Beckteria

Whatever

Wow! This weekend seemed less eventful than usual. Perhaps that is in part because I’m somewhat broke. We only get paid once a month and I’m about two weeks away from payday. Oh well. That’s life.

I’ve been spending my week trying to download…um, free stuff. Yeah. That’s it. Anyway, I’ve been learning a lot. Props to those who’ve been helping me through that hell. (*^o^*) So, anyway I guess that’s what you do when you don’t have a lot of cash.

I went to Kyoto, again, on Saturday afternoon. Some people said that they never had been, so I offered to sort of show them around. My disclaimer “I’m not a tour guide and I’m bad with directions, so be prepared.” It turned out well. First, Shakey’s Pizza for lunch and then we hit three temples. Each time I go to Kyoto, I go to temples I’ve never been to. I figure that eventually I will have seen most of them by the time I move back to the states.

The first temple was cool because 1. it was free 2. it was small and therefore not crowded 3. the guy working there explained everything to us 4. somebody translated what he said 5. we got to actually got to touch stuff (not very typical). This was a “new” temple, built in the Edo Period (1603-1867). There was a Buddha made up bone. They took the bones of people and crushed them and then made the statue. Pretty sweet. I touched it.



The second temple was the home of Lady Murasaki, she wrote “The Tale of Genji,” the most famous author in Japan. Apparently, this is considered the first novel ever written. I didn’t know that before even though I have read it.



The third temple was Kinkakuji, the temple of gold. I thought I had been there because I went to another one that was silver. The word for gold is “kin” whereas the word for silver is “gin” (not gin and tonic, but pronounced “jin”). So, I was confused. This temple was super sweet. Gold indeed.



We met a fair amount of Germans there. We were talking to this older German guy and his daughter. He asked us, “What was the worst thing that the Americans did to the Japanese?” It was a little awkward. We all were saying, “Umm, Hiroshima? Nagasaki?” It was uncomfortable. And then he says, “No. McDonald’s.” Pretty funny. But weird coming from a German especially.

So, no clubs this weekend. I know, it’s hard to believe, but I am somewhat broke. I did go out on Saturday of course. A chu-hi and a beer by the Dontomburi River, one free drink at the bar where my friend works, a not as free drink at the same bar, and a shot paid for by another friend that owed me a drink or several. That’s about it. Five drinks. Hmmm. It sounds like a lot, but it sure didn’t seem like it at the time.

One hell of a lazy Sunday. I should have studied more Japanese, but I’ll have plenty of time this week at school for such endeavors. There aren’t any classes this week. I’m going to do some lesson plans and study Japanese. It’s much easier to study at school because if I don’t understand, I have a lot of native speakers that I can ask. It’s very convenient.

So, I’m sorry that I don’t have anything more profound to say. It’s just been mellow around here.

posted by Bex @ 2:24 PM