2. Day Trip to Nara

Nara lies about an hour South of Kyoto by train, and was the capital city of Japan from 710-794AD. Because of its historical significance, and because it's a lot smaller and more manageable than Kyoto or Osaka, it makes for a perfect day trip. When I decided that I wanted to visit Nara I actually had no idea about any of its history or important sites. It had been at the top of my to-do list for a long long time for another reason....

Nara also happens to be home to over 1200 wild (but very friendly and very very greedy) sika deer. They are free to roam about the park, the streets and even in some of the temples - we stumbled upon a little musical festival going on and it was very surreal to see wild deer casually weaving through the crowd. You can buy special "deer cookies" from street vendors to feed them; I chose to visit Nara on my birthday which meant I had an excuse to buy about 50 cookies and spend a long time running around with excitement. I absolutely loved this bit of the day, it felt really special to be able to get so close to a wild animal without the animal being trapped or forced into it (just coerced with a lot of food...). Deers are considered sacred messengers in Shintō belief, and today they have 'national treasure' status in Nara. You can tell that some of the shop owners don't consider the ones wandering into their shops a treasure, but all in all I think the animals have a pretty sweet deal here.

The deer are also known for being able to "bow" back to a human when they want food, so that provided a lot of entertainment. I did Google afterwards and apparently the bowing motion is normally to assert dominance or prepare to headbutt.. I'm not sure whether this is what the deer in Nara were saying or if they've just learnt how to please us silly humans to get what they want. Either way, it was really lovely and exactly how I wanted to spend my 21st.

After walking through the park for a while we found Tōdai-ji temple, which is famous for housing an absolutely HUGE statue of the Buddha (Daibutsu/大仏殿). Apparently it's 15 metres tall and weighs around 500 tonnes. I wish I had a photo which could do any sort of of justice to this incredible statue but it really is something that you have to see in person to appreciate. Even though I'm not religious, I still get that strong sense of *I don't quite know what* when I'm at a really impressive religious site and I can totally understand why something like this would have meant/still means so much to people. Inside the building, one of the pillars has a hole in it which is only just big enough for a human to crawl through. It looked terrifying and claustrophobic so I didn't do it, but apparently it's 'exactly the same size as one of the Great Buddha's nostrils' and if you can crawl through then you're guaranteed enlightenment (...), so I guess I'll have to go back!  

Anyway, Tōdai-ji itself was absolutely gorgeous. I like the little gold horns on top of the main building, which are a very Chinese influence. I particularly loved the statue of Binzuru Sonja which sat outside - if you have an illness or injury then the custom is to rub that part of his body and then your own for healing. He wears a red raincoat and I can't find out why online... I assume to protect him from the wind and rain? Either way, it gives him a lot of character.

Going to Tōdai-ji has made me really want to learn more about religion in Japan. There are so many little details in all the temples and shrines that I wish I understood and knew the background behind so that I could fully appreciate them. Hopefully I'll get to do at least one module about it this term and can go a bit more into depth about some of the things I'm seeing. There were a few more bits that we got up to on my birthday, but rather than rambling for too long I think I'll just leave with this photo of the amaaaazing ramen we ate for dinner:

1. Arriving in Japan

So for any of you that don't already know (unlikely, since I've talked about little else for the past few months), I've just moved to Japan for the year to study at Doshisha University in Kyoto. As someone who has never been outside of Europe, can't speak the language and has no experience of the country other than what I've seen on TV, it's pretty damn weird and terrifying. But it's also beautiful and exciting and exactly where I've wanted to be for a long time now. It's been almost a week and my phone is already full of notes about things to tell people back home, so I figured a blog was a good way to keep anyone who's interested up to date on what's happening over here.

Since I've spent most of my time so far settling in and getting registered everywhere, I thought I'd start with some bits of everyday life here that I've found interesting.

1. The wildlife. Both good and bad. I've seen huge butterflies and dragonflies, koi fish, turtles, a Shiba inu and very importantly lots and lots of deer <3 However there's also the mosquitoes, the huge spiders on every single corner, SNAKES and the Japanese hornets (Google them and you'll understand why that is so terrifying).

2. The STAIRS. Oh the stairs. Being used to England, where escalators are abundant and disabled access is rightfully an important issue, I actually feel like a hero every time I make it to the top by foot. The stations are killer and I live on the 5th floor of my building, which of course has no lift.

3. The clothing. I absolutely love how most Japanese people here dress, it's so elegant and pretty. But I didn't realise before coming that as a general rule Japanese girls don't expose their shoulders, and don't wear any tops that would even remotely suggest you had a bust. I am very conscious of standing out on the trains at 5"8 and wearing a strappy top because I can't handle the humidity. Also, I spent the first week wearing t-shirts with leggings until someone pointed out that they are considered underwear rather than trousers here. Very glad I didn't spend a whole year doing that.

4. The food prices. Eating out is so cheap here!!! I had the best ramen of my life the other day and it only cost 700 yen, about a fiver. The downside is that supermarkets are really expensive, especially fruit and veg, but I guess that's just an excuse to eat out more.

5. The weird mix of old and new. You can see it physically - there are huge grey office buildings and wiring everywhere, but they're littered with shrines and temples and rice fields and old wooden houses. It's a really amazing contrast. Japan so far also seems to be a mix of super efficient/modern in some ways and SO DISORGANISED in others, but more on that another time.

6. The cars. This is kind of random, but I didn't realise that they drive different cars here and every day I'm so confused and entertained by it. Most people drive something called a Kei car, which I think uses space more efficiently (very Japan) and somehow has basically... no bonnet. Here's what they look like:

I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that I actually live here, it's the craziest weirdest thing and I don't think it's quite settled in yet. But I'm super excited to explore more of the city and meet some more people. Hopefully I'll manage to succeed in keeping this updated with anything new and exciting :)