AKP Orientation Day 1

I left from Boston, MA. My parents brought me there a day before and we checked out the city. Even though I go to school in Mass I’ve only ever seen the ghetto parts of Boston where Franklin Park (where we run XC races) is. It was nice to be in Boston and not have my coach telling us to not get mugged. We went to the aquarium. It was chuck full of little kids but SO STELLAR. Have some pics:

ME AND DAD :)

Our first night, Tuesday, I was dead tired after being awake for more than 27 hours. After an hour bus ride from the Kansai airport to Kyoto, all we did was explore the Kyoto Station area a bit, buy some dinner at the convenience store and then pass out. But jetlag is a strange and stupid thing and we were up and moving at 4AM the next day, the first day of orientation.

We took the subway up to Doshisha, my new institution, and the profs oriented us on things having to do with Japan. It was pretty easy-going. Later in the day we crossed the street to the Imperial Palace grounds and watched a crazy-awesome monk walk the tightrope. Look at him go (!) :

Some of my classmates also tried and failed at the tightrope. See video (at bottom).

Once dismissed, a group of us went to Shi-jo, or Kyoto downtown, and went through this covered shopping area called “Teramachi.” The first thing we hit up was puri kura. Puri kura are sort of like American photo booths, but infinitely better. For one thing, some thing about the way they take the pictures makes even the most unseemly person look attractive. I think it emphasizes your eyes, makes your skin look flawless and boosts color. All in all, the photo manipulations made the dudes that were with us look like chicks.

Chillin in the arcade~

The next awesome thing about puri kura is that you can draw on the photos when you’re done with them. Using computer screens and a stylus you can write words and put clipart, like sparkles or hearts or little tiny poops, on the pictures. Puri kura is expensive but totally rad.

Finally for dinner we went and got okonomiyaki, a sort of Japanese pankcake. It’s probably not the healthiest choice but it’s so tasty.

Okonomiyaki at Mr. Young Men

I’m happy to be in Japan but I’m nervous to meet my host family on Friday at the Welcome Party..