Hard to Wake Up

Today I woke up with Hans beating me with my own pillow which felt like it was filled with rocks. The pillows here aren't soft in the slightest. We, as in the guys, were late to check in and we rushed out the hotel to catch the train Kyoto. While we were getting bus passes for the day, we decided to get some pastries because I love donuts. I got two, but we were rushed a little because an older woman decided to get thirty thousand yen worth of pastries. We then rode the bus to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine where a priest prayed for our education (god knows some of us need it). Afterwards, I got a warm hot cocoa and was happy. We also got some pork buns which I didn't partake in, we then made our way to Kinkakuji, the golden pavilion, which is this large golden building surrounded by a beautiful landscape. Then we had lunch. We split into two groups, those who wanted Chinese and those who wanted Omuraisu or omelets with rice in them. However, I prefer to say that we divided as those who got wifi and those who didn't. I went to the Chinese restaurant and thankfully they had wifi. Next we rode the bus to the train station and went to see Torii, the shrine gates, in Fushimi Inari shrine which was cool. There were so many (a thousand) and you could donate to get one of your own from about 1,800 dollars. I also got to photo bomb a couple of Japanese girls wearing Kimono which was funny. Afterwards we had a little free time to shop at a convenience store and rode a train back to Nara where we were staying. We had dinner at a tatami banquet room. It was good and there was plenty of edamame for me to consume. At the end, Inaba sensei gave each of us these mini rice paddles from Hiroshima with our names and two meaningful Kanji characters written on them as our memories. Afterwards the guys took a quiet and pleasant bath together. The bath house was very nice. I cannot believe we are leaving Japan in two days...

Kitano Tenmangu entrance.