Kamakura Tour

So yesterday was pretty much a big blur. Not too much happened. Just a boring opening ceremony for Waseda. As important as it sounds, it was very very boring. Explored a bit of the Shinjuku district kind of around where I live. Wasn't very eventful.

Today was quite a different story. The Japanese students planned a tour of Kamakura, and almost all of the CSU students went. We were separated into groups with a few study abroad students and almost twice as many Japanese students, and we all set off on our trip. The train ride took over an hour, but I kind of lost track of how much time it actually took. We arrived and walked to a big shrine where a few of the groups gathered only to disperse into different directions to go find places to eat lunch. Lunch was extremely expensive because Kamakura is a tourist spot. I ended up paying something like 14 bucks for some lightly spiced soup style curry. Afterward we proceeded to meet up with some other our members, who went elsewhere while the rest of us ate the soup curry. After our group, C group, regathered, we saw a different group walking towards us.

As the other group walked toward us, I proceeded to join them and pretend to be part of their group which was probably a dumb idea anyways because the street was super crowded. I ended up getting kind of swept up by the crowd, so I asked to join their group, which was alright by the chief. Some conversing happened, and I switched groups. We ended up going to a huge shrine where we got to do some cleaning ritual and make a wish at the top of the shrine. The scenery was amazing. My eyes were blown away by what I was seeing. The greenery behind the temple really contrasted the temple well. As we were leaving the temple, we got to see a couple that was apparently doing part of their wedding ceremony at the temple. Very cool stuff overall.

We started walking toward the station for some reason or another, but I didn't have my ticket as I had switched groups. I believe what happened next was, our chief called the other group to ask them to meet up somwhere, so we met up at the Daibutsu as the other group was there already. We walked for what seemed like at least 2-3 miles to where the Daibutsu was. I'm not lying when I say the Daibutsu is amazing. I was blown away by the sheer majestic nature of the Daibutsu. The others were saying how the one in Nara is even bigger than the Kamakura Daibutsu, so I'm looking forward to being able to see the other one too. The best part of the whole Daibutsu experience is that for 20 yen you can go inside the Daibutsu and have a look around! It was really cool, and people put coins into the walls of the Daibutsu itself. Overall walking around inside the Daibutsu was a very unreal experience.

After the Daibutsu, we walked back towards the station so we could go home. Halfway back, some of our members were missing, and it turned out that they walked into a store to get something to eat. While we were waiting, us CSU students tried to explain several English words and concepts to a few of the Japanese students. For example, I kept saying stuff blew my mind because everything in Japan is extremely visually stimulating. I also happened to make a comment about how pieces of my brains were all over the inside of the Daibutsu because that really blew my mind. We tried our best to explain weird English words and concepts like that. Our group reformed, and we headed to the train station. While riding at the end of a super crowded train, my friend Colin almost lost his balance, when I noticed a small child who was up against the window at the end of the train. I happened to make a comment about how if he did lose his balance, that kid's brains would be all over the window. The joke was inappropriate, but at the time it was hilarious. I don't know why, but it was. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.

The final thing which was really funny was a few of us taught some of the Japanese students how to say and use "hella". We also persuaded her to use it when she talked to someone from Socal. It was pretty funny at first because our Socal friend didn't understand what she was saying at first, but he figured it out and loved it. After which we proceeded to have dinner and head home for the night.

Today was pretty uneventful. Just a day of rest and research on cellphones. Had lunch at a wonderful little udon shop with 105yen udon. It was very good for 105 yen. Croquettes weren't that great there, but it was pretty worth it.

And finally, I got this bug bite which I think is a mosquito bite, but the bite got huge without me even scratching it really. Took me 2 days to buy some anti-itch stuff for it. I should have taken a picture of it, but I'll spare you the gross stuff.

Also I'll start posting pictures once I get a cable for my point and shoot. I've been trying my best to chronicle most of my meals here. Well be safe everyone and I love you all.