First Day in Kyoto: Link BBQ

I arrived at Kyoto station at 7am in the morning. It was so terribly early. I figured that it would be better to just get up and deal with being tired all day rather than finding a place to sleep. I grabbed my stuff and headed up to the big steps in Kyoto station to eat breakfast. I would have gotten Mister Donut for breakfast, but apparently they don't open until 9. That is not breakfast time... I had a granola bar and the rest of my water. On the steps there were a bunch of college students who were stetting up camp to watch some sort of show later in the day. I sent everyone an email saying that I had arrived, but figured that they would not be awake until later. I decided to see what was around the station.

I first went to the only temple on the south side of the station, Toji. It was only a little bit of a walk and I got to follow some middle school students all the way there. I only found out later that there were a bunch of students in Kyoto on a school trip. Why didn't we go on any sweet trips like that when I was in school? Oh wait... We went to Chicago... It doesn't feel the same though ^_^

Anywho, I paid the full price to see the temple grounds, treasure museum, and special exhibit that they had going on. The 5 story pagooda is the largest one in Japan, but the general public is not allowed to go inside. All well. The grounds were actually really nice. There were a couple ponds and park-like areas. You were also allowed to go into two of the "normal" temples to see the statues inside. I listened in on an explanation that a priest was giving to the visiting students. The museums was not worth it, but I did manage to kill a couple of hours. Finally, there was this really cool house that I got a personal tour of!! The guy working there was really nice and tried his best to use vocabulary that I knew. He explained about each room and the gardens that were outside. I should invest in personal tours more often, especially if they are free!!!

Ayana gave me a call as I was watching the Koi in the nearby pond. We talked a bit and planned to meet at the station a little before 11. As it was 10 already, I figured I should head back and explore along the way. Sadly I did not find anything interesting.

I met up with Ayana and gave a big Hisashiburi hug. College kids are nice because they don't cringe when you hug them. We decided to grab lunch at a nearby noodle place and catch up a bit. Ayana has been busy with work and school since returning from Spring Break. She is working two jobs; a bakery and at Tsutaya (video store), as well as studying medicine. We caught up on what had happened the past month. She gave me directions to the BBQ and gave me her commuter pass. We parted ways and I hopped on the train for the hour long commute to the middle of nowhere. Ayana's teiki took me all the way to the station before I needed to get off. It is normally a 480 yen fee but only cost me 180! Thanks Aya-chan!

When I got off the train I spotted a bunch of people standing outside the ticket gates talking. The problem was I did not recognize any of them. I figured what the hell Kyoto people are nice and just started talking to them. I listed off some names of people I knew and just saw blank faces staring back at me. I got even more stares when I said that I attended Waseda. I gave my friends an email and they said they were at the BBQ already. Little had I known, it already started. I stood around looking confused for a while when a girl came up and asked if I was Jon! Yes! I found someone at last! Apparently most of the people standing around were from a different club at a different college. The people that I wanted to see had already left and started up the grills.

We gathered a few other people and headed to the BBQ. It was about a 20 minute walk to the side of this large river. Amazingly, the river had a beach with a ton of people on it. To get down there we had to climb this amazingly dangerous hill full of plants, rocks, and dirt. Of course, I was the only one that lost my balance.... As soon as I got on the beach, Takuro found me. Now we are getting somewhere! The BBQ was set up so that there were 10 or so stations with people huddled around them. Everyone choose a number at random and was placed at that particular station. A good mixer. Since I was a guest, I went with Takuro and was introduced to BBQ 7, my new home for the day. The BBQ was just a couple of cinder blocks with a rack on top and coals placed underneath. I introduced myself in English and got the usual "!!HHEEEEE?!?!??" when I mentioned that I went to Waseda. Yeah, it is that popular.

It is a good thing Ayana suggested we eat lunch before I went to the BBQ because I ended up not eating much. I spend most of the time socializing with people who I had never met before and will probably never meet again. It is alright though because I got to use my Japanese skills. I stayed at the BBQ until it ended. We had a final walk down the beach to pick up the trash and then formed groups to go to various after parties. I went with Keisuke and Takuro to go bowling. Just then, Shoko showed up! She went flower viewing with her mother this morning and could not attend the BBQ. It is so nice seeing all my Kyoto friends again!

We got a group of about 20 for bowling. There were not enough lanes for everyone so some people just watched. Bowling was not as fun as it was last time. Mostly because I did not know a lot of the people that were there. Last time I could socialize with everyone. I bowled my game and talked with Shoko, Keisuke, and Takuro between turns. We decided to leave after the first game was over and grab some food.

We went to the local family restaurant and ate.

After that we returned to Takuro's apartment. It was only 4 of us at first, but more people started showing up until we ended up with 10. Among those were Ayana, Tan, Yuko, Hiro, and a couple others. We spent the night playing various drinking games and conversing. The last game we played involved putting a "base" in a large cup and floating a shotglass in it. We then went around in a circle pouring something else in the shotglass. The person who sinks it has to drink it. It was fun and all, but Yuko was sitting beside me and had already had too much to drink. I felt compelled to save her from drinking more so I sunk the glass on purpose and blamed my own drunken-ness. She was thankful.

We made a couple of snack runs during the night but eventually all passed out on the floor. Takuro had a ton of futons so we just laid them all out on the ground and made a giant bed for all of us. Yuko, Ayana, and Tan ended up staying because they missed their last train. I slept really good that night.