So this weekend was loads and loads of fun! I went to Karaoke in Sakae (an area of Nagoya). We found a Karaoke place that was cheap and included drinks, so we were very excited. Saturday Rebekah and her family took me to Kyoto. First we went to Sanjusangendo Hall. It is a shrine to the diety Kannon. There were 1001 statues of Kannon, all of them gold plated life-size statues with 33 arms. Well all except the giant one that also had 11 heads. It was really really amazing.
We went to the Kyoto National Museum after that and saw an exhibit on the history of the tea ceremony. My favorite part is that I was able to see several paintings by Mu-xi. Denise understands this. Mu-xi was a 13th century Chinese artist under the Song dynasty. He painted a picture that is called Six Persimmons and is really cool. I was so excited to see some of his other works (and not just out of a book). It was neat because of my art history class there were a lot of the paintings and statues that I recognized.
We ate lunch at a fabulous little tempura restaurant in the Gion District that only had 3 menu choices and 15 seats. By the time we left there was a line around the block. You may have heard of the Gion district, it is famous for being the home of many Geisha houses. We were actually able to see a Geisha (only 1 though). It is apparently very difficult to see Geisha (unless you are a rich man). We did some shopping, saw some Geisha houses.
Then we went to Nijo-jo. Nijo-jo is an amazing old castle. It doesn't look like a castle from Europe, but it was huge. It had 2 moats, the main house had 33 large rooms. All the rooms had gold paintings covering the sliding doors inbetween the rooms. It was all so beautiful.
Monday we didn't have school because it was 'Respect for the Aged Day' I made my host family french toast and then studied and took a nap. It was a nice mellow day. It has started to rain here, which is fabulous! Normally I'm not the hugest fan of rain, but it made the mosquitoes go away and cooled down the weather, so now I like rain a lot!
We went to the Kyoto National Museum after that and saw an exhibit on the history of the tea ceremony. My favorite part is that I was able to see several paintings by Mu-xi. Denise understands this. Mu-xi was a 13th century Chinese artist under the Song dynasty. He painted a picture that is called Six Persimmons and is really cool. I was so excited to see some of his other works (and not just out of a book). It was neat because of my art history class there were a lot of the paintings and statues that I recognized.
We ate lunch at a fabulous little tempura restaurant in the Gion District that only had 3 menu choices and 15 seats. By the time we left there was a line around the block. You may have heard of the Gion district, it is famous for being the home of many Geisha houses. We were actually able to see a Geisha (only 1 though). It is apparently very difficult to see Geisha (unless you are a rich man). We did some shopping, saw some Geisha houses.
Then we went to Nijo-jo. Nijo-jo is an amazing old castle. It doesn't look like a castle from Europe, but it was huge. It had 2 moats, the main house had 33 large rooms. All the rooms had gold paintings covering the sliding doors inbetween the rooms. It was all so beautiful.
Monday we didn't have school because it was 'Respect for the Aged Day' I made my host family french toast and then studied and took a nap. It was a nice mellow day. It has started to rain here, which is fabulous! Normally I'm not the hugest fan of rain, but it made the mosquitoes go away and cooled down the weather, so now I like rain a lot!
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