Big Buddha. :P (The Todaiji temple in Nara)
Cherry Blossoms!! (In Yoshinoyama)The trip to Nara was really fun. First we went to a temple named Jikouin and were served traditional Japanese green powdered tea and a sweet in a sort of tea ceremony type thing. The temple had a beautiful garden too. We then were served lunch in the dinning hall and it was the first time I have eaten black rice. It tastes almost exactly the same but is a purply color. :d I thought of my sister when I saw it because her favorite color is purple. [I miss my sissy!! >_<]
Then we visited this epic temple, called Todaiji, that had deer walking around everywhere. You could buy special crackers to feed them but we didn't do that b/c we were on a tight schedule. The temple had a huge buddha statue in it, many pictures were taken.
Then we drove up a mountain and checked into our Japanese inn. We had dinner and a bunch of us partook of the onsen they had. An onsen is a large community bath type thing. Like a cross between a bath and a jacuzzi. They had an outdoor one and it was really fun/interesting to be outside while, well... in one's birthday suit. :o
I braided my friends Erin, Jayla, and Melinda's hair while our friend Nia watched (Nia likes watching that kind of thing). Finally I got to bed along with my roommates Jayla and Nia. Our futon were really warm and comfy just like futon always are!
Breakfast was hardy and yummy. Then we had over four hours to walk around the small town. There was lots of stuff to do. You could see shrines, temples, scenery. You could also walk around the rows upon rows of outdoor shops. Japan is in the middle of cherry blossom mania right now (they only bloom for a short time) and supposedly this little town of Yoshinoyama is the best place to view them. Jayla, Nia, and I looked at scenery for a while, then watched a parade, then explored the shop area (Jayla kept buying stuff...). We ran into our friends Leigh, Maria, and Erin (who were rooming together at the inn) and joined up with them and continued to walk for a while. Actually earlier we had run into more people we knew several times but we hadn't stuck together. The streets were small so big groups weren't convenient to travel in. But we did end up joining with Leigh, Maria, and Erin to visit a temple before heading back to the meeting place. It was really fun but unfortunately it was also really sunny too. I had on my sunblock as usual but sometimes if I am out in the sun too long I still start to feel really ill. We had to walk for 20 minutes or so to get to the bus and I was really starting to feel woozy. I know I got a little sun poisoning... I hate the sun. >:( Otherwise though it was a really pleasant day.
The bus ride back to Nagoya was long. I had done homework on the way there but I mainly slept on the way back (stupid sun). Leigh and I ride the same train from Nagoya train station so we rode together until she got off at her stop a few before mine. My host mom picked me up. Actually it turned out I had about 45 minutes before she was supposed to come and get me so I walked all around Kōzōji station because I love exploring and such. I found a book store, and lots of other cool little places. I wanted to take pictures but... Sai (my camera) was out of juice. (So was my phone which is why I didn't just call my host mom to come and get me sooner. Yeah everything died on me at once...) Just as I was headed out of the station to wait for my host mom a teenage kid on a motorcycle whizzed past me and then attempted to screech to a stop before crashing into the stone wall at the end of the station concourse. He fell off and skidded quite a ways with the bike on top of him. His friends at the other end of the long concourse were hooting and hollering and a near-by Japanese guy and I exchanged bemused smiles. Not everyday you see Japanese punk teenagers joy riding in a relatively empty train station. The one that crashed was moaning in pain so he might of hurt himself pretty badly. I'm not sure if they got in trouble or what b/c I high tailed it up to the outside ground level to wait for my host mom.
Once home I ate and showered quickly and went to bed soon after, still feeling very drained by the sun.
It's late so I'll pick this up tomorrow.
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