終わり

Kyoto

everything's done for school. my brain died sometime during finals, so i feel rather blank right now. i'm going to kyoto tomorrow. you guys'll hear all about my adventures as soon as i get back. i won't be able to shut up about japan.

excited to:

• move into a sweet new apartment and be almost everyone's neighbor
  
• go to some new bar in lawrence that kyle says is pretty fun
• see Cass's short blond hair! the photos on flickr aren't enough to satisfy my curiosity
  

hermit-ing it up in my apartment to study for finals and finish an enormous amount of papers the last few days has been having some adverse effects on my brain. need social contact of any kind. boy can i not wait to be back in kansas and have everything "back to normal."

god damn, i pretty much fail at life.

last night there were two earthquakes in the evening.

today amidst studying for my kanji final i started cleaning and packing because tomorrow my apartment will be inspected to see that cleaning and packing will be "presumably done by my departure." my room looks very lonely now. it's 12 days before i'll be back in america.

i decided i will in fact buy a yukata.

today i went to the travel agency on my university's campus and bought my 新幹線（しんかんせん）shinkansen--the bullet train, ticket to kyoto all by myself in japanese. i'm really fucking proud of myself. this proves that i can at least halfway function in japan. also, i went to a tea ceremony. it was great, but sitting on your feet for 45 minutes really hurts.

can we please ponder the japanese festival for a second

japanese festivals are called 祭り（まつり）matsuri. i've decided they're basically the next best thing to sliced bread. it's like an american carnival or county fair without all the animal contests and kiddie rollercoasters and ferris wheel and funnel cakes that make me feel sick.

elements of most festivals:
-お化け屋敷（おばけやしき）obakeyashiki--this is a tent or 1st floor of a building that's been turned into a temporary haunted house (or "ghost mansion"). whenever you walk by one of these there will usually be loud screams by middle school girls.
-かき氷（かきごおり）kakigoori--basically a shaved ice stand. perfect for 80F/30C weather
-お好み焼き（おこのみやき）okonomiyaki--Japanese vegetable unsweetened pancake stand
-焼きそば（やきそば）yakisoba--fried noodle stand
-じゃがいもバターjagaimobataa--a baked potato with butter and salt stand.
-a stand where you pay for a chance to try to catch your own goldfish in a tank. there are also turtles tanks where you can do the same thing.
-fried corn on the cob stands
-すいかsuika--watermelon stands
-chocolate covered banana stands where you can get different colored and with sprinkles bananas on a stick
-dessert crepes stands--we're talking strawberries, chocolate, whipped cream, etc.
-um, beer, duh, except people here aren't belligerent and loud when they're drunk

there are usually hella traditional streamers hanging everywhere and also sweet lanterns at night. also, lots of people carry うちわuchiwa　or せんすsensu, two types of handheld fans, to keep cool, and also wear traditional ゆかたyukata, a lightweight kimono. when i tell japanese people i went to a festival they keep asking me if i wore a yukata. i think they next time i come to japan i'll buy one at Uniqlo(yes! you can get them there) and wear it to a festival, even if i look like an idiot. i really wish you could all experience a festival here. it would be so much fun to drink beers with all my friends at one of these.