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So I wake up and look out my hotel window in Osaka. That's it. My little dream of living in Japan, my little Osaka vacation, will all be nothing but this journal entry, some pictures, and a memory in about 4 hours. But, there's always tomorrow, and well, there's always Tokyo hahah

Tsugi wa, Nara. Nara desu. Next stop is Nara!

So I get there and for the first time, I encounter a city with absolutely no English, which wasnt a problem, but kind of interesting to see. I manage to figure out a way to get to the main tourist-y area, and Im stunned by... Deer! Everywhere! And they dont fear humans.

By the way, Waka told me about the deer. He said you can feed them food, and then WHAM knock them away hahah. He said to watch out for their lil chocolate balls on the ground... which I promptly yelled back "Tabetakunai yo!" It still wasnt as funny as Yuuki's sign language to explain big breasts, but that will be stuck in my memories, and not yours. lol

So I get some food, and like magic 5832842340 deer come swarming me and biting my shirt and stuff. Ahhhh, I just give them all the food I have and sorta run away, tripping over a baby deer. I get some Japanese people to take my picture, and then I help translate a sign to some Americans from Chicago. The sign was ridiculous with manga desciptions of angry deer with lightning bolts over their heads. The guy asked where I go to school, and when I said Princeton, he told me he grew up down the street from main campus. Wtf is that small world thing... it really is ridiculous.

So I see billions of deer, and then go to Todaiji, the largest wooden building in the world, which houses the largest Buddha statue in the world. Nara is the center of Japanese Buddhism and is very historical, so it was a treat. Selena, if you're reading this, you woulda LOVED this, and the Buddhism museum I went to, that has original scriptures and what not.

Anyway, then I stumble across a hole in a giant pillar where, I was told, if you can fit through, you will be endowed with happiness. Well, there was NO WAY I could fit in there, but a baby crawled in and sorta stopped in the middle, which is when the school kids yelled "Try hard! You can do it!" or "Ganbare! Ganbare!" So I wander around, kinda worried about the time, and I go to a restaurant in an old temple area, where I run into a tour guide with phenominal English skills.

OH! That reminds me, WAY off topic, but Jon ran into some girl in Pure Wood that was the best english speaker I have heard in Japan. No accent at all, and she learned it in Japan and 1 year in California. She learned it at a foreign school right outside of Osaka.

Anyway, rofl, back to Nara. So I see these temples, and all that. The deer are everywhere, and I then go to a Botanical garden, which at first seemed like a tourist trap because even though it had some pretty rare plants and dragon-like trees that are near extinct, none of the flowers had bloomed. All of the plants they had were referenced in the old religious scriptures, but everything was green except for the Ajisai, which bloom during the rainy season.

But the next thing I saw was... perfect.

I walked up to a pond with a dock made in Shinto style with red handrails, and a very simple construction. Suddenly, rain starts to fall, so I open up my umbrella... and then it hits me. Standing there, not a sound except for the rain pitterpattering on my umbrella, and the rain making small splashes in the pond.... the rain drops giving a cool breeze and the tree leaves added sounds with the rustling wind.... a myriad of carp realize the water may carry bugs, so they all surface and start opening their mouths to catch whatever unlucky creatures may fall in. I couldnt take a picture, for if I moved, the sounds of my backpack moving would have been deafening.

So I stood there, and the moment lasted for like 6 seconds, but it felt like forever. I was instantly reminded of old religious poems about ephemerality of perfect moments, and why poems, text, and paintings are necessary to maintain a snapshot of a time, but it will never reflect the greatness of that moment in person. I didnt take a picture, also because I knew it wouldnt be nearly as good as standing there... and I would not be able to cherish another moment like that, if it occurs again.

For 6 seconds, I had perfect Kimochi, or feeling. While it may have been like a tourist trap, it turned into one of the most perfect moments I have had in Japan.

So I walk around, and the rain sound and the beautiful trees overwhelm me, and I sorta get lost in the nature, and eventually use a map to find an exit. I found a small hut on a rock bridge in the middle of a pond, but I didnt want to stay in there for the rain sound was too good on the umbrella hahah.

So I start to go deeper into searching for more temples, but I stop once I get to some mysterious "Deer House," and I start to head back. I'm exhausted.

BUT there is the Nara Buddhism museum, so I waltz in there and look around, barely getting out in time before it closed. So I hop on a bus, say good bye to the deer (which, one of them was eating grass on a small island with a single tree surreounded by water. Wtf... how did it get there?), and I take the next train to Kyoto.

So I finally get to Kyoto, and I see an amazingly beautiful person on the train... I dont know why that sticks out in my memory, but she was so pretty, it was shocking. She just sat there, listening to her MP3 player, dozing off... but something about her was so fascinating. But we got to Kyoto, and we parted ways.

In the station I exchange my transfer ticket to an earlier time, but I still have like 1-2 hours, so I find my way to a very very shady cubicle setting internet cafe, where I search for emails from my professor, who I was supposed to meet, but there is nothing in my inbox.

So yeah, Kyoto! I was there last year, so it was kind of comforting to be there again, and not as WOW as last time because I have seen it already hahah. But strangely, it didnt feel like home as much as Osaka did... and I wonder if Penny and Jon are still here?

Whatever, I call my mom and head to the top of the gorgeous trainstation, modeled in a natural way that makes you one with nature while still being in a building. Its impossible to explain, so if you can, Kyoto train station = amazing. Go. lol, so I go to the top floor which has no roof, and I get a view of Kyoto with a golden sunset, just like the brilliant right one in Osaka. Osaka's sunset was much better, but there was something about this setting sun that was sorta symbolic. My trip had come to an end where it began last year, exactly one year ago.

With the setting sun, wind on my face, staring at over 1000 years of historical buildings, I realized it was time for me to go, and I was okay with that.

2 hours later, I get off the Thunderbird in Kanazawa station. I woke up with a start because I thought I missed the stop, but the guy was sitting next to me, so I knew if I missed it, he missed it too lol. So I get off the train, and I look in it, and there is one girl sitting there unconscious while everyone else is gone. I was debating on knocking on the window to wake her up, but she grogily opens one eye, looks around, and just bolts off the train hahahah

So my bus will be at the station in 40 minutes, so I look around, and there are breakdancers, and I sit there and watch. Then some girl hip hoppers come, and one is really impressive, and she starts doing choreography for the other girls in her group. The breakers start practicing variations of windmills, and I realize I have MUCH to learn hahah.

Oh. Also, while in Kyoto, sitting in my lil internet cubicle, my cell phone rings, and I expect Penny, or a friend I have in Tokyo, or even my professor, but no, its my host mom asking me where I am for dinner. Hahahah, I said Kyoto, and she flips out saying dinner is on the table waiting for me. So, im about to go back to my homestay and fully apologize, but when I get home, the lights are all out and they're asleep.

Sigh, I have some explaining to do. So a shower and unpacking later, I write an essay for work, and start looking at pictures from the trip.

My homestay does sorta feel like home now, and Japan doesn't necessarily feel like that foreign nation anymore. These past 5 days have been a life changing experience that I hope, through this journal and with my pictures, I will never forget. Occassionally new memories pop into my head... like right now, when Jon got French Fries at the one bar by accident, and I ordered a hot dog.... or some memories just disappear... like the soon to be forgotten All girl bar, or the All girls dressed up as Nurses bar lol.... But I will never forget how much I loved being in Osaka and seeing these things.

I prayed at an over 1000 year old temple in Nara. I prayed at a rebuilt shinto shrine in Hiroshima with girls inside performing mystical rituals, and my thoughts were clear and concise.

I will be back here.

Thus ends NakaYasumi (middle break) 2006.