke up early and left our dorms by 5am to bike across the lake to nice spot to watch the new day greet us. It was a little cloudy, but that was fine with me. Every sunrise is a gift in my eyes. & with the clouds, it almost made the whole thing more special.. the reality of how fleeting these moments are becomes even more apparent because after the sun was at its brightest point of breaking through to bring about a new day, it was quickly engulfed by the clouds. We stayed and watched the sky for a bit and then explored this other side of the lake.

-I made it back to my room by about 8am and spent the rest of the day relaxing and preparing for my upcoming week. I am happy to finally be starting school here. I've realized that with the places I travel, I feel much more comfortable when I have a sense of purpose. I was starting to feel a little bit like that was lacking here, since I've spent the last two weeks free to roam and do my own thing..Not that I am complaining- it's been nice, but I think studying and being part of the university community will benefit me greatly!

My new set of wheels ;) 

Francesco, Jaana, myself & Teemu @ Popeye bar

琵琶湖 

Sunset <3

Painted sky

Rowin'

Night, falling.

Daybreak - the camera on my phone definitely didn't do this justice...

Sunrise

New findings 

I wish I knew the meaning of this statue with the bird & baby..beautiful.

Friday Nights..

It is Friday night and I am sick :( My friends are having a little get together which I should be at but because of how I am feeling I have decided to stay home and try to rest -not that rest comes easy when a person is this congested- but I feel disgusting enough that I don't think being around others is beneficial for anyone. I seem to have come down with quite a bad cold aandd for some reason I brought a nearly empty bottle of Cold FX with me to Japan. Ugh! I know I should be able to find something similar here or some sort of traditional cold remedy but I have not done so yet. So far my luck has been less than stellar at the grocery store (today anyways....). I was unable to buy laundry detergent - it all seems to be 2 in 1 with fabric softener which I do not need. But my real problem comes from scented Everything. I attempted to buy Kleenex as I am flying through the mini packs I brought from home but I came to find they all appear to be scented, SO I figured the solution would be to just buy toilet paper... I can use it as tissue while getting over my cold and I would've had to buy it anyways. Well guess what, even toilet paper is scented. -_- Whyyyyyy.....?! What if a person has allergies!? This is not ideal. "Scent-Free" needs to be one of the first translations I am able to figure out.

BUT, on a happier note however, I was able to see the lake today. It is Gorgeous. I forgot my camera but I will be back, most likely tomorrow and I will snap some photos to share on here. I have a feeling I will spend quite a bit of time there...  (=

Kyoto, Otsu, & Tings

So a little update on my last couple of days (including some pictures!)...my little crew (Jaana, Wiktor & Teemu) and I decided to go exploring in Kyoto on Monday. We took the train from here which was about a 20 minute ride and got off at Kyoto station... none of us had a map so we decided to start walking around aimlessly but because it was so hot we quickly agreed that we should go eat and make a plan for the day. We headed to a big mall called Yodobashi right by the station (it had like 6+ floors!) which had a selection of different restaurants. We wandered around to check out all of our options but settled on a ramen place which to my delight had a vegetarian option made from spirulina- the noodles were green. It was interesting because the server doesn't take your order but instead you order from a machine similar to a vending machine where you press a button with your choice of meal and then you get a ticket for it. So you pay before you eat and can just leave after (apparently tipping doesn't really exist in Japan and is actually seen as an insult in many cases) Once you are seated you just give the ticket to your server and then they prepare the meal. My veggie ramen was pretty tasty, maybe a little bland but I fixed that by putting a bunch of seasoning/spices in it... & honestly, I will take the bland option any day if it means a little peace of mind while I am eating. We were lucky enough to get some veggie gyoza as well...those were super delicious! 

My veggie Ramen ;)

Lunch!

After lunch we decided to head in the direction of the river because the rest of the group had some idea where to go from there. The river was beautiful and I felt really happy as we were walking along it. It was one of my favorite times of day, late afternoon when the sun is starting to lower in the sky. It was still super hot in the sun but in the shaded areas, I couldn't have been more content.

Strollin'

Beauty by the Kamo River

We eventually reached a more central part of Kyoto, I don't know if it is considered downtown or not, but it was quite lively and there were tons of tourists/foreigners so we weren't stared at as much as we are in Otsu lol. On the way we walked through some cute little streets / almost like alleyways with restaurants and bars (most of which backed out onto the river - I'd definitely love to go back sometime). We then went and explored some more shops in 2 different malls which were sort of like covered streets with a ton of shops. Eventually we stopped for a drink and relaxed. It was a busy day with alot of walking but it was nice to see Kyoto since I hadn't yet. Getting home was somewhat of a task as the train system here is super confusing if you dont speak or understand Japanese. But we managed to make it with the help of some friendly Japanese people who assisted us in ensuring we got on the right train. By the time we finally made it home I was exhausted and basically went straight to bed :)

Shopping Mall

On Tuesday, the crew went to our favorite sushi restaurant... I am thinking it might be our spot throughout the semester haha. After we finished our delicious meal we went to a mall in Otsu. It has a grocery store on the bottom level and I was so happy because this particular store had much more variety (especially for produce) compared to the other grocery story I went to on my first day here. I was able to buy so much more. I feel like the vegetarian situation is looking up a little bit. Undoubtedly, it is going to be hard but I am feeling more optimistic and not as discouraged. I think it will just be a learning curve and take time to figure out. All part of the adventure ;)

Today will probably be a relaxing day. I am quite tired for some reason, even though I had a good night sleep last night (I slept in until 7AM yay!) I think we might just go explore the lake in Otsu (Lake Biwa, which is the biggest fresh water lake in all of Japan). I love being by water so I am excited to see it. Hopefully I will have some more pictures to post soon <3

Present

Yesterday turned out to be a great day. After the grocery store and some downtime, myself and my roommate along with 3 other international students all ventured out in a torrential downpour for dinner (which was quite the adventure and surprisingly enjoyable since it isn't cold here) and I experienced sushi in Japan for the first time! It was great. I forgot to bring my camera and since I can't use my phone until I get a new sim card here I haven't been bringing it out with me. Therefore I don't have any pictures to share yet but they'll be coming in time.
Anyways, it was conveyor belt sushi like sushi boat style in Calgary... obviously a recurring theme here is that it is tricky to tell what anything is since nothing is labeled - and even if it was, it'd be in Japanese. I guess I am going to get good at guessing by the looks of things and then tasting them (very new for me).
For this style of sushi, a variety of plates will pass by your table and you can grab whatever you want. Additionally, we had a digital touch screen at our table as well where you can choose what you want via the menu and then it would show up at the table on an "express" conveyor belt. I managed to eat a few different things but stuck to shrimp, salmon, inarizushi (pouch of fried tofu with rice inside) and kappa rolls (just with cucumber). It was quite delicious and then when we were done we just toss the used plates down a little slot at the table.  Afterwards, our little group all returned back to the dorms and played cards to finish off the night. It was really nice.

Today is the first day I have felt at peace. The sun is shining and the sky is blue (so far all I have encountered is overcast skies even though it is very warm) I have spent the day relaxing and getting settled into my place. This has allowed me some time to reflect on the past few days of travel and the fact that I am finally here! It is so peaceful where I am staying and the quietness/stillness has been good for me.
My dear friend Clairebear shared a quote with me a few days ago. It has really resonated with me and has continued to stay with me. I am sure that it will for the duration of my journey. I had so many reservations coming to Japan...in all honestly, I was scared out of my mind. I still am.
But I am here and I think thats what counts... I truly believe we should do the things that scare us, that experiencing life and the ability to grow really only happens outside of our comfort zone. When was the last time you did something for the first time?
Here is to me travelling further down the road of self discovery and self love.
I am excited to see what Japan has to offer!

"A woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself, and only herself."
         -Maya Angelou

So it is time for a revival of this blog...

& I am serious this time!!!
Because, what better experience to share than my newest adventure that I am currently embarking on - living in Japan.

What I am doing in here:
I am here for the final semester of my degree and will be studying at Ryukoku University.  I am living in Otsu - the capital of the Shiga prefecture (kind of like provinces?)  and it is about a 30 minute train ride from Kyoto. I will be living here for approximately 6 months to complete my studies and after that my plans are kind of up in the air. As are most students regarding graduation... haha
But here are a couple of my ideas so far.... Ideally, I would like to get an internship or even a job in my field of study, not necessarily in Japan but somewhere in Asia. If this doesn't work out I would like to head to South East Asia and travel until my money (or should I say debt at this point - damn student loans) runs out. We'll see.

Transit:
Getting here was quite the adventure. I left on September 3rd and travelled from Calgary to Salt Lake City where I had a surprise transfer to Portland in order to change aircrafts, from Portland I headed to Tokyo and from Tokyo to Osaka. I arrived late at night on the 4th so I got a hotel which worked out nicely although I was unable to get much sleep even thought I was exhausted. The next morning I took a shuttle bus back to the Kansai International Airport to get picked up from a student helper, her name was Ayaka and she helped me buy my train ticket to Kyoto. She saw me off on my train and I was told another helper would be waiting for me at the Kyoto train station. This turned out to be harder than I expected as I could not find her anywhere. By this time my luggage which was seemingly growing by the hour ( I wore many layers and had to keep taking them off as it is very hot here (30degrees C +) was getting heavier and heavier. I was getting a little panicky and I was exhausted from my travels and lugging around my life but I met a sweet girl who helped me and was able to get ahold of my university for me and eventually my tutor/student helper found me! I have noticed the people of Japan are extremely kind and willing to help so that has been very comforting. Once I met my new helper, Akiho, we took another train to Seta(?) where we then caught a taxi that brought me to my dorm...reaching my final destination on September 5th! Needless to say I was completely disoriented and exhausted and by the time I was able to get to sleep I slept c lose to 12 hours.

New Room:
My room is super nice, much better than I was expecting. I actually have two rooms to myself and I am really kicking myself that I didn't bring my yoga mat with me ( I ran out of room while I was packing). This spare room would be a perfect meditation/yoga room. I will just have to find a mat here! I also have my own washroom which I was not expecting at all. I only share a kitchen and a living space with my roommate, Mii and she is from Thailand! We also have a balcony that I can access from the living space or my bedroom which is great. It doesn't compare to my view that I had in Jamaica but it'll do ;) Overall, the space is really nice and I am confident that I'll really like it here!

Concerns:
I am slightly concerned about my dietary restrictions and by slightly I mean extremely. I went to the grocery store today which was rather overwhelming. Nothing is in English ( totally fair ) but it makes it so hard for me to tell what anything is! And anything that I was able to figure out, was definitely meat or contained meat. I know Japanese eat quite a bit of meat but I figured since there are many Buddhists/ and I was hoping monks around that I would be able to figure something out. It's one of those times I wish I could turn my brain off and eat as the people here eat but I can't do it. I have tried mentally preparing myself to eat some meat or even be more flexible with my restrictions but the idea repulses me. I am going to attempt to eat fish/seafood but I am quite positive that is the most I can do. I did still manage to buy a few things including some frozen vegetables, a frozen rice and vegetables dish I THINK, edamame beans, some instant noodles and a very limited amount of fresh produce.

This blog might just turn into a food diary where I log what I am able to consume hah. This shall be interesting...