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Back in Kyoto: Five years later Saturday May 26
The last time I was in Kyoto, Richard and I had a JR rail pass, and we were travelling as much of Japan as possible in a one-week period to get our money's worth out of that pass. We stayed out all night in a club in Shibuya, ate at the Yoshinoya in the morning (which I pass by nowadays very frequently), and then headed to the Shinkansen to catch the first train to Kyoto.
Waking up in Kyoto, we walked around, sweated to death in the summer heat and humidity, and got a feel for the place. Unable to stand the incessant travel any longer, I retreated to Kanazawa the next day. Now, five years later, I am in Kyoto again. This time, again, with Richard: he is getting married here.
Also, since it is May, the weather's not so bad.
Hopefully, now that I have a digital camera, I expect better pictures than last time around.
Summer is here: it's wedding season Monday May 21
Next weekend, my college colleague and study abroad travel partner Richard is going to get married to his mid-long term girlfriend-turned-fiance, Hiromi. While they met at the University of Illinois, Hiromi's parents live in Kyoto, and thus they'll be holding the ceremony there.
In three weeks, my first cousin will be marrying in Pennslyvania, and I'll be venturing out to New York and back to Tokyo in one weekend. All I need to do is add Milan to that list (maybe I'll return via there?) and I'll feel like a total fashion diva. Or should it be Paris? Please advise.
In September, my friend Charlotte will be marrying. The verdict is undecided as to whether or not I can go. Someone, please, start humming the anthem of the summer: Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust".
But in all this wedding madness, it could be worse. I could have received an e-mail from Richard this morning, five days before the big affair, asking me to write a speech about him and his soon-to-be-wife to be presented in front of family and friends I've never met. I could have also been asked to write said speech in Japanese.
Oh wait, I was. Right.
Maybe I should write two speeches: one in English, one in Japanese. I'll deliver the English one at Richard & Hiromi's wedding, and no one will get it, and then the Japanese one in Pennslyvania next month. Both will probably sound cooler, and I'll run the least risk of offending anyone.
Golden Week: A brief return home? Tuesday May 8
I have no idea why Golden Week is called Golden Week. By some miracle, a couple public holidays and the former emperor's birthday all fell in the same week, so most everyone had last Monday, Thursday, and Friday off of work.
If you're going to bookend a three-day weekend with a four-day weekend, you might as well take the two days off in the middle and have a nine-day trip. When else can you take a nine-day trip with only two days off of work? Moreover, you're guaranteed no one else is doing anything during that time. This must be how Golden Week developed, but I am still at a loss for the name.
Yuiko invited me to go to Nagoya, or south of Nagoya, to stay with her grandmother for a few days. My plans looked bleak: the peak travel means that any trips outside of the country will cost thousands of dollars -- literally -- and a trip inside the country, alone, without my girlfriend wouldn't score me many points, either.
So I went. Have a look at the pictures.
It almost felt like home: I was away from the big city for awhile, and actually saw green things. I felt refreshed.
And this morning's train was as crowded as ever.
