Back in Japan!

Hello everyone! 

I’m still alive!! It’s been such a long time since I posted. And now, fortunately, I’m returning to Japan in 2 days (for only 2 weeks though).

I’ll be going back to lovely Kyoto again ❤ 

 

I’m back in Frankfurt <3

I’m baaaaaack! ❤ ❤ ❤

It’s been almost 1 week since I landed in Frankfurt ❤

My last day in Japan

Thanks to the wonderful K., I could spend my last day in Japan eating Matcha Kakigōri, drinking real Matcha tea, ordering Thai take-out and enjoying my last hours in Kyōto 🙂 

Hello Kitty airplane – only in Japan 😀

Back in Frankfurt :))

Beside the obvious (seeing family/friends), I was so excited to go to a bakery, to my favorite drugstore (DM), I was sooo excited to see all these fresh and delicious berries in the supermarkets, this huge variety of vegetables, fruits and international food…

Here are a few observations after spending half a year in Japan:

What I miss:

– indeed, many people in Germany (especially regarding service), are a little impolite and rude… compared to Japan

– the toilets in Germany are taller than in Japan 😀 And cold… so cold! No heated toilet seats anymore 😦 

– I really miss those little trays in shops where you put your money. It’s so convenient and I miss it because now I don’t know where to put my money 😀

– going to a restaurant in Germany is so expensive – because you have to order a drink, and usually they are pretty expensive compared to the food

– I also miss those little washcloths 御絞り you always get in a restaurant before your meal to clean your hands

What I don’t miss so much:

– the Japanese interpretation of bread rolls, croissant and other Western baked goods. They somehow always taste too sweet. And usually they are way too soft 😀

– Even though I spent almost 22 years of my life in Germany and should be used to it, it was a little shocking to see bikes parked all over the city, everywhere. Kyōto is so strict regarding the parking of your bike, but I’m very happy being back in Germany where you can park your bike everywhere 🙂

Goodbye Japan. さようなら、京都。

Tomorrow morning I will move out of my dormitory! Wow, time went by sooooo fast. 

I will fly back to Frankfurt on Wednesday morning (August 19th.)!

Even after I come back to Germany, there will still be quite a few posts, like reviews on my time here in Japan, differences Germany/Japan, reverse cultural shock (maybe?)… etc. 🙂 Please stay tuned! 

The last days have been a little bittersweet 😦 Though I’m really looking forward to coming back to Germany as I miss my family & friends so much, every farewell means that you have to say goodbye to people. I met some amazingly sweet people that I really came to love ❤ Thank you all so much for making my time so wonderful. My special thank to K., L., R., Y. ❤

So far I can say: I loved my stay in Japan. 101%. It was such a wonderful time and experience, I’m at a loss for words.

Thank you Japan, thank you for your incredibly hospitality お持て成し. Thank you Dōshisha University 同志社大学 and their lovely teachers for helping me improve my Japanese and always being so kind and understanding. Thank you to all those people who helped me so much, especially in the beginning. Thank you K. for always helping me through Japanese bureaucracy.

Thank you to Kyōto 京都, the most beautiful city in the world.

皆さん、ありがとうございました。いっぱい友達をできたありがとう。いつも手伝ってくれたありがとう。いつも私のことを心配してくれたありがとう。皆さん、いろいろお世話になりました。

さようなら、京都。

  

The golden Temple & last days in Japan 金閣寺

I can’t believe it… but I only have THREE more days left in Japan! I can’t believe I’ve been here for 5 months now. When I think about all the different things I did in Japan, yes, it really was a long stay. But on the other hand, time flew! I’ve already packed most of my stuff and I’m cleaning my apartment right now… (not literally though haha).

❀ I will dedicate one whole post on my best memories and thanks to people in the next days or so. ❀

But for now, lets talk about the famous golden temple in Kyōto! I think when you see a picture about Japan, most likely it’s either Fuji-san or Kinkakuji 金閣寺, the golden temple. When I first came to Kyōto (it was also my fist time in Japan ever), I didn’t really know too much about the famous spots in Kyōto. So I mixed up Kinkakuji 金閣寺 and Ginkakuji 銀閣寺 – because they sound very similar, but are very different 🙂 I already made a whole post on Ginkakuji, so if you want to read more about it/compare, please click here. 

Kinkakuji is actually a little far away, so we took the bus and it was about 30 minutes to get to Kinkakuji. As today is saturday and a public Japanese holiday (O-bon) and holidays almost all over the world, it was crowded. But actually I thought it would be worse 😉 The entry fee is only 400¥ (Kinkakuji is 100¥ more), but of course you have to add the costs of the bus ticket (230¥/way). Why I’m emphasizing the bus ticket as well is because there is not much else to do there. Pretty much you go to Kinkakuji, take pictures, and leave because 1st it’s very crowded and 2nd there’s not much else to see 🙂 

I have always admired the golden temple from pictures, and I took a deep breath when I saw the real Kinkakuji today. It really has it’s own magic because it is covered in gold. It looks really beautiful in every season. I would love to come back in autumn/winter! 

  

❀

Cutest cat-café 一番可愛いな猫カフェ

It was my second time today to visit a cat-cafe (Nekokaigi 猫会議, lit. “cat-meeting/conference :D) in Kyōto. This one is a little harder to find, a little cheaper (900¥/hour), and a little better in my opinion :))

Their website suggested to visit on weekdays by 5pm, so I went there around this time. There were only 4 other customers (2 men! :D), and a lot of cats (about 13). 

The whole atmosphere was very relaxing and good and I really felt like the cats have a very good life there. 

As always, customers have to wash their hands before and have to be gentle to the cats. That’s what they tell you… Then I was really surprised by the other customers who patted the cats really strong. It was pretty loud and sounded how you would pat a dog. But somehow the cats seemed to really, really enjoyed it 😀

One employee came to me and told me that the cats there love to be patted pretty strong. So I did it as well (which was a little weird in the beginning, because my kitty back home does not like it). But as I was patting the cat, she lay down onto my legs. When I stopped patting her, she got fussy and wangled her tail (which is a sign of discontent or fussiness). As soon as I started to pat her again, she was happy 😀 

It was a wonderful hour. I highly recommend this place and will go there again as long as I’m in Kyoto!

 ❀

This cute kitty was sitting on the table next to the ‘bureau’ of the employees, watching them and watching the customers and the other cats 🙂

  
If you are wondering why Moka is the only cat wearing clothes, I was wondering as well. I checked their website and there it says that Moka has a lot of allergies and is constantly licking herself. To prevent her from doing so, she is wearing clothes. She doesn’t seem to mind, even though her way of walking is a little clumsy :))  
  

   
Tampopo たんぽぽ means dandelion in English 🙂 Such an adorable name :))
  
I was so lucky because during my visit it was dinner time for the cats 🙂 Look how neatly they lined up 😀  
    
Flat kitty-bum-bums, ready to be patted 😀  
  
    
Onsen-kitty :))

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Thunderstorms in Kyōto 京都の雷

Recently tree have been quite a few thunderstorms in Kyōto. It’s no wonder because of the insane heat (please, do yourself a favor and never come to Kyōto in August!). 

The sky in Kyōto itself is beautiful every evening with a huge variety of stunning colors. But it gets extra fascinating when there is a thunderstorm…

  

Crazy how the lightening was so strong that the upper part of the photo is nearly 100% white… 

  
  
  

The famous Bamboo Grove in Arashiyama 嵐山

Hello everybody!

Yesterday, on Sunday, my Japanese friend and I finally got to spend some time together. Unfortunately the summer in Kyōto is (as I said many times before) no joke. It’s so hot that you just want to stay inside an air-conditioned room all day. If you go out you will be soaking wet after 5 minutes…

So we decided to visit Arashiyama 嵐山 in late afternoon. It takes a while to get there (about 30-40 minutes from downtown), so when we got there it was already past 5 pm. It still was very hot. In Arashiyama there is the Katsura and Hozu River, which allows some airflow and therefore it is a little more cooler there than e.g. in the bamboo grove.

We didn’t spend that much time there, because of the hot weather and endless mosquitoes in the bamboo grove 😀

But I really, really, really want to come here again in autumn someday. Arashiyama is very famous for their beautiful fall color season!

   
  
  
  

This is what the seats in the tram to Arashiyama looked like. I’m pretty sure they represent various Japanese traditional festivals such as ‘Hinamatsuri’ or ‘Kodomo no hi’.

Wearing traditional Japanese Yukata 浴衣 <3

Exams are over! ❤ It was pretty intense. But it’s over, which leaves me 3 more weeks in Japan until I come back to Germany! I can’t believe how fast time has gone by…

❀ First time wearing a Yukata ❀ 

On Saturday I attended an event hosted by the international circle of my university. We met in the morning to put on the Yukata. We also did each others hair,  because you are supposed to wear your hair up when wearing a Yukata (and actually no one minds, because it is that hot that you really want your hair up as high as possible 😀 )

❀ What is a Yukata 浴衣? ❀

A Yukata 浴衣 is a light, summer Kimono 夏の着物 and can be worn by males and females as well (but they are different). Putting on a Yukata is not as difficult as putting on a Kimono, but still it requires some knowledge and practice. Yukatas come in various colors and designs, and you can dress it up as much as you like (from flower arrangements in your hair to various ornaments). It is worn with an Obi 帯, which is usually tied into a ribbon in the back and Geta 下駄  (traditional Japanese wooden sandals. But if you don’t have those, just wear regular sandals 😉 Just don’t put on sneakers haha 😀 ). Compared to a Kimono, Yukata are not as complex and much more simple and light, but still very beautiful.

When I first came to Japan I was a little confused about how many people wear a Yukata. On the summer festivals nearly everybody wears a Yukata, which is not that strange because you would expect that. But especially on the weekends you can see many people strolling through Gion 祇園 (the traditional part of Kyōto) and even in regular shops and malls you see a lot of people wearing a Yukata. The most funny thing is when Japanese people are wearing a Yukata, but are still doing the ‘modern’ stuff like taking Purikura プリクラ etc. That is a very fascinating fusion of tradition and modernity in my opinion but I like it! 🙂

❀

So… on Saturday we went out wearing a Yukata. We were a group of 11 people (2 men, 9 women, 5 Japanese, 5 Chinese, 1 German 😛 ). Unfortunately the weather was extremely hot and muggy (as it is everyday haha) and the Yukata is worn pretty tight. But that’s the Kyōto-summer 😉

We went to Gion to eat some Kakigōri かき氷 (shaved ice), which is very popular during the hot summer in Kyōto. As we were walking, a camera team from Fuji Television stopped and just started filming (without even asking for permission :D). The interviewer asked me various questions in Japanese like: “Is it your first time wearing a Yukata?” (Yes it is.), “How does the Japanese summer feel?” (It’s hot.), “Do you wear sunscreen?” (Yes I do wear sunscreen.), “Are you afraid of getting a tan?” (No, I’m not afraid of getting a tan). Then they filmed me from head to toes, and just followed us a while… 😀 Later I asked my Japanese friends, and apparently it is a very popular show called Mr. サンデー (Mr. Sunday) which airs every sunday evening. I should watch that show from now on 😀

Edit: I found the show online. They said it actually was 41°C that day in Kyōto… And well, you can see us for very few seconds (around minute 4) 😀

http://newskeimatomedouga.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-34870.html

Because Gion is the traditional district of Kyōto it is always packed with tourists (especially Chinese :D). Some Chinese men came up to me, just stood next to me and took a selfie – without even asking 😀 😀 😀 It was kind of a déjà-vu of what I experienced in Vietnam (where Chinese people just wanted to take a picture with me, because I look so different). I don’t mind it if they ask, but just (more or less) secretly taking pictures of someone without consent is not so nice in my opinion. But the Chinese girls who went with us were so sweet and one even apologized for her fellow countrymen :D* But still, it was kind of amusing and I get the point, because blonde hair and a traditional Japanese outfit are kind of interesting 😀 

*(Disclaimer: Even though these were Chinese people I do not want to generalize and do not mean to say that all Chinese people are like that. As I said, the Chinese girls that went with us were super sweet 🙂 )

Then we went to a traditional Japanese cafe where you sit on a cushion on the floor, where we finally got our delicious and beautiful looking Kakigōri ❤ It was a little difficult because first I’m unfamiliar with and not used to sitting straight up on the floor for too long and second it was pretty difficult while wearing a tight Yukata. 

After that we all went to take Purikura! (That’s the mixture of tradition and modernity that is so fascinating!)

❀

 I really, really loved this experience and I’m so thankful for all these nice people who took their time in helping us wear a Yukata (and provided one for us) and showed us so many beautiful things!

皆さん、本当にどうもありがとうございました！幸せでした！ 

❀

 

 (Video edited by Haruna Yamada)

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Exam hell 試験地獄

I will write a blogpost tomorrow, because I have no time to write it now as I’m in the middle of 試験地獄 (exam hell). 7 are done, tomorrow I have the last 2 ones, which – unfortunately – are the hardest. 

Here is a little teaser for the next blogpost…