Kyoto English camp

Kyoto day 1:

I got on the Shinkansen for Kyoto from Shinagawa. It took about three hours then from there I walked to the hotel and dropped off my bag. Afterwards I went walking to the shopping district, there was so many streets filled with little shops. I picked up some omiyage for my friends and I wandered back to the hotel. There aren't a shortage of temples around the area I walked around either. It was really nice to get out of Tokyo for awhile and on top of all of that I want to make a note that Kyoto is build in a grid like Canada is. Which means Jenny cannot get lost even if she tried. This played true for the entire trip.

I warmed up after my walk to the hotel and we were off to a special tofu izakaya/omihodai (all you can drink). It was a very good way to start off the English camp getting to know all the other teachers, laugh and relax. I even got to enjoy the onsen at the ryokan. I made a short road movie of my first day in Kyoto I hope that you enjoy the video. :)

Kyoto day 2:

Bright and early at 530am Elizabeth and I hopped into a taxi to Gion to see the plum blossoms. We were a bit too early to catch sunrise but it I still got  to see all the old tea houses and the area of the city were the geshias entertain.(I found out that for an hour it would cost about $2000-$2500/hour!) If I go back I would really love to catch a Mieko walking around to their next client/tea house.

We started with a great spread for breakfast then off for some coffee before boarding the bus. 

After opening ceremonies we had a game and I taught for 3 hours. We had an obento lunch and then another 3 hours after lunch. This is were they start working on their presentations. Each group has three locations to talk about.Now for some nabe before games this evening. Yay more Japanese food! 

Wow I ate so much it actually pains me a little. From there it was time for games with the students. A short staff meeting and it was time to hit up the onsen for the last time. I think I am going to miss that the most. 

Kyoto day 3:

Early morning breakfast with Japanese style fried bacon and eggs. 

We packed our bags and dropped them off in the lobby before heading on the bus. Back to the university for the last three hours of class. 

After our morning classes we had a quick obento before we made our way to the bus stop. It was a lot of fun to even miss the bus, get on the wrong one, run to the train station and grab my day pass ticket. 

We finally made it to our first stop, it was time for kyogashi making. For ¥1500 we got a full demonstration with our own time to make them. They are pressed flour, bean paste and white bean with coloured dye made into beautiful Japanese shapes (mostly flowers) that are unique to each person. Served with a thick tea and changes with the season.  I have never been so lucky to have this class. Since this was the only group that was making sweets! 

That's right folks I made these! 

Kitanotenmangu the temple where they pray for academic success! This was a very quick walk through since we spent too much time making sweets. You can pat the many cows heads to obtain cleverness(I'm not entirely sure why but it was fun!) from here we walked past a mini garden before we left the sight.

Kinkakuji the golden pavilion is the one the kids want to see most. Since we are running behind schedule it looks like we will not go into Nijojo (imperial palace) but will spend more time to look more closely at what the pavilion has to offer.

It was a beautiful walk through filled with gaijins. ¥400 made a video we didn't make it to the last stop nijojo but I had a fantastic time! We were late but we made it back just to make it to the closing ceremony.