Welp... most of you reading this are just waking up, brewing your morning cup of whatever, and heading to work or to school or to the couch. We, on the other hand, are in the middle of the last section of our extremely long voyage to Kyoto, Japan as the clock strikes 10 o’clock, Thursday night. To the few students I surveyed, this two-hour bus ride to the Ryokan (traditional Japanese Inn), which was preceded by a 20-hour airport/airplane extravaganza, feels like home. For some reason, with the sun now below the horizon and sleep deprivation distorting our perceptions, the highways, tollbooths, gas stations, office complexes, and multi-tiered driving ranges look much like those found in the States. Honestly, the only glaringly noticeable exception is the fact that we’re driving on the left side of the road. If only our observations were skewed due to hefty servings of warm Sake, as opposed to the mandatory 13-hour stoppage of blood flow, which was so graciously served to us by the “cozy” plane accommodations!
Now, that cynical sounding opening paragraph could appear, well, cynical, but I assure you that despite the exhaustion, our spirits are as jubilant as when yinz (ya’ll or you, plural) last heard from us. But as I look around, I see mostly the eyelids or your very sleepy loved ones and can’t help but to illustrate how long that flight really was and the resulting physical effects it had on the group. Bedtime could not come any sooner... (We actually decided to go have a few drinks at a local bar, which turned out to be AMAZING! It was a "dive bar" that played old vinyl jazz records that we got to pick out!!!)
Tomorrow though, brings a dawn to dusk tour of Kyoto, including visits to the Golden Pavilion, Nijo Castle, Kinkakuji Temple, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Heian Jingu Shrine, Sanjisagendo Temple, and Kiyomizu Temple. Truthfully, I personally do not know anything about these sites other than they are to be spectacular spectacles!
More to come...
FYI – The movies available for viewing on the airplane were Miss Potter, Charlotte’s Web, and Music and Lyrics. Jealous?
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8 comments:
Yay!! You made it!! Have a GREAT time! :)
I love that the first cultural thing you do when you landed is head to a bar.
yay! i'm so glad you're there! hope you have a great time!!!! THE OFFICE WAS AMAZING.
sounds like you all are having a great time, and even that long plane ride could not affect your skills at improvisational spelling! (i.e. 'vynal') unless 'vynal' is some sort of Japanese cultural music listening experience I am not familiar with. Anyway, enjoy the trip...not to make a second American TV reference in this comments section, but you cant wait to find out what happened on LOST! Peace buddy! Good luck to you all!
you are going to need to start updating every... 3 hours, tops.
LOST and The Office, holy crap, screw Japan, those are worth leaving now and coming home!!
Take pictures of pretty Japanese architecture for me.
hey everyone! shut up about tv for once will ya? also, i changed my spelling error... so there. so tired, going to bed. :)
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