Kyoto

Today started off with snow! When Kana and I headed to the train station at 7 this morning, it was snowing! On our way there, we passed through several cities that had a solid white layer on the ground and on houses. I certainly didn't expect to see that here! We took the super-express train, so it only took about 40 minutes to get to Kyoto, which Kana said normally takes almost 2 hours to drive. We went to several temples and shrines today, and I got more souvenirs. ;) We went to The Golden Pavilion (Rokuon-Ji Temple) - breathtaking! It had snowed there, too, which made it a very memorable experience. Our next stop was Nijo Castle, which was huge! Very elaborate paintings on the walls and ceilings, and I learned a lot about shoguns and the emperor and such. I tried some asosake (non-alcoholic Sake), and it was served warm. It tasted a little like sweet soy sauce. We ate Japanese curry for lunch, which was fabulous. It was nice to get a break from seafood. ;) We went to Kodai-ji Temple, and got to see some artifacts and buildings that are rarely opened to the public, so that was cool. Our last stop was Kiyomizu-Dera Temple, where there's a huge wooden structure built without nails. Pretty impressive!

It was cold out today (even for a ND girl), so we stopped at several souvenir shops en route to warm up. I got tabi socks (with a separate part for your big toe), candy, a Japanese doll, and postcards. I also got to taste several Japanese sweets. I don't know what the names are (Kana told me, but I didn't write them down), but I liked most of them. There was one that was like a dense, moist pancake that had a filling in it. It reminded me of "gushers" a little bit. My favorite flavor was strawberry, but they had matcha (green tea), chocolate, sweet bean, sweet potato, and more. I also tasted flavored soy beans - I didn't know I'd like them so much! Also another sweet made out of rice that had an unusual texture - like a grainy gummy bear. Oh, and their cinnamon cookies are delicious! We ate supper in Nagoya on our way home, and we had something that was made of shredded cabbage and egg mixed together and cooked like a pancake (much thicker), with pork slices (essentially bacon) on top, served with mayo mixed with a brown teriaki-like sauce. Delicious!

The Japanese are very superstitious - you can buy charms and go to shrines for everything - to find a good partner (I certainly didn't need that one ;), academics, success in your business, health, wealth, etc. If you see a taxi cab with a 4-leaf clover, it's good luck, and if you get a bad fortune (available all over the place), you tie it to a tree because you don't want to take it with you. It broke my heart to see so many people praying to and worshiping all these gods/idols, knowing that they don't know the one true God who is Lord of all. I pray that all God's children be beacons of Light in this dark world.