On Sunday, I went to the famous Fushimi Inari Taisha, a shrine dedicated to Inari, the god of rice (and business). Scattered throughout Japan are a bunch of temples dedicated to this god, but the one in Fushimi is the largest and most famous. It's beautiful. I met with Adam and Cecelia in the late morning, had lunch at a takoyaki stand right next to the train station, and then we made our way to the shrine.
The actual shrine part is fairly accessible, but the really famous part is the hike up the mountain, the trail of which is lined by torii, which are the red/orange gate-looking things in the picture above. Walking through torii after torii was pretty trippy. I don't have all that much else to say about the hike; words--aka my really out-of-practice English abilities--would not be able to properly describe the experience. I think anyone who visits Japan should go to Fushimi Inari to check it out personally.
There was this really cool, random flower growing in solitude in a space along a trail by the shrine (wow, that was too many prepositional phrases right there). Adam and I took probably far too long taking various photos at various angles. It was really neat though. Only after I returned from the shrine did I realize that the same flowers are actually growing all over the place. My observational abilities are clearly far from keen.
I was really shocked by the various animals that just pop up. As Adam said, I can see how the concept of Pokemon is fairly feasible in Japan. Rather than the normal pigeon or spider, we were greeted by a large caterpillar, some feral cats, and two MONKEYS! Yes, that's right. Wild monkeys. They came really close to us too. I was standing probably less than two feet away from a wild monkey. I think we did something to piss off one of them though; the one closest to Cecilia started freaking out and attempted to attack her. With her mad ninja skills, she managed to avoid the attack. (I'm totally playing this up because it really wasn't that dramatic. But I swear, she did almost get attacked). The monkeys were blocking our path, so we couldn't really leave. Luckily, Adam randomly had a banana in his bag, so he threw it into the forest to distract the monkeys, and then we took our leave. It was definitely an unforgettable experience.
Today I went to the calligraphy club, again. At first it was mad awkward because the person I had been in contact with was not there, and apparently never goes there (there are two campuses and, thus, two calligraphy club locations), so I had to get acquainted with a new set of people. I think Japanese students in the shodo club are far less outgoing than the ones I've been associating with up until this point, so it was a little hard to make conversation. But since everyone was pretty focused on their activities, and I eventually was too, I didn't mind too much.
I arrived there at around 4:45 pm, and at 6 pm, much to my surprise, an actual teacher came by. I was under the impression that the club was just students doing their thing, but they actually have an expert come in and teach them stuff, as well as correct their writing. He taught me a bit about basic stuff, and I proceeded to sit there, until 8 pm, practicing. I got totally absorbed in writing, and the time just flew out the window. Calligraphy is so interesting. And really, really calming. It's nice to have some time to clear my thoughts.
Because I was at the club so late, I missed my potential second BlazBlue tournament in Japan. But I hadn't practiced much, and the calligraphy club only meets once a week, so it sat at a much higher priority than the arcade. Actually, I went to the arcade on Tuesday anyway... I played a couple different fighting games to check it out, but BlazBlue definitely still remains my favorite. Nate heard/read/somehow obtained the information that Melty Blood is also a really good game, so I tried it out, and it's pretty fun. It's very beginner-friendly. Fighting games are the best!
I'm off to Okayama for a school trip tomorrow, and the bus ride there is five hours, which is why I'm awake writing rather than sleeping. I'll be able to catch up on sleep during the ride there. Okayama's in Japan's countryside, so it's supposed to be extremely beautiful. I'm excited!!
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