2012年9月19日 16:10
Suiyobi.
I've only been here for five days, but it surely seems like the day when the taxi first left us in front of Tondaya was a really long time ago. Every day, there was something new and exciting, and even an ordinary trip to the supermarket is somewhat of an event for me.
I have to say that I'm really in love with the Japanese way of doing things. The way they pay so much attention to every single detail, the way they so thoroughly plan everything ahead of time, the way they are so wonderfully concerned about the well-being of others. Everybody here has been treating me so nicely, from the (and I feel that I can't emphasize this enough) truly amazing people at Tondaya and AIESEC to the people in stores and shops, so polite, friendly and eager to help that it makes me feel so welcome, even if we can't understand each other completely.
I will not be talking about my work at Tondaya just yet, as I'm still getting accustomed to the way everything is done. Even though I'm trying to take notes about every little thing, I can't help but make a small (or not-so-small) mistakes that turn my face to a really deep shade of red and leave me mumbling apologies. I really hope these unfortunate 'events' will be less frequent soon enough.
As for my life after 6 o'clock... Well, first of all, I'm still a little shocked to see how soon it gets dark around here. At 6:30, it's already pitch black, which is about two hours sooner than back home, as I recall it. This is probably due to the fact that we have Daylight Saving Time in Romania, but it's still a little bit frustrating not to be able to wander among the streets when it's so dark. I'll probably be staying inside during most evenings, which will do wonders for my level of Japanese, as I'll have more time to study. As little as I could explore the area around Tondaya, I could see a lot of beautifully preserved buildings, interposed between more modern ones, but in a way that wasn't unpleasant to the eye.
One truly exotic thing I've experienced was an evening spent with the guys from AIESEC (or, as they call it here, Aisekku) at a yakinikuya. I don't have pictures, but the whole thing was really interesting for me. In the middle of the table, we had a fire with burning coal, so we picked the types of meat we preferred and grilled them ourselves (well, the one guy at the table got to do most of the grilling) and ate them with various sides and condiments. I wouldn't say I'd think of the whole experience as something traditionally Japanese, but it was great fun, hearing all the waiters shout out loud whenever a customer was entering or leaving the place, watching the meat sizzle on the grill and laughing a lot, because I couldn't read or understand most things on the menu (e.g karipisu. It's a refreshing drink, very popular in Japan, as I've been told. I can see why the others like it, it's great.)
Anyways, I'm sorry for the long post. I'll try to keep it shorter from now on.
Thanks for bearing with me so far. I'll keep you updated with my adventures in Kyoto.