Well, my last day in Kyoto is here.

After I finally figured out that the 20th was Sunday and not Saturday, I realized that I could still go out and see a few more things. I also had arranged to have lunch with my CP Yohei who works at the Hyatt Regency Miyako.

I spent the morning at Fushimi-inari shrine in the southeast part of town. It’s renowned for its Fox Guardians and the thousands of Torii gates that line its paths up into the woods. It’s set in absolutely beautiful forest and it was thankfully fairly cool there, at least in the morning. I spent time walking through the grounds feeling the same way I did at Kurama the first time—this sense of spiritual wonder. It’s hard to describe and photos just don’t do it justice.

Next I wanted to go to Sanjusangen-do (the shrine with 33 doors) but since I forgot my city map I only had a general idea of where it was. Turns out I should have gotten off the train at Shichijo, but I got off at Shijo, wasted time walking all over town, back down to Kyoto Station then got lost trying to find the place (which is right next door to the Hyatt). I wasted nearly 2 hours that I could have used more productively (not to mention some extra train and subway fare) before I showed up right on time for lunch. Yohei took me to a little noodle place where we both had cold Soba—and he ended up paying for me even though I’d said it was my treat. You’ve got to be fast here and all I can say is he had better come to California so I can pay him back! We finally parted at the gate of Sanjuysangen-do—another “one life, one meeting” kind of sadness. I hope to see him again someday.

Sanjusangen-do was amazing! It houses a thousand golden buddhas and other priceless statuary from the Heian and Kamakura periods—extremely impressive. They also hold Kyudo (Japanese archery) events there like thousand-arrow shoots and even 24-hour tournaments. I was reading one story of a famous archer who did the 24 hour shoot, firing over 13,000 arrows! It works out to 9 arrows per minute. Astounding!

Back at the dorms, I had to get serious about packing plus do my share of the room cleaning. I’d actually volunteered to do the bathroom, which brings up one of my favorite things about the Japanese bathroom. In newer buildings like the dorms, they’re “unit bathrooms”, which are basically pre-fabbed, slide-in modules. They are completely watertight, including a drain in the floor since in Japan, you wash yourself outside the tub before you get in and soak. This makes it extremely easy to clean since you essentially get naked, close the door and scrub and rinse the whole place without worry. I sure wish I could have the same back home.

After shipping all my books and a bunch of other stuff home, my suitcases are actually lighter and have more room in them than on the way over. I’ll get a good night’s sleep and then it’s Vacation Time!

Today was essentially a lot of lazing around waiting for my turn in front of the “firing squad”. Since I wasn’t participating for credit this time, I didn’t worry much about it and think I performed just fine. The nice thing was that they held the tests in one of the meeting rooms at the I-house, so we didn’t have to walk all the way down to campus. My roommate David had also arranged to have the Post Office come to pick up his packages, so I sent two off myself—one “slow-boat” filled with books and a smaller, lighter one with my model railroad stuff and other goods that may make it home before I do. They both cost essentially the same and the total was about $130.00. It seems a bit steep, but there’s no way I could’ve packed and hauled everything for the rest of my trip. Besides, I’ve still got 10-days worth of travel, shopping and Akihabara visits to look forward to.

At 5:00, we had the farewell party. Once again, I got a bit emotional and choked-up when it came time for me to say goodbye—but it’s tough. “One life, one meeting”, as the Japanese proverb goes. I really hope that I can see some of these friends again, and I hope they all realize just how much this experience means to me.

I ended up staying in the rest of the night ‘cause I was beat from the last few days and had to start getting things ready for departure. The room already is starting to look empty with us both packing up to go home…

One of our last official acts was to attend an interesting morning lecture and video presentation about what we were about to witness firsthand: the GIon Matsuri. This festival—originally started as an appeasement to the gods to end a plague—has been held every year since the 800’s! Well, except for a brief couple of years during World War 2 and a few years when one of the emperors prohibited it.

Essentially, these huge, wooden structures on wheels are built and covered with centuries-old tapestries from around the world and pulled through the streets by hundreds of men. At the top, bands play drums, chimes and flutes and in the front, two or more men with fans direct the movements. Since the axles are fixed, turning them at the intersections is an amazing spectacle—something you’ll have to wait and see in my video whenever I get it edited and posted. They essentially slide the front wheels sideways on wetted strips of bamboo—hard to explain and fascinating to watch. Oh and one more thing: these multi-story floats are made of wood, temporary and lashed together with ropes. It’s truly amazing…

Two years ago, the festival was held in pouring rain, so I went elsewhere instead. This year, it was an absolutely gorgeous, clear day (as you can see from my photos). Of course, that also means it was hotter than hades, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Kishi-sensei and Ikushima-sensei went with us, and we had cold Soba noodles for lunch. Next door was a little mom-and-pop used clothing store where I managed to get a used Obi sash for my Yukata for an incredible price—thank you, Oji-sama! I went off on my own and got some great photos, including of the dismantling process. I drifted back to Kyoto Station where—EUREKA!—a spot had opened up on the overnight train to Hokkaido! So I leave Sunday morning, go first to Osaka and then off to Sapporo (where it should hopefully be cooler).

Class days like today are really, really frustrating. We only had morning classes, and today’s topic: Keigo, or extra-polite Japanese speech. A topic that’s fairly esoteric for the terminally informal American, and one that actually spans two full chapters in the Genki 2 textbook. And we tried to stuff it into 3 hours. It’s something I really want to know about and understand, since I think it’s very important in being thought of as well-educated in the language. But this was even less time spent on the topic than 2 years ago. I have no other choice than to battle-through on my own at home, which is really a shame.

At last, the dreaded IJP Speeches (Happyoukai 発表会) arrived, and with 17 participants it was a true marathon. I think I did just fine and people usually pickup right away that I’m a teacher and seasoned presentation-giver, even with my elementary-school Japanese vocabulary and topic. If the program gets any bigger, they really will need to re-think how—or if—to do speeches. It was rather grueling…

But then comes the best part of the speeches: the incredible feeling you get after the extreme weight of it all is lifted from your shoulders! In the evening, I tried to fumble my way through the largest homework assignment we’ve had to date: 6 pages about Keigo—another frustration.

Tomorrow there’s only a brief morning lecture, then we’re off to see one of the most famous festivals in all of Japan—Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri. I’m really excited for that!

Classes were once again a race against time to cram as much new stuff into my head as possible. That prospect is always daunting enough, but today seemed even more difficult than usual. It’s hard to accept that a month has flown by and I haven’t done everything I wanted to yet.

The afternoon was a tech-rehearsal for the speeches, which seemed kind of anti-climactic for some reason. The speech is really the most difficult part of the whole IJP experience, and causes quite a bit of stress and even consternation among the students. I myself am torn over how I feel about it: it sure takes a lot of time that could be used for other purposes and additional study topics, but I can also see the value of getting up and making a public address in Japanese. I guess in the end I sort of wish they would abandon it in favor of more class and practice time. Either that or drop the Kindergarten visit.

Had to do laundry and miscellaneous stuff this evening, plus study, study, study. It’s essentially all over tomorrow.

Today is the day when you realize that “gee, it’s just about all over, isn’t it?” All of a sudden you see that there’s not going to be enough time to complete everything in the textbook and there is so much more that needs learning. I really do need to spend the rest of my life learning Japanese.

Classes were, however, pretty much like always—fast paced. The afternoon was spent doing a practice run delivering our speeches in front of the CPs and our classmates. I’d asked to go first so that I could leave early and get to Kyoto Station to book my reservation. The good news: my speech went fine, I thought. The bad news: the overnight train to Hokkaido is all full! I need to figure out what to do next to keep myself occupied for a few days until I report to Tokyo. I’m already staying through the weekend at the dorms. I’ll figure something out, even if it’s to make my way to Hokkaido on daylight trains. My rail pass starts on the 20th (Sunday), so I’ll have to move fast.

I wanted to spend my last free weekend day actually going to see Osaka. I’ve already been once, but only saw the station and the inside of Yodobashi Camera, which really doesn’t do the place justice.

From anime references, I wanted to make sure to go see Tsutenkaku Tower. It’s not all that tall anymore by most standards, but there was a great view of the city from the top. I stood in line for about 40 minutes for the privilege but it was a fun experience that seems to be only interesting to the locals—I was the only non-Japanese tourist in the whole place. The tower is located in the famous Shinsekai neighborhood which is filled with bustling shops with interesting and entertaining signs out front. I ate lunch there at one of the little Kushi-yaki (I think that’s the name) restaurants. Basically, you can get anything fried up on a stick for around ¥100 each—really tasty, fast and cheap.

The whole tower experience took a bit longer than I’d planned, so I kind of decided to forego Osaka-jo Castle (which I saw in ’06) and instead go to the Kato Hobby Center. I wanted to make sure to buy a recently re-released train set that has been unavailable for the last two years. See what I mean about not enough time to see everything? But then, life is a series of tradeoffs…

The final destination was the Osaka Aquarium, which turned out to be really spectacular. It’s one of the world’s largest saltwater aquariums, and is famous for the pair of Whale Sharks they have there. They also had about the largest collection of Jellyfish I’ve ever seen (at least 40 different kinds—beautiful). I just wish I had more time—there’s a ferris wheel, lots of shops, boat rides, a view of the harbor…sigh. Had dinner at Yodobashi Camera’s restaurant floor again and came home.

I made my way home via the Kyoto Station to see if I can get reservations on the overnight train to Hokkaido for next weekend—sadly, they closed at 5:00, and I wasn’t there until later. I’ll try again tomorrow. By the time I got back to the dorms it was getting late and I was exhausted. So much for getting extra rehearsal done for my speech.