Kyoto & Kimonos

Well, I think the weather has finally decided that it is fall, or autumn, whichever word you prefer.  I for one am not terribly thrilled about it...Yeah, at first fall is sort of nice because the air is clear and crisp.  Then, it gets cold, and it becomes apparent that it is only going to get colder from here on out since winter is right around the corner.  I am SO not excited about that.  Not excited is a bit of an understatement actually...

Today, for example, the sun never really came out and it was a brief taste of what it is like all winter long.  It certainly wasn't freezing, but it was cold.  I do realize that I am the only person in the world who feels this way though, and heard the students cursing me in Japanese as I went around shutting windows where the cold wind was coming in!!

Oh well.  I suppose I will just dig my sweaters out a bit earlier and see if I can't put off wearing long underwear for another couple weeks.  I am doing my best to prepare myself clothing wise for another frigid winter.  Tonight, the cozy long sweater and imitation Ugg boots I ordered came in!  Our apartment has (fake) wood floors, so there is no question of ruining them by wearing slippers indoors.  I also am fairly certain that this apartment will stay a bit warmer than my old rickety one!!

Anyways...enough of that, I will just think warm thoughts...

So last weekend Bryn and I caught a train on Friday night to the city.  Clodagh, another AET in the area was on the same train, so we had a good time chatting away with her and really pissing off the guy across from us!!  We stayed at one of our usual hotels in Kyoto and started the next morning with Starbucks by the river (which frankly is how I think every Saturday, or better yet every DAY should start!!)

After coffee, we did some window shopping before grabbing lunch at TGI Fridays.  I can't remember if we have mentioned it on here yet or not, but Kyoto has a Fridays that is EXACTLY like one in the states!!  We discovered it a few weeks ago and are determined to eat everything on the menu that doesn't include cheese or tomato.  Since it was only lunch time and we had a long day of wandering around ahead of us, we decided to split a full rack of ribs (yuuuuum) and some onion rings (yummm).  It was a very satisfying meal, which Bryn washed down with a Budweiser, and me a cranberry juice (don't judge me...you can't get cranberry juice anywhere near where I live!)

We stocked up on some English books before catching a train to Osaka to check into our hotel for Saturday night.  Once that was done, we set off for the next stop on the train line, Nishinomiya Gardens.  It is a huge, western style shopping mall.  We wandered around there for a while and ran into our friend Katie who lives in Kobe (Bryn went to university with her).  We had dinner with her and her boyfriend which was a lot of fun.  After that we decided to head back to the hotel and call it an early night since we were getting up bright and early the next morning...

We hadn't planned to get up bright and early on Sunday morning, however Shinobu had called me the day before to tell me that she had an extra pass to the Amanohashidate Kimono Festival on Sunday.  I have gone to the festival every year and really enjoy it, but had no idea when it was this year.  I didn't want to miss the chance so we rushed back.

Once we made it home, I quickly tried to remember how to put on a kimono.  The obi was a bit tricky since I hadn't done it in about a year, but I managed.  It was a gorgeous day, and I had a nice time with Shinobu and her friends.

Our group (Shinobu is standing next to me in the gold kimono - she dyed it and sewed it herself!!)

Toru and Kana were there with their little girl Kaede selling their chirimen things

Me and my frined Ai

This week has been busy, busy.  There is a recitation contest coming up that Bryn and I both have students participating in, so we are busy helping them learn how to pronounce words like "efficient reutilization".  I tell you...whoever the idiot was who picked out the scripts...I'd like to kick him.  I will be VERY glad when that is over.  I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend for sure!