Day 41 and Day 42.

Kyoto, oh beautiful Kyoto, i love you!

I spent just two days in Kyoto, had lots of mountain/stairs climbing and lots of sweating, but i just totally loved it! And i already wanna go back. I didn't manage to see lots of things that i wanted even with my super turbo pace, but that's just another reason to come back, right?

It's really interesting city and a really old one. I knew that Kyoto is old, but it did take me by surprise that it is still so old! There are many many traditional buildings, many nice cozy shops. There are no skyscrapers, so it's a nice rest for your eyes after big cities like Tokyo or Osaka. There's couple of rivers flowing through the city, so in the evening you can just take a walk along the river, enjoy the view.

Every day i imagine myself living in Japan more and more, i feel well here, even though it's sometimes way too hot, humidity feels nice on my skin, i enjoy the sun. What an irony - in the country where most of the people try to stay white, i finally got the need to get brown - probably the first time in my life. I'm afraid i wouldn't be a good girl and wouldn't follow some of the rules, since i couldn't work 24/7 or not tell the truth when i'm asked, but i like how things look like in Japan. I'm studying japanese, but i hate the question "why" and lately i've been telling people it's more of a personal reason, than a carrier and it might be true... Probably i won't work as a teacher or in the embassy, but i might end up living or at least settling down for a while in Japan. Wouldn't it be nice..?

After these two days in Kyoto my feet totally hurt and i feel physically a little bit tired, my shoes fucked up, because of climbing, but i'm overjoyed! I already have couple of things i must remember for the next trip to Kyoto. First of all, do not go there in summer, because it's just terribly hot! Even though it has lots of greenery and rivers, it's really difficult to handle the heat there, especially when you're travelling and doing sightseeing, which means lots of walking, a backpack and maybe a camera. So i will avoid Kyoto in summer by all means in the future.

Another thing is closing times. You should do a double check on that one, coz you might end up in failure and arrive somewhere which is already closed. Shrines and temples close pretty early, around 4-5 pm, so you have to be careful in Kyoto. If you're up to a late sight seeing, there's not really much to do.

You also have to choose wisely your transportation... You can do lots on foot which is cheap, but you're gonna be tired in the evening. You can go on bike, which is again cheap, but again tiresome. Advantage of it - faster. Or you can go on trains, Keihan Line day pass is 1000 Yen and subway day pass is 600 Yen, there's also Bus day pass for 500 Yen. I went for the bus, even though it was slower than the train, but for me it was way better on the second day, because train doesn't go anyway to the places i visited.

So the first day i did completely on foot. I visited couple of shrines, a park, went to a beautiful beautiful Zen temple. And went back home through Gion. Most of the temples and shrines have admission fee, so don't mumble about it - it's just the way it is, so money goes fast in Kyoto. Admission fees vary between 200 Yen and 600 Yen. I'm staying at a friend's brother's friend's. And she's a really nice girl! I'm happy not just because i had a roof above my head, but also that i could meet her!

On the second day i visited the famous Golden Temple, went to another Zen temple, the famous Fushimi Inari Shrine with lots of orange torii gates, Toufuku Shrine, did some mountain climbing and went to botanical garden. After that, together with the girl i'm staying at, we went to Kurama Shrine which was really beautiful! It was again on a mountain, but it was really worth going up. We were basically the last ones to enter, so we enjoyed the peace and nice view without lots of tourists. The Kurama Shrine is pretty far away from the city, so there's not many tourists in general, but we had it in a special way - without people at all. It's just a pity, that all the facilities were already closed.

I would need one more day for Kyoto, but i'm happy i had at least 2 days here. The best places were Koudaiji (Zen temple in the east of Kyoto) and Kurama (shrine in the mountains, in the north of Kyoto). A place which i could have skipped was Ryouanji - the other Zen temple with famous rock garden, that i was looking forward to. But i was disappointed, since the ticket was pretty expensive and the famous rock garden was really small and, i'm sorry - no offense, nothing special. Koudaiji temple had way bigger rock garden which was really beautifully made.

It's amazing just to wander around in Kyoto, because even if you get kinda lost, you'll definitely find a nice spot, a park, temple, shrine or something else old and interesting. So i would just go somewhere without really looking at the map and i did just fine! In a blog it seems pretty simple and usual, this Kyoto trip, but it's just hard to tell about it... I guess, you have to come and experience it, since it's not just what you see, but also what you feel, how you perceive it. I enjoyed the temples and shrines, it was so old and beautiful! And the architecture was really impressive... It seems divine sometimes, because you're nearly out of ideas how it could have been built.

So i have to say good bye to Kyoto today and get in the night bus which brings me all the way to Chubu are, Shizuoka prefecture, Omaezaki - a small town at the ocean, i'm looking forward to it, because the host seemed so friendly and because i really wanted to see the ocean... I hope it all goes well!

Day 34.

I am totally failing when it comes to me blog. I was around 10 days behind and just made notes, so i had to spend an unbelievably lots of time at once to finish the posts and publish them. Stupid me. It is nice to write and let you know how i am, and yes, i am kinda addicted to internet, but i wouldn't say i missed it THAT much. There are things, that had to be taken care of, so internet is a must for me, besides, most of my friends live abroad, so i would be really lonely without internet sometimes. But being in Sasayama gives you lots to think about and lots to do, and so, internet isn't just the only thing you wanna have. I would be happy if i could have switched 1 hour of internet to a bottle of milk.

Nothing is perfect, but then again - it depends on how we perceive it. If we want to, we'll always be able to find minuses, because the nature itself isn't perfect, but we might wanna see the bright side all the time and enjoy our life at least a little bit, huh?

Today someone made a joke during the tea break which was understood wrong and we had some discussions, which all ended up in our host, coming down to our place and a 2 hours talking (of course) during OUR free time. That kinda gathering was kinda necessary, but to be honest, i wasn't happy spending 2 hours of my lunch break for that. I would rather sit down after dinner and talk about everything, than use lunch break for that, when everyone wants to cook, eat, sleep, relax, swim, but not talk about uneasy things.

Some people are really unhappy about couple of things here, some people understand some people wrong, some people go to personal, some might insult you - it happens here. It really does. But hell, we're 15 people with different ideas living under one roof! Although i have to admit, that some people handle it really wrong. I've seen here some heavy arguments (and been in couple of them already), i've seen unhappy faces, i've heard lots and lots of complaints and i've even seen tears - that is not the right way, i think. But it's also all about timing... If you click with the people around you or not - yes or no, 50/50, just your own luck.

After today's conversation i kinda wanted to pack my things and go. Why? Not because of the conversation itself, but because of the reason behind the conversation. Someone made a joke about it, so another "grown up" ran to the host immediately and told everything... I mean come on. But i couldn't and didn't leave. My host in Osaka disappeared, so when i was looking for another host, we had arrangements for a certain date and it was already too late to change it.

By the way, i still don't have a place to stay in Kyoto, but my hope's still here! Maybe i'm spoiled by good things too much, but i'm used to lithuanian way of handling those kinda things (wow... i rarely speak about my home country, huh?). You call one friend and ask him/her to call another, so that one could contact someone else and it's almost definite that you're gonna find someone who can accept you. In any city in Lithuania, but i haven't seen that too much in other countries. In Germany for example, i think this way would most possibly fail.

In the afternoon working period i had the urge to speak german. I guess i missed it, so when i approached the german wwoofer i just started speaking german and we ended up in speaking about stuff for the whole evening just when we're two of us and not too many people are around - it's not fair for those who don't understand german, which in our case is - the rest of us. Lots of people say, that german isn't popular anymore, you don't need it anymore at all, that the language itself is too difficult and not beautiful, too harsh, but i like it. Even though i have to take some credits and say that for a foreigner, i speak well german already, but for me - it's not even the halfway. My goal is really really far away, but maybe i'll reach it one day. I want to be really fluent in most of the topics and wanna forget about making mistakes, even once in a while. But i notice that just when i stop using the language it's harder with every day to start talking again, that's why it was nice to have someone around who i can talk german to.

Oh, today we finally had rain! And pretty heavy rain, so our plants should be happy about that. They’re gonna be pretty much spoiled, since the rain started exactly after we finished watering them, but the more water, the better. We do want those seedlings to grow into big strong plants and give us lots of fresh tasty vegetables! I feel a strong connection with our fields, vegetables, and it’s growing every day. Even though sometimes i feel like not doing something that has to be done also on our days off, but i know that it’s better to do it and not just for the plants, but also for myself - i know i always feel happy after watering them, taking care of them.

Work in a farm is a really difficult one, no doubt about it, but it also brings you joy. Also, even though it’s sometimes physically tough job, mentally you feel refreshed after you finished with your chores. That is indeed a good experience for me, since i would like to have a farm one day by myself, but i also understand that i cannot think about it lightly and have to be really, and i mean, really prepared before i make that step. For me it is difficult to have so many dreams and goals and wishes, but i realized one thing - that i don't have to do everything at once. I'll have to set priorities in my life and just take life as it comes, but never forget my goals and put them into my life one by one. I want my goals to get ripe before i do it. One funny fact, which i keep on remembering lately - at the moment i am living in a dream literally, because what i've been doing lately was and still is one of my dreams. Of course, practical life ruins it rather often, but if i put that fact aside, it's nice to admit that i am living my own dream... I just have to appreciate it more.

Tomorrow's my last working day, afterwards we have two days off and i'm leaving after our "weekend". Osaka, Kyoto and then my last host in Omaezaki. It's sad to leave, but i'm waiting for the beach of Omaezaki where i could go swim all the time! Should be interesting, since i've never been there... Actually, this whole trip is one big travel. Last year i basically spent my time in Tokyo, travelled to Yokohama and Kamakura, but not too much. But this time i'm travelling all over and that's really interesting! I get to see different Japan and, of course, i get the chance to fall in love with different Japan. Day by day i attach to this country more and more and day by day it's getting harder to realize i'll have to go back... One wicked thought - what if i got married and stayed one time?