Kyoto, tadaima!
Jun. 1st, 2011 20:22![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starladyI'm sitting in my efficiency apartment in Kyoto as I write this. It's even smaller than my last one, I think, but not by much, and probably nicer when you throw in that it's completely furnished.
So, I got here safely, with no real adventures to report between here and Phoenix, other than that it was raining in Seattle and it's raining here and security in Seattle took forever. I managed to nap on the plane--I literally slept like the dead between the snack and the first meal service--and I actually think Delta's international meals have gotten better in the three years since I've flown them. Frightening.
I splurged on the express train from KIX to Kyoto, but at dinner (at the modanyaki place in Kyoto station that I last ate at with KTP in summer 2008, for those playing along at home) I realized that I can't really afford to drink beer in this country. The exchange rate is unbelievable--I got ¥78.44 to the dollar at KIX and felt lucky, since they were offering ¥71 in SEA. This is why I always wait to change my cash.
I need to work up the willpower to go down the street to the conbini for something to eat tomorrow morning before I collapse. It's wonderful to be back, truly, I'm not sure I can express quite how good it feels. I've missed Kyoto dearly, though I've tried not to talk about it too much.
Also I got the first "Nihongo jôzu desu ne!" of the trip from my immigration agent, so I guess the days of being able to play the clueless foreigner card after I open my mouth are over.
So, I got here safely, with no real adventures to report between here and Phoenix, other than that it was raining in Seattle and it's raining here and security in Seattle took forever. I managed to nap on the plane--I literally slept like the dead between the snack and the first meal service--and I actually think Delta's international meals have gotten better in the three years since I've flown them. Frightening.
I splurged on the express train from KIX to Kyoto, but at dinner (at the modanyaki place in Kyoto station that I last ate at with KTP in summer 2008, for those playing along at home) I realized that I can't really afford to drink beer in this country. The exchange rate is unbelievable--I got ¥78.44 to the dollar at KIX and felt lucky, since they were offering ¥71 in SEA. This is why I always wait to change my cash.
I need to work up the willpower to go down the street to the conbini for something to eat tomorrow morning before I collapse. It's wonderful to be back, truly, I'm not sure I can express quite how good it feels. I've missed Kyoto dearly, though I've tried not to talk about it too much.
Also I got the first "Nihongo jôzu desu ne!" of the trip from my immigration agent, so I guess the days of being able to play the clueless foreigner card after I open my mouth are over.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 15:31 (UTC)Seattle... just recorded its 4th coldest and 6th wettest May on record, so I'm not surprised it was raining when you were here. :\
Did you make it down to the konbini? When my wife and I were in Tokyo for a week we lived out of the local 7 & i. We love their food. XD
Anyway, how long are you going to be in Kyoto? :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-02 11:00 (UTC)By the time I got there, the little corner conbini had closed, but the large one up the street next to the rice field was still open. I consider it a mark of distinction that I resisted buying the choco-flake.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-02 14:47 (UTC)Haha, congrats(?) on resisting the choco-flakes! :D
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 15:52 (UTC)(KLM's outbound flights from Europe seem to have amazing food--I've gotten veggie curry & this time en route to WisCon I got tempeh!--but outbound from the US seems dull: steamed veggies w/o sauce & rice. They codeshare w/Delta so I was inclined to blame them for the boring food but sounds like this is not universal...)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-02 11:02 (UTC)And yeah, the exchange rate, boo. But I'm happy to be here even so. ^_^
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 16:17 (UTC)---L.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-02 11:01 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-02 23:35 (UTC)(How much of the time am I thinking, soon they will figure out I'm faking it? Most of the time. And the rest of the time, I worry I'm being overconfident for not thinking it.)
---L.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-02 00:10 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-02 11:01 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-02 04:00 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-02 06:02 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 12:42 (UTC)It always puts a smile on my face when someone says "Nihongo jôzu desu ne!", with this real astonishment on their faces, as if even today it is totally inconceivable that a foreigner might want to try and learn the Japanese language. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 12:49 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 12:45 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 12:49 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 18:57 (UTC)I'll have trip details for you soon. Possibly today. (Well, my today. Which I guess will be yours too, since it's something like four a.m. where you are. Except it's tomorrow.)
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-01 19:11 (UTC)