Hey everyone. I have been slightly inactive on this blog for a long while now. I wasn't very good at keeping up to date with the blog, and I guess it's now too late to try to remember the days, like I had been before. Anyway, I have a new laptop now, and I'm waiting to get all my photos back, after that, I'll post a few of my favourites.

The effects of this gap year

Since coming back from travelling, I have felt largely two ways while not busy at work. I either have a massive feeling like I should go out and do something, usually sociable, just to retain that little bit of life in me. If not that, then I just feel lethargic and unfocused. I can't keep my mind on anything, and I can't find anything to entertain me. I end up mindlessly wandering around the house looking for things to do or eat. After the excitement, adventure and social scene of travelling, being back in a small English village can leave you feeling a little bit empty. That's why I'm looking forward to uni so much, so I can get that feeling back! I think I'm addicted to nee things...


~GG

So here't the deal for those passing through:

My laptop still hasn't been fixed, so I can't get at my photos to help me remember.
BUT
Once I do, first off I'll finish off writing about the rest of my trip. Perhaps not day by day as I had started, because there is a huge amount of writing to do if I did that, but I will still talk about everyday. Except the ones where I lay in bed hungover all day (there were a few).
Then, I'm going to start another blog, for my university life, both about what I'm learning, my work and my social life. I'll throw in the link once I've created it.

More posts coming soon, I swear.

I am awarew I haven:t written for 6 weeks now, and I hav the perfect chance to right now, but my laptop died. Got wet somehow (unknown reasons!!).

Tu - 14/06

The morning of the 14^th I didn’t do too much, not because I was hungover surprisingly. I got up late, now that my body clock was fixed, then decided to go see a temple in Gion with Sally, a girl from California. The temple has a ¥500 entry fee, but I would pay that to see some of the artwork they have inside. Demons and dragons, very intricately painted.  We didn’t get to the temple until 4.30, as Sally had work until 2 and then we went to lunch with Saskia before she left for Osaka. By the time we got the temple, it would shut in half an hour, so we had to see the whole temple as quickly as we could. After seeing those temple grounds, we walked up to a Shrine only a couple of blocks from there, which had more of a park around it. We didn’t spend too long there as there wasn’t much to see. That night I think I spent at the hostel just relaxing. Sorry for the short post, but I didn't do a lot on this day. So I'll put a few more photos instead!

Mo 13-06

I was back to riding alone on this day, so I figured I’d do some more touristy sight-seeing. I started by heading up north to the Kinkakuji temple, the famous Golden Pavillion. On the way there by bus, there are two bus stops for the Kinkakuji: Kinkakuji-mae and Kinkakuji-mae (mae meaning first) and Kinkakuji-machi (machi meaning street). I did not know this at the time, and we drove past Kinkakuji- mae. Of course I thought I had missed the stop, but some helpful 15 year old boys offered to show me, as they were going to the temple as well. So I got chatting to them (kids in Japan, and a lot of adults actually, love to practice their English with foreigners). So we chatted and strolled into the temple grounds, and we took photos of the Paviliion and I think I have a photo with them. On my way round, and in the middle of taking a photograph, I was ambushed by another group of school kids wanting to practice their English and fill out a work book. I was happy to help, and again there were more photos. The questions they ask are mostly the same, things like “Is this your first time in Japan?”, “What is your favourite Japanese food?”, “Can I take your picture?”. For the most part I’m happy to go along with it. After seeing the Golden Pavilion, which is very picturesque and impressive, the whole building having been covered in gold leaf, I headed back down to the exit. From there I followed the road to another temple, the Ryoan-ji. This one is where the famous 13-stoned Zen rock garden is. It could have been an incredibly peaceful place if it was not full of other tourists and school trips. I can easily imagine sitting there for a long time just lost in thought and the beauty of the mountains around Kyoto. Despite the other people, I still took plenty of photographs, though I have not looked at how well they came out yet. It’s a shame that many of my photos are taken on the fly, so they often have poor quality.

That night, Saskia and I were invited to a 70s music bar called “Slow Hands”, and we were happy to tag along. We were invited by an Artist/clothes designer/musician named Mayumi, a very nice and very chatty girl from Nagoya. This bar was a small place, where you couldn’t possibly fit more than 15 customers. It was in a basement, was cool and smelt damp, but the atmosphere was nice. The barman, despite not speaking any English, was a very nice guy and knew a lot about 70s music. On learning I was from England, he started playing a BBC DVD of 1970s English music. In fact there were many other things I would prefer from the 70s, but I didn’t say that. It was a nice thought of his.  We sat and drank there for quite a long time, and eventually some Japanese people arrived. Mayumi started to play an impromptu piece on violin accompanied by a Japanese woman on piano. The Japanese people there, again not speaking much English, were very nice none the less. Drinking really helps things along in a conversation when neither side speaks the same language. The Japanese people called Saskia a “Dutch Wife” when they found out where she was from. I had to explain to her that a “Dutch Wife” is a Japanese name for a sex doll. I don’t think she was impressed, but it was funny for the rest of us. We stayed there until maybe 2am, then made our way home, got some combini food then went to bed.

Interim blog 12/06

3 days ago I bought a guitar, entirely on a whim. I am very prone to impulse buying. Unfortunately this isn’t very healthy when you’re on a tight budget. The guitar I bought is a pretty nice one, a Yamaha ¾ size acoustic. It cost me ¥15,500 (eek!). Obviously I realised that this was a silly purchase. So today I tried to return the guitar, but it turns out the shop doesn’t do returns (or the man just didn’t understand me, which seems likely). So that sucks. I went to another music shop I saw nearby, and enquired as to whether they buy guitars. They do (yay!), but will only pay ¥5,000 for it. This means I would lose a large ¥10,000 (of course you can figure that out for yourself). I now have 3 options: find a better deal at a different shop (does Japan have pawn shops)?), sell the guitar for the low ¥5k, or try and busk my way out of this debt. What would you do in this situation? I think I might try the busking thing for one night, and see if I bring in any cash at all. Maybe being gaijin will help me out this time!!

(N.B. I didn't try busking, and I'm pretty sure I would have been largely ignored.)