Japan part 2

Okay first off lets start with the videos I was trying to upload yesterday. They are finally up so here you go.

okay so day 4 we traveled from Tokyo to Kyoto. We left early and took a bullet train to get there. We got to Kyoto in just over 2 hours. Here are some pictures from the train.

As we were on the train I got to thinking. Not just about my time in Japan but also my time here in Korea. I realized that when I finally return to the States I am really going to have a hard time going back to American culture. Reverse culture shock if you will. I will have to get used to eating American food again which I am almost 90% sure will make me sick for awhile. The life style is going to be different. I won't be able to just hope on a train or bus, but most likely I will have to drive. But this isn't what worries me. I will get used to my life back home in these realms fairly easily compared to what my actual worry it.  My biggest worry about returning home is not feeling at home at all. It is funny I grew up in American and I love America, but living in another country, an Asian country I have realized how Asian I really am. I have remembered that I have told my friends that I know what it is like to grow up Asian, but I don't know what it is like to be Asian.  I finally have gotten a taste of it and in a lot of ways I feel at home here in Asia. I know that when my mom reads this it is going to hurt her, because I know she wants me home as soon as possible.  (Don't worry mom I will come home. I won't live here forever.) Things that my friends back home didn't understand about me is something I don't have to deal with here.  A lot of it that people criticized me for back home or found weird about me was things that in Asian culture are no big deal.  Back home I dealt with it or made fun of it saying "yeah I know I'm weird," but in reality it is just something that people who aren't like me may never understand.  I really am a multiracial person and finding where I fit in, in the world has been one of the hardest things for me. Yes I can hang out with my Latino friends and be just fine, but I also had a lot of Asian friends and I am able to hang out with them too. Many of my Latino friends used to tease me about having so many Asian friends and via a verse, but the funny thing is I never tried to make friends in either groups it just happened. These thoughts made me almost cry as I sat on the train to Kyoto.  This all started because I thought about how my grandma must have felt when coming to the States. I realized how Japanese she still is even after being in the States for over 50 years.  How much of her culture she has kept and how she still lives the way she was raised no matter what others might think. I really loved being in Kyoto and in a way I felt at home. Kyoto is a beautiful city that was modern in many ways, but still had a lot of the old world charm of Japan.  My hostel was in Gion which is one of the few remaining Geisha districts.  It was normal to see people dressed in traditional clothing walking around and shopping. I could never do that back home without getting funny looks.  Okay I will stop being all sentiment and continue on about my trip. Once we got to Kyoto we went to the Manga Museum and had lunch. The Manga Museum was in a very old school of Kyoto and I wish I could take pictures but I wasn't allowed to because of the copyright infringement issues. Anyways the school was built by the community and even in the late 1800s women were sent to study at this school. Pretty amazing if you think about it since we have had so many women's rights issues in the States.  We also when to a traditional picture show in the Manga Museum and we were the only foreigners.  The guy gave us candy probably because he felt bad that he didn't know much English.

lunch

candy

Okay so Day 5 we went to the Golden Pavillion and a rock garden. Both places were beautiful and I just loved spending the day there and the tickets were really cool. So instead of talking about it I will show you pictures.

Golden Pavillion

Rock garden

So on day 6 we decided to explore Gion and go to a traditional tea ceremony that was going to be done in English. In Gion we did some shopping and we found a shrine so we went to look at it. During our walk an old Japanese man started clapping at us and pointing to one side of the sidewalk. So as we walked down the side he said we realized why. We saw ducklings and the mom. It was so cute! We had reservations for our tea ceremony and it was probably one of my favorite things in Japan. The tea ceremony talks about 4 main principles being harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. The girl also talked about what a host would have and what a guest would bring. A host has a silk cloth which would be used to purify everything that is used. A guest brings 3 things, a fan, paper and a tea ceremony knife. The fan is kept closed and place in front of the guest to greet the other guest with a bow and to create a boundary between the guest and host showing respect. The paper is used as a plate for sweets the host gives. The knife is used to cut certain sweets because they maybe too moist. The tea ceremony is done in two parts. The first part being where the host shows how the water is heated and after a break where guest eat sweets the tea part begins. The tea is in a powder form and is special for tea ceremony. The host begins by showing respect to all the tools by bowing to them. After the host will purify all the tools with their silk cloth. Only then will she measure out the tea and make one cup at a time. It was really cool to watch. I wish I could have taken pictures, but we weren't allowed to.  Here are some pictures of the ducklings and the shrine though.

Okay on the last day we were flying back to Korea at 7:50pm. So we still had to go from Kyoto back to Tokyo to the Narita airport, but we still had some time and went to another area that my grandmother might have grown up in (if I found the correct place on the map). None the less this shrine (Shinogama) was really pretty and is one of the oldest in Kyoto.  It has a forest next to it and some of the trees there are over 600 years old!!! This shrine was there even before the capital was moved to Kyoto in like 793.  Something like that. Anyways enjoy the pictures.

Well I think I will stop it here. To say the least this trip was really meaningful for me. I got to finally visit somewhere I always wanted and see what some of my family roots are. If anything I also realized something about myself. I am going to take pride in who I am.  I'm not going to let what others think hold me down. I watched the Japanese continue their traditions and everything without a second thought to what others might think. I want to take pride in who I am, and everything I am. Whether that be my Latino roots, Irish roots or Japanese roots! They are what makes me, me! Can't change it so might as well enjoy it! :) Well I have work tomorrow and as promised I did update! :) So I am off! Besos!!!