Kyoto (04.04.)

On Tuesday and Wednesday we still had free time (to recover from the enrollment ceremony?) before starting university on Thursday. On Tuesday, we didn't have any plans, and took some time to pre-plan our weekend trips. It was quickly decided that all Friday classes at the university would be canceled to explore beautiful Japan. The four of us had chosen some beautiful places to visit, and we could easily fill a year or longer with these trips. I'm incredibly excited for these weekend trips, this country has so much to offer. In the afternoon, we went to the castle again to enjoy the last cherry blossoms. They lasted for about a week, and now the pink and white petals are already lying on the paths, swirling in the wind like snowflakes. It's surprising how the Japanese appreciate the beauty of nature and take pictures of the same flowers every year, flocking to the parks in hundreds. But on the other hand, they produce an UNBELIEVABLE amount of plastic (which counts as combustible waste!). Everything is wrapped in plastic, and I have even found a way to tell the cashier that I don't need a bag.

On Wednesday, twelve of us went to Kyoto (Spoiler Alert: definitely too big of a group! If you want to travel effectively, you need a small group where you can immediately see if everyone is there and don't have to count, but okay, it was fine this time because we could talk to more people along the way). We took the same train as we do for university, made one transfer, and arrived after about an hour. It was surprisingly cheap, the one-way trip cost only about €4. During the journey, I realized that I had landed in a really large metropolitan area. There is no transition between the cities, hardly any open spaces, and at first glance, Kyoto looks very similar to Osaka, just more touristy. Interestingly, it was the tourists who annoyed us the most, and the fact that we look like tourists ourselves, but no, we are exchange students who live here permanently! In Kyoto itself, we visited Nijo-Jo Castle and the Imperial Palace, which (in my opinion) look somewhat similar in the end. But overall, I'm more fascinated by the gardens rather than the buildings and their history. Then we went to a Studio Ghibli store that offers really nice merchandise. On the way there, we passed through a big street where you could buy literally everything, and a narrow alley that was packed with tourists and food stalls. For example, you could buy a wine-red, slimy mini octopus on a stick there, which I initially mistook for a lollipop. Kyoto has many of these little alleys, with narrow houses, small shops, and sometimes tiny Shinto shrines. On the way back, we also saw the pagoda, which you immediately find when you google 'Kyoto'. Just with more people. Here we actually saw a lot of women in kimonos. They must have been incredibly hot, but kimonos do look beautiful. After walking nearly 20 km (source: Google Maps!), we were all exhausted and took the train back to Osaka.