May 21_I think I'm turning Japanese...

Today, we woke up to another wonderfully Western breakfast with BACON (Bernice ate it all), BREAD (Amanda the bread monster), and lots of fresh fruit. We left the hotel in a taxi and headed to some gardens. On the way there, we spotted some wild boars, something that might be green tea soup?, and bear parts for sale. We arrived at the rock gardens and raced up the hill to beat the school children (aka Jesse's 14 year old female fan club). While observing the stillness of the rocks, Rochelle's eyes freaked out which led to a MASSIVE HEADACHE!!! We capitalized on her pain and took a taxi to the next destination (haha suckers). 

After arriving at the Golden Pavilion 20 minutes before the rest of the group, we rested on benches (unfortunately, they were located right next to the vending machines which taunted Jesse with their ice creamy goodness). Then we had a guided tour by some awesome Japanese college students (they really liked Jesse's hat, go Tigers!). The guided tours were filled with useful information followed by "that is all" and "ok". The Golden Pavilion (Austin Finney's dream home) fit well within its surroundings, the colors of the trees seemed to complement it well. That is all. Ok.

At our lunch full of "octupus beaks" and "noodles", we were confused when the waiter asked, "would you like fries with that?" We then proceeded to the Waka Waka (Women's Association of Kyoto, there seems to be some slight confusion on what they were really called) where we attended lessons on the Tea Ceremony and Ikebana (flower arranging). The Tea Ceremony was comprised of us butchering Japanese phrases, eating sweets, and drinking incredibly, ridiculously bitter green tea (but it was tasty). We had a short break and then began the Ikebana lesson. The Japanese flower arrangements have strict order and directional qualities.  Apparently since we were design students, we were all apt at arranging (though Rochelle's seemed to lack a specific direction and confused the instructors). That is all. Ok.

Left: Jesse; Center: Rochelle; Right: Amanda 

And sorry we couldn't find any good pictures of food. Maybe next time!

Sayonara!

Rochelle, Amanda and Jesse

Comments

[katie]

good job rotch, way to have a directionless arrangement! enjoying y'all's posts!

[Charlie Wetherington]

The Golden House really looked awesome! Hopefully Alicia will talk about this trip for a long time! That is all....OK! lol