Oh my this is getting out of hand

I'm wiped out, so it shall be a textual post for now. But MAN! When I last posted, I was feeling a little gloomy and lonely. It felt sorta claustrophobic living in a single apartment with no colorful decoration or exciting entertainment, and my worries of money didn't help me remedy the situation. But then bam! The following week started and I geared into uber active mode somehow. I found excitement in creating my obentos, and I bonded with people I hadn't with before. The people in this program are really great. There's one large amorphous group that most people hang out in (some stragglers stay out of the group) but so you're always guaranteed to have many friends around.

But anyways, for the past week and a half I don't think I've spent more than 2 hours of wake time in my apartment any single day. Once I'm done with one day's activity, I'm whisked off to another glorious thing with other exciting people. Sometimes I feel bad for using money on these things or not concentrating on getting my act (aka, apartment + schoolwork) together but I'm doing such exciting stuff with these people and I feel like I'm learning so much about Japan through this method of exploration. It sucks though when I buy food expecting to use it before its expiration or when I put my necessities in the laundry expecting to get home in time to dry it though... Activities of the past weeks include:

- all you can eat Korean barbecque!
- Kyoto University museum + National museum field trip
- Sanjusan something temple, with the 1001 Buddhist statues (featured in Big Bird in Japan!)
- Spa World in Osaka (amazing herb-filled onsens, saunas, and swimming pools!)
- karaoke in Shijo
- all you can eat cake (too many of these all you can eats...)
- gyoza-making party and movie night (we have a croquette-making party planned for tomorrow!)
- Kyodai circles festival (random though)
- Kyoto Imperial Palace tour
- special feast at a friend's parent's izakaya
- flea market at Toji Temple (I got a yuzu plant and Japanese chestnuts, "kuri")
- hanging out and talking by Kamogawa (river)
- exploration around Kyoto station

And other things that I'm forgetting.

I'm sort of hoping the pace will cool down, but at the same time I feel like a sudden drop would be boring.

Short ramblings

Finally moved into my apartment!

Now orientation is almost over - I have moved into my apartment and just one more day of a placement test. I think also last night was my last night of adjusting to the time difference and regaining an appetite. Things have been so busy that I haven't had time to watch Japanese tv or take a nice, long Japanese bath so I can't wait to settle down and have a more normal life. The 49 kids in this program are crazy! And for a good portion of them, this means crazy cool. I'm really looking forward to this year and I hope each day feels as jam-packed with awesome so I can really cherish it all to the fullest.

Starting off things in Kyoto soon!

Here's a quick look at the hotel I stayed in at Osaka. I'm now in a hotel in Kyoto meeting all sorts of KCJS students and the room is pretty much the same. The students here are so cool!! The demographic seems very different from PII's though, and I'll discuss this more later. I've already made a lot of friends though and I'm almost dreading the beginning of the serious orientation (in ten minutes) because I'm enjoying just getting to know people and exploring Kyoto together.


So sorry this video is pretty short and uninformative. My uncle (from Tokyo) helped escort me from the airport, and we stayed over in Osaka for a night and then he brought me to Kyoto. I didn't want to talk too much or be too loud in my vlog because I didn't want him to hear me through the wall and think I was psychotically talking to myself, haha.



I miss you all very much! Ja ne!