Oct
26
Tough Weeks
Filed Under Newspost
Sick during midterms
After around 11 months of being able to avoid getting sick, a flu snuck up on me at the best possible time, during the midterm exams. It’s not like I would want to miss classes, especially Japanese classes, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. However, even with lost voice and a slight fever there was no way to avoid the numerous trials foreign students face at Kansai Gaidai. It was made very clear to us that the only valid reason to miss midterms was by attending your own funeral. On Monday evening I could feel my health slowly shifting from healthy to not-so-healthy, but in the end it didn’t really hinder my performances except for the speaking test in which I probably sounded like I had been up all night drinking whiskey and screaming my lungs out. Contrary to expectations, being in Japan did not make being sick a positive experience, having a cold was just as annoying as always.
Nth time in Kyoto
It took me around five days to recover so Saturday was still relatively calm. On the other hand, the ambitious plan for Sunday was to go to Nara with a bunch of other people. We were supposed to meet at the Starbucks near the Hirakata station at 10:30, but an hour later there was only one other person besides me on the premises. We ended up being only four people, and due to weather-related as well as demographic issues we decided to skip Nara this time and head to Kyoto. There’s always something to do in Kyoto. And once again, It turned out to be a great trip.
Upon arriving in Kyoto, we first visited a renowned dessert restaurant, the Tsujiri. It was so renowned, in fact, that the green tea ice cream connoisseurs eager to enter the restaurant formed a 20-meter-long queue that blocked the whole sidewalk. The queue kept moving quickly though, so it didn’t take us long to get inside and eat the most expensive matcha ice cream parfaits I’ve ever seen (à ¥1000+). It tasted delicious, but with the current euro-yen rate (1 euro for 0 yen) I can’t afford that kind of luxury too often.
Green Tea Parfait
As the whole decision to go to Kyoto had been made up ex tempore, we had no real plan on where to go. However, like all roads lead to Rome, all roads in Kyoto lead to someplace worth seeing. One such place we encountered was the Ryozen Kannon. Besides from the fact that the place was inhabitated by a huge Daibutsu, it also served as a memorial for the unknown soldier who perished in World War 11. I’m always amazed by the Japanese. Not only do they know in advance that a World War 11 will happen, they can accurately predict the amount of casualties (1) and build a memorial spot beforehand. I didn’t make this up, here’s the proof:
The I’s and 1’s don’t even look the same!
Distasteful and macabre jokes aside, we received some remembrance candles upon entering the shrine and paid tribute to the deceased, following which we had a quick promenade around the shrine to examine the Daibutsu from every possible perspective. As I’ve come to expect from all historical sites in Kyoto, it was impressive:
Buddha-san
Afternoon Repose
The others had not been to Kiyomizu-dera yet, so our next goal was to find the way there. By following random directions we had the opportunity to visit many other places on the way. Surprisingly, I was able to locate the Ryozen Museum of History, a place that is relevant to my interests and which I will definitely have to visit during the winter break at the very latest. Near the museum was an old graveyard that sheltered the graves of several famous Japanese revolutionaries and politicians, again something for which the others did not share the same excitement as I did. The graveyard was old and had most likely seen better days, as the paths were very narrow and the stones that formed them wet and incredibly slippery. I couldn’t help but wonder how many people buried in there had actually been killed by the graveyard itself.
Takayoshi Kido’s grave.
After visiting a few graves we continued our city tour and finally made it to the Kiyomizu temple. This time we actually paid to go inside and see the whole beauty of it. Among other minor things, the view from the temple was magnificent. Down from the actual temple was a mountain spring from which superstitious people and impressionable tourists (us) could drink in order to become smarter, better-looking or richer. This was the point in time where things took a turn towards the mundane and uninteresting. We went to see a movie. And not just any movie. Within the very lame genre of spy parodies it was probably the worst I’ve seen: Get Smart. Indeed, if only I had gotten smart earlier I wouldn’t have paid to see it. It sparked a few laughs here and there but, as a whole, on a scale from 1 to boring I would grade it as yawnfest. In order to end this entry on a more positive note, please look at this temple.
Kiyomizu-dera
-Antti