January 10. 2004 01:01

Sightseeing, shopping for others

Ah, what should I write about today? Somehow my mind went blank right when I opened this document O_o; Ah, now it's slowly returning to me... Yeah.

I went to Entsuji and Shimogamo today, and then to see the Senjin no hi (Adult's Day) celebrators. The people who recommended Entsuji sure were right, it was a beautiful place, one of the best temples in Kyoto. I've never really got what "borrowed landscape" means but Entsuji made it crystal clear to me. The garden opened towards East, so that one of the mountains surrounding Kyoto could be seen behind it and looked like it was there just for the garden. You could see forest beyond the garden fence but no buildings, so it looked like it was a scene from a world far away from the city. All you could see was a vast landscape of pure nature... Ah, it was one of those places that I could spend forever in. And it was the perfect day, too, sunny and bright... *dreamy*

Shimogamo shrine was a good catch, too. It was a pretty place, especially in such a pretty weather. I happened to run into a group of people dressed in Heian period costumes, too, I don't know what they were doing at the shrine but at least there were lots of photographies taken. From the shrine shop I bought my first book that was purely about Japanese culture, not anime/manga/another subculture. It's a beautiful photo book labelled "Kyoh-en, Kyoto's Enchanting Colors". I also bought a magazine about Aoi matsuri, the festival of Shimogamo shrine, because of the pictures of historical costumes. And then I bought another one of those hanger things, a pretty golden bell ^_^

Then I went to Heian shrine for the Senjin no hi. It was... nice. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but at least I got to see a lot of girls dressed up in kimonos. Too much, I guess, the crowd kinda scared me and I couldn't enjoy it that much... But ah, the kimono were pretty anyway. It made me want to dress up in one so much... The thing actually felt very much like to graduating from high school or a celebration of similar importance in Finland. Pretty clothes and partying with friends. If only we had kimonos in Finland, I could do that too :) I really need some party where I can wear the kimono I've bought!

The rest of the day I spent shopping for souvenirs and things people have asked me to bring. The souvenirs are progressing nicely, but the "orders" turned out to be more difficult... Gamers didn't have Final Fantasy X International, so I have no idea where to ask now. I got the kogal socks to Minnamii from school, but the skirt I was supposed to get was actually more than two times as expensive as I thought, so I had to send her another e-mail to ask if she still wants it. (And, I'm not at all sure what size is right.) Then I couldn't find Gackt's Moon from the CD store downtown, but that I can probably find somewhere else, so it's not such a problem. I just hoped I could get that done. But at least I now have almost all of Hikaru no go for Akira and Aoneko and I'm convinced enough that Book-Off doesn't have Loveless, so I can go and by it from a regular bookstore the next time I go to one. Tomorrow I'll get the Copic markers for Maya. Then there's just the manga Carantaur asked for, but I don't have her e-mail so I can't ask what the exact books were ^_^;; I asked another person for her address, but if he doesn't answer, I can't get any books for her... And then there's some yaoi manga for Commander Jay, but I'm not holding my breath about finding them. Wow, that sounds like a lot ^_^;; How much work have I promised to do? Oh well, at least I can make people happy. Most of it is things I can take care of while I do things for myself, anyway... And well, if I can't find time to get something, then I guess I'll just have to be mean and break my promise.

Yaay, tomorrow we'll get back some manga! ^___^ I think the wagashi book should be ready now! :D It'll be so cool! I'm so waiting for tomorrow. But, the day after tomorrow I should have my Network Art essay done... Sigh. That course is/was such a waste of time. I'm just waiting to get rid of it... I hope I can talk to San-yun during the Media Art class tomorrow, by the way, I still have no idea what the assignment for that course is. I can't find the description of the course in the curriculum and I'd rather ask someone who talks English instead of the teacher... There hasn't even been any record of who's been sitting in the class during the lectures and who's not, so there has to be something we have to do to get the credits.

Aaa, the day after tomorrow it's kyuudo! :D :D :D Archery!!! I can't wait!! ^________^

Oh yeah, Maya (brilliantly) pointed out that not understanding silence might be a general American thing, not just a Dion thing. That must be it. I forgot about that small cultural difference... Yeah, there most probably is some truth to what people say about Finns, being the most quiet people in Europe. Well, whatever the reason, it's a bit annoying that I can't shut up for two minutes without being asked what's wrong... But cultural differences are fun. I understand a lot about how the Japanese work, but I've never thought about Americans before, or Australians. I get these sudden realizations about how the things you see in movies are actually real life, like dorm rooms and getting a driver's license at 16 and proms, and I know a person who's actually lived all that. I was surprised to hear how different movies are in America (cheap and people go there to spend time, not to watch the movie) and it's weird to think how they only have American movies in America. And Australia is on the southern side of the globe, so in winter it's hot! They might have a grill party at christmas and go to beach at new year. And they have that British tradition of kissing people at new year, too. And then I also realized that fireworks are a new year thing in Finland and I can't think of fireworks like that without snow. In Japan summer is the time for fireworks, but that somehow connects completely differently in my brain, it's not the same fireworks at all. It's all very enlightening ^_^