Uda, Nara

written on 20/03/09, posted now cause I didnt have internet!

So its been now 3 weeks since the day I left home and embarked for this adventure.. We are now in our second city of the tour.. Ever since the students came, my days have been fun and busy! I love my job! I get to hang out with 20 amazing people, organizing games, discussions and country presentations and I get to participate with them to all the cultural activities!
Last week in Suita has been more than amazing.. We were cooperating with local students from the Kansai University who organized many activities and it was so much fun.. We went to the university and did cultural activities, with the students. We could choose between sumo, japanese sword and traditional musical instruments.. I learned how to play an easy song in Koto and in Shamisen and after I had lunch and interesting conversations with japanese students. They are such sweet persons.. The girls are incredibly cute, with their unique fashion style.. the boys are shy but also very stylish! In the afternoon we went bowling with them and the next day we visited the museum of ethnology and saw an extremely interesting exhibition on the green tea ceremony. The whole museum was fascinating, it had items from all over the world, but we didnt have time to see all of it, it would take at least 3 days.
My free day was also fun, went to the zoo with other people and I saw animals i had never seen before! Many different kinds of “big cats”, a beautiful Bengal tiger, pumas, leopards, fishing cats, leopard cats (normal size with leopard fur, weird!), and other kinds that I forget.. we also saw lesser pandas, they are the cutest little things.. and koalas!! you have to love the koalas.. After going up to the Tsutenkaku tower and getting the overview of the city (i love doing that in every place I visit) we had traditional japanese meal and walked around namba before going to a cool place that represented the way osaka was in the old days. I cant really describe it but it was a big building and when you went in it felt like you went back in time.. narrow streets and buildings made of stones, traditional japanese houses and shops all over..it was magic! we went to a shop where you could make your own takoyaki (octopus balls), hours of fun.. in the evening we went for karaoke, japanese people looove karaoke! That day was so much fun, one of the best in my whole life, i ll never forget it. Full of new experiences, nice conversations, great food and karaoke!

And then we moved to Uda, Nara prefecture, after a quick stop in beautiful Kyoto (my absolute favorite city). but, I really cant wait for this week to be over.. even though Uda is up on the mountains, theres rivers and forests and beautiful views.. My host family lives outside of Uda, high up in the mountains, in the middle of nowhere. its beautiful and green up here, but it doesnt make up for the fact that the house is a mess! i feel very uncomfortable most of the time.. theres always bugs around, the house is huge but old and soooo dirty..i wonder what my host mum does all day at home, cause she obviously isnt cleaning. there are spider webs in the kitchen, right above the sink and next to the fridge, (hope that gives you an idea of how dirty it is..) the toilet is a hole on the floor, no such luxury as flushing, just like the old days... lovely isnt it? and eeeverything is dusty and dirty.. I was appalled at first, now im just waiting for the days to pass.. I dont want to be that sensitive, since I love traveling and I know that traveling involves situations like this, but I cant help it.. apart from that though, I love the city, the japanese country side is so beautiful, and the host family is just lovely. Two older people, so funny and happy and talkative.. they are so sweet and they both have funny cartoon faces, which makes me want to laugh every time i look a them, in a good way. the man is very arty.. he won a competition and went to France to exhibit his work. I saw some of his artworks and they are amazing.. the man has talent!
today we went down to Nara, the capital of the Nara prefecture and that was a lot of fun.. visited a couple of temples and shrines and saw the biggest Bhudda in Japan at the Todaiji temple. Its the biggest bronze statue in the world, 15 meters tall, made in 752 A.C. 2.6m people around japan worked to make it. impressive isn't it?

2 more days here and then we move on to Tokyo.. After 3 free days, the second session of this program begins and new students come, while some students will leave us.. In the new session we have a Turkish guy and we have a Mexican too, so it should be interesting!

I cant wait for Tokyo!