Just Getting Started - Week Two

Hi everyone, welcome back to my blog! I hope you enjoyed last week's post and video. It was a lot of fun making it and I’m excited to share with you how this week has been. I’ve also realized that I am so busy that I’m not sure if weekly updates will be reasonable for me to keep up with once school begins, so they may become more sporadic, but we will have to wait and see what the universe has in store for us then. Also, my posts may become shorter as I really do not have the mental energy to recount every detail of my weeks, especially when editing the videos and photos I’ve taken together.

Life here is gradually becoming more accessible and easier. This week I have felt a lot more confident in attempting to communicate with people in Japanese, and I feel comfortable accepting when I don’t understand things and communicating this so that we can come to a mutual understanding of things more quickly. There are still some cultural things that shock me but I plan on making a post about these things later on once I can fully think about all of them. Also, I have somehow managed to weasel my way into a friend group and I have been meeting so many new, unique, and amazing people from all over the world. I now have friends from Argentina, Germany, Curaçao, the Netherlands, China, England, and even more places! It is so awesome to be able to share our cultures with each other and hang out in a completely different environment for us all, allowing us to facilitate cultural exchange while learning and growing together by facing the same problems and understanding them in different ways due to our cultural backgrounds. I have already learned so much about the world due to these amazing people.

Also, one of the things I’ve been realizing is how little the American education system actually sets up American citizens for success in global spaces. I sometimes feel so lost and behind due to outdated systems being ingrained within me. For example, my friend may ask me to turn the AC on and I will have to ask what temperature to set it to because it's celsius. Obviously, this is a rather trivial matter and something I can learn, but having to do this every day becomes tiring on one's psyche and makes me feel rather stupid at times. I also have realized how little I actually know about world events and how America-centric I can be.

Aside from this, I’ve been having a blast. As I previously mentioned, I’ve been so busy that I’ve hardly had time to write this, do my laundry, cook, or have time to sit and chill. When I do have this time, however, I’ve been spending it relaxing and spending time with myself. I’ve been spending a lot of this time at the river near my dorm, the Kamogawa. I love it there. It is so relaxing and peaceful, yet full of energy and life. There are always people there having picnics, exercising, playing music, or just strolling along the river. Of course, I’m not complaining about being so busy since I’ve been having so many fun experiences and creating so many fun memories with these people that were strangers a week ago that I would consider being close friends now.

I first met the group through a friend in my dorm, Benito, and the guy who acted as my guide to the dorm that I mentioned in last week's post, Ian. I was rather bored one day when I was chatting with Benito. He mentioned that they were having a picnic and I decided to take a leap of faith and ask if I could join. They didn’t care and were excited for me to join. I met up with them on the second floor of this very cute and modern feeling cafe called the Social Kitchen. Ian was actually friends with the owner and she didn’t mind us staying on the upper floor a bit after closing due to the rain. We sat and talked and learned about ourselves and each other. Since then, we have hung out almost every day. I am happy and very grateful that I am the kind of person that can easily make friends wherever I go and that this group accepted me so quickly.

We’ve shopped, done photo booths, eaten at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant, walked around the streets of Shijo late at night looking for a place to eat, and were denied everywhere we went when telling the employees “Juuninin desu.” - “We are twelve people.” We’ve laughed and drank, and spent quality time with those who were once strangers only but a week ago. Needless to say, I am having an amazing time here in Kyoto and can’t wait to share more with you all. Make sure to check out the video, linked below, and the photos I’ve posted on the Gallery page on my website. You can also access the links to the videos through the Gallery. Also, I made another video that you can check through my Instagram which I linked below. Enjoy and have a good week and stay tuned for my next post! Thanks!

YOUTUBE VIDEO

INSTAGRAM VIDEO