久しぶり！

That's 'long time no see' in Japanese, except that there's no verb that refers to seeing or meeting specifically, so it can be used for writing as well! Quite clever, isn't it. Anyway, I stopped writing for a while since I was preoccupied with the final exams and surviving the final school weeks, so I wasn't really feeling like going anywhere or doing anything interesting or worth writing about.

And then I thought that since there's only like a month or so left for me here, there's really no point in writing anymore... but then I got a sudden boost of inspiration - I guess it was the great day that I had today with Miho, thanks again! I wish we'd had more chances to hang out together, though!

I'm not going to write about today today, though (haha). I'm saving that for later, and instead I'll give you a brief recap on these few weeks when I was neglecting the blog.

The first snowfall came right after the first plum blossoms. Winter in Japan, you so weird.

In mid-January, there was a New Year's party at my friend's dorm. I know, a bit late for a New Year's party, right? Well, New Year here is like Christmas in Finland - people start preparing for it a long time ahead, buying or making decorations, preparing traditional New Year's dishes; and then you keep on wishing everybody Happy New Year until the 16th of January. I don't know why that exact date, but that's what our senseis were telling us.

So a few days before the 16th there was a party where we made rice cakes, had ozouni (a traditional New Year's soup), got wrapped in kimonos and were given a chance to participate in traditional New Year's activities, such as my new favorite card game, karuta! And the real version this time, where you actually have to know the poems and shit. I'd only learned around 10 poems by that time, but I managed to snatch a few cards, to everyone's surprise - it was obvious that the Japanese were not expecting a Westerner to recognize any of the poems by just their first verses. Haha.

Well, this is what I've been up to recently...

Making some rice cakes!

Not sure what to think of these fun and games...

A couple of weeks ago, there was an archery event at Sanjusangendo, which is a pretty cool temple where, if you go inside, there's a long hall with thousand statues of this deity called Kannon. Pretty impressive. Sadly, but not unexpectedly, photography was prohibited inside, so if you wanna see what it's like, google it!

Well, at least I've got photos of the archery event... Oh, wait.

Nope, the best views I got was through a smartphone screen that someone in the front row was shooting a video with. I was too impatient to stay there and wait until I got to the front, but my friend Dave, who arrived a bit later with his camera, got pretty amazing shots, so please, do go and see his blog post about it!

However, it was still a nice event, with amazing street foods and beautiful kimonos everywhere you looked.

Waiting.

And then it's time for a complete change of topic. Now, I was taking a walk around the Imperial Palace Gardens, which is where I usually go for a walk or a run, since it's right next to my dorm. I was just chilling and enjoying the cold winter's day, which really wasn't that cold for a winter's day, but anyway... And I saw this.

And it just made me so unbelievably mad! I also felt like throwing up, because I instantly recalled the pictures online in which you can see the stomach contents of dead birds - in case you haven't seen them, they're full of plastic and other shit since people are fucking retards and don't know how to properly dispose of their litter. I've got a piece of advice for you - whatever you do with it, don't leave it lying around where these idiot birds with brains the size of a peanut (if that) can get to it and mistake it for food. I mean, I hate birds more than anybody I know, and quite often find myself wishing them all dead, but I don't want it to happen like this - that's just wrong.

Well, got that out of my chest. Phew. The rest of the walk was enjoyable, at least, and if there's one place I'm gonna miss in Kyoto (well, of course there are many, but if there was just one), it would be the Imperial Palace Gardens. It's been really good to me, and I'm so lucky that I live right next to it - it's like an oasis in the middle of the city.

So now the exams are over, school's done with, and we even had a farewell party with these amazing people that I spent the past semester with. Thanks guys, it's been a blast! Still a few weeks left to explore Kyoto and surrounding areas, so I'll probs be writing a couple more posts to fill the days when I'm not traveling or meeting up with friends for the last time. Also, if you're a friend and we haven't arranged a date yet, (and if you want to, lol), please contact me! I really wanna see everybody once more and do fun stuff before I leave.

Another place I'm going to miss - Torikizoku! My favorite izakaya in Kyoto.

fall activities

So another week has flown by without a single blog post, which has resulted in way too many Facebook updates. Gotta share the experiences somehow, right? Otherwise it would be just me experiencing things, where would the fun in that be, huh? No, but seriously, it's not just the fact that I'm as much of a slave to the social media as everybody else, but when you're used to living with somebody who's always there to share your most mundane experiences, it gets really frustrating when you come across fun stuff but then have nobody around to share it with and laugh at it together... Thus, Facebook spam. Forgive me.

Anyway, this week I've kept myself pretty busy, not just with school but exploring Kyoto a bit further! So I wanted to post some pictures, since the places I went to were nothing short of amazing. I've probably mentioned before that I live right next to the Imperial Palace and frequently go on morning jogs around the park/garden that surrounds it. Well, from Thursday last week until Tuesday this week, the palace itself was open to the public.

Welcome! (This isn't the main entrance, really. If it was, the view would be blocked by masses of people.)

Apparently, as a foreigner, you also have the possibility to book yourself a private tour around the palace grounds, but there's no such option for the Japanese, so these public openings are arranged a couple times per year. And the lazy motherfuckers that we are, who just can't be arsed to book a private tour, we joined the masses of Japanese people on Tuesday, which also happened to be Culture Day here. What that means is, if you're not a uni student, you get a day off! And if you're a uni student, fuck you, you go to classes. Luckily I only have classes until 12 on Tuesdays, so there was still plenty of time to explore the palace grounds!

Here you can get a glimpse of what it was actually like: packed with tourists. Luckily they had many blocked areas, such as the entire garden, so that I was able to get a few good shots!

On Wednesday - another short school day - I finally climbed Higashiyama, aka Daimonyama! It was definitely not a walk in the park. I mean, I thought I was in fairly good shape, but I was out of breath after the first 5 minutes! And it gets really hard on your knees, especially on the way down. But I made it, although I have to admit that that was about as long a hike as I was comfortable doing, for now anyways. I was seriously a lot more exhausted than I usually am after my average run. Then there were these elderly Japanese men who were just leisurely jogging up the mountain and back down again... Madness. However, I strongly recommend everybody to climb a mountain, at your own pace - it's good exercise, and the views you get are just breathtaking.

"I'm on the edge, the edge, the edge, the edge..."

I can almost imagine I'm at the bottom of an ocean.

To add up to the challenge: These were the "stairs" we were using.

What do you do when you have a view like this in front of you? Well, why not check Facebook!

Descending from the heavens.

So that was an experience I wouldn't mind having again. Luckily we're surrounded by mountains here, so all you have to do is pick one, put some sneakers on and get going.

Back in town - the scenery down here isn't too bad, either!

After such a busy week, though, I'm pretty content with just spending a lazy weekend at home, doing some chores and homework, go for a walk, maybe, and for the rest of the time... THIS:

Finally gave in to the compelling urge to buy one of these extremely detailed coloring books. In my adult years, I've actually had a couple of children's ones (including a Star Wars one, of course), but I've been wanting to buy one of these adults' ones as well ever since they became a thing. The other day, when I was coloring a small picture on a handout in class, I realized that I do not only want this, I need this! So I went ahead and bought it, although they're not cheap. Whereas you can get a children's coloring book for a couple of euros, one of these can cost you more than 10 euros. But it's so worth it, though! The most relaxing time you've ever had.