We’re on a train to Kyoto. We were supposed to leave yesterday, but Trami decided to come visit. This is nothing new, we’ve been adjusting plans for Typhoons this whole trip. It keeps us on our toes, you know? Can we extend our airbnb for one more day? Or are we going to be on the street with our luggage? Who knows! Isn’t that fun?
Anyways, the train.
I don’t know if you can tell, but I love traveling by train. It is amazing. All of the handles that hang down from the hand rails bob and sway the exact same way at the exact same time. Everyone is sitting in silence, contemplating. It feels like we’re all on a journey together. And there’s so much to do. Do I watch the gentleman across from me and try to determine what he likes for dinner and what he does for work? Do I try to parse out the relationship of the people next to me who are breaking train code and talking to each other? Do I look at the towns we’re speeding past and wonder if the people who live there wonder what the people on the trains that pass by each day wonder about when they see their houses? Do I look at the landscape, or do I let myself get lulled into the movements of the train and zone out?
It’s rough out here, trying to decide what to do with my time, but when in doubt, I feel like the least creepy option is staring out the window and taking in the scenery.
The way the seats are set up makes it hard to see most of the scenery but from what I can tell, it’s ridiculously green. It’s a lot of long grass that waves in a wind we can’t feel as we go past. Mostly, all I can see are the red and white phone towers, and little fluffy clouds. The towns are always the coolest part, even if it still feels a little creepy. I like getting to see how they’re set up, with all the canals that are chock full of plants springing from every available crack and the colors of the houses.
A bunch of school kids just got in the train wearing kabuki masks and there’s a woman in a kimono across from me. It’s vastly different from the crowded city vibe of Osaka, so we must be getting closer to Kyoto. I know this is daily life for people here and its just people going about their day to day, wearing what they want for their own reasons. But I always wonder if it’s more that what it seems. It feels like there’s magic underneath it all.
–
This is the first time we’ve been on a bus this trip, which is surprising considering the vast array of transportation we’ve taken. I still like the train the best, but this is a refreshing change.
We’re headed to the Kinkaku-ji, which is a gold temple in the middle of a garden. It sounds very cool.
–
It seems like whenever we go somewhere with a hint of historical importance, there are school kids there. Which definitely makes sense. But it seems like it’s always the day that every school in the prefecture has decided that This is The Day To Go. I’m glad that I’m getting to experience the Japanese schooling experience.
And I like seeing kids in school. It makes me miss going on field trips and hanging out with people. I feel like I’m just young enough where I can remember how it felt to be out in the land with your lads when you were supposed to be learning in class, but a little bit too old and too far away from the memory of it to put it into words.
But whatever.
Also, the temple. So cool. It looked like it was dripping in gold and like the light was shining of it, rather than that dumb death orb in the sky.
Also, I’m proud to announce that I’m not the only creepy person on this trip because today Kelly saw a proposal and took a picture of it. Which I guess is pretty normal, but she was behind a bush, so I feel like that counts. We then had a debate on whether or not we should give them the picture. Would you want some rando girls being like “hey so, uh, we don’t know you but we got this picture of you being cute so”. We considered just, airdropping it to everyone in the area in hopes that they would get it, but it was determined that that was too creepy.
So, in a completely democratic and not at all forced decision, it was determined that I would be the one to approach the couple and tell them about the picture.
Which was really the best course of action, because I’m definitely not the most awkward and socially inept in our group.
But I think it went well. We figured out that they spoke Mandarin and were Taiwanese, so Kelly was able to take over from there, in a way less awk and socially graceful way.
They were very cute and very in love. The guy went back to his fiancé and showed her and she was smiley and kissed him on the forehead. (I cried.)
After that we got Coolish, which is an ice cream that comes in a bag and tastes like heaven.
Speaking of heaven, we got ramen again with Marisa’s friend. She said that the place we were going to was a hole in the wall ramen shop that had no name. It was in a basement and everything.
So naturally, I was imagining something small and dark, maybe a little run down looking.
This was not that.
It was well lit and had concrete everything, like a minimalist hipster coffee shop’s dream. There were plants, growing from the ground. Real plants. I checked.
The stools were made of that like gray wood, also not out of place in a hipster coffee shop. The guy who was serving me was wearing a beret. There was a drawer at my seat with seasonings and utensils. Even the ramen tasted hipster, which is hard to describe. But I think it was the pork. It tasted more hammy, like a sandwich? I don’t know how something tastes hipster.
Nevermind.
If you think that the bad references to American things end there, you would be wrong. Because next we went to this place that I can’t remember the name of, but it was introduced to me as the Applebee’s of Japan.
Please don’t make me describe that vibe. We should all know it on feel alone. I can. It’s not something I’m proud of, but it be like that.
Anyways, we started drinking there. Which is a little disappointing because I’m sure there are lots of better places to do that but, it also be like that. We progress from there to 7-Eleven, because, well you should already know.
Japan is neat for a lot of reasons, but it is also neat because it has no laws preventing open container.
So.
We drank by the river.
It’s nice how easy it is to bond with people when you’re drinking. After commiserating over emotional trauma and post-grad life, Emilie and another one of her friends from JET started telling us about the program.
It was something that I had thought about doing for a while, but I never applied because of reasons relating to my poor coping skills and general fear of leaving the house, but if there was ever a time to re-evaluate that decision, it’s when you’ve already left the house (and been out for like a whole month) and are actively getting drunk on the bank of a river. It’s still leaving the house for a whole year and I need to apply, but listening to them talk about it being the best and worst two months of their lives (so far) was really interesting. I don’t have any plan right now, so I guess this part of my life would be the time to do it.
But still. Drunk and by a riverside. Sober Rachel still needs to evaluate it.
Sunsets here are okay I guess
Comentarios