Recs & stuff

Ok... here is a bunch of things I've been meaning to talk about. I'll still make one more post about the classes one of these days.....

Practical things

At least for Kyodai, already during the application process you'd better be prepared for long waits, after which you suddenly need to get things done really fast. It's best to take care of all obligatory things as soon as you can (the doctor's certificate and language tests and such), so you won't have to suddenly rush with them.

Also, after Japan I won't be complaining about Finnish bureaucracy ever again. You'll need to go to your ward office to get your alien card stamped with your address and to sign for the national health insurance and the pension system (the latter of which you won't have to pay because students are exempted, but it's still obligatory. Remember to take your student card with you so you won't have to go there again for that... as a certain someone had to do..... >_>)

In any case, it will take some time and involve filling all kinds of forms, but it's best to get it done as soon as you can. There was a big group of us going to our ward office on one day (a Monday, it was, after we'd moved to our dorm on the previous Thursday), and at least our ward office was prepared for us. They took us all to a separate room to fill forms, and there was even someone there to explain everything in English. And of course, when you leave from Japan, you've got to go to make the moving out notice, and cancel the pension and the health insurance. >_> That took at least an hour and a half, and involved filling forms and queuing at least for four different desks....

JASSO & Japanese bank account

If you're lucky enough to get JASSO, congrats! It does make life quite a lot easier... Be prepared: you're going to need to get a Japanese bank account. (This might be true for also other Japanese scholarships, I'd imagine.) And you might not have too much time to do it... I was told about it on a Thursday, Friday was all booked on all kinds of info things, on Monday I went to take care of official business at the ward office... and I needed to have the bank account by next Thursday. Not too many days to do it.

I considered between some options, but ended up going to the JP Post Bank. It was a good decision, I think. There's a post office at Hyakumanben by the university, you can do it e.g. there. I had Japanese friend with me, just in case, for I  really wasn't confident about going to take care of bank business in Japanese, but in the end I would have managed fine on my own. They do know what they do there - I bet they get quite many exchange students who need bank accounts there. Of course, it was still kind of nice to have someone reading the papers over my shoulder, as I had no clue what I really was signing under there. xD

But anyway, the Post Bank doesn't require you to have hanko or Japanese phone number, so it was the simplest place to do it.

Oh, and one thing about JASSO: the way it works is that you've got to go to sign a paper in the beginning of each month, and then they pay it for you at the end of the month. You have normally until the 9th or so to do it - but don't plan for a long trip in the beginning of the month, or you'll lose the money. Also, you just need to be there on the first day to sign the paper, whether you leave home right after that or not doesn't matter. So if for example you are, like I was, there for the autumn term, you can still get the JASSO for March if you just are there signing the paper on March 1st. Of course, it will be paid on your Japanese bank account, but at least in the case of the Post Bank you can just leave the money to lie there, waiting for you to come back to Japan, or then you can arrange it somehow with friends.

The dorms (of Kyodai)

I, like pretty much everyone I talked with, had put the dorm on Yoshida campus as the first option back when we were applying for dorm places. In the end I'm kind of happy I didn't get there. Of course, the location would have been great - we actually had our Japanese classes in the same building. But just because of that I'm glad I was somewhere else. Do you really want to live in your school? I was quite happy to get out when the school day was over...

I lived in Shugakuin, and for me that was the perfect place. The only downside of Shugakuin is the location. It's not far from the uni, only some 3,5 km if   I remember right (15 min by bike, easily - once made it in 10), but it's 3,5 km to completely wrong direction, away from downtown, which would be the same distance to the other direction. But it was quite cheap, and also, as I'm clearly older than most other students, I was able to get friends of my own age there, for there are also researchers living at the place. It was more like living in an ordinary apartment house than in a dorm. (Of course, that might be just me. I'm such a recluse, barely ever going to the common room.)

I also visited Satsuki, which is more like a student dorm, and it has really good location and really nice and strong community spirit, so to say. If you want people to party with, try to get there. Also Misasagi seemed like a similar, nice place, but I went there only once so I don't know much about it. One thing: there's an insanely huge hill on the way there. Seriously. It took four minutes to come downhill on bike, and I didn't stop a single time. (Had my phone recording when I came down...) Be ready for exercise if you're going there. xD The good thing about Misasagi is that the electricity is included in the rent so you don't have to pay for that yourself...

And that made me think I could say a word or two about

 Living Costs...

Electricity is one thing. As I said, Shugakuin is a cheap place, but you've got to pay for the electricity, and there's one thing about Japanese houses: they're cold. Seriously cold. When I returned from a week's trip to Okinawa in February, it was 11C in my apartment... And heating is done by air conditioners, so it's not that cheap. So either you're cold or you pay a lot. (Buy hiitotekku at Uniqlo! xD) My electricity bills during winter were 40-50 euros per month... but I did have the married couple room (bigger area to try to keep warm, in other words) and though I didn't heat that much, at some point I kind of got tired of being cold...

As for food, Japan isn't exactly cheap, but you've got to find the right things. Fruit and some vegetables can be quite expensive, but other things are really cheap, like some mushroom and sprouts. Also, there are more little stores in Japan than in Finland, and there might be big differences between them. There were three on different sides of the same crossing near Shugakuin: I bought my fruit and veggies in one of them and drinks at another. Also, there are French bakeries here and there, buy your bread from them, if you want to have any kind of proper bread.

Local traffic & bikes

The buses within Kyoto have standard pay, 230 yen. You have to pay with exact amount when you leave the bus, but you can also change money (not the bigger bills) in the buses. I rarely used bus, though, as they're so slow. From Shugakuin it's handier to go by the Eiden/Keihan train both to the uni (though there's a short walk at the other end) and to downtown. To uni it was only 210 yen, to Sanjo 400 yen. You can buy a travel card (ICOCA) from some of the ticket selling machines. It's handy to have, you can load money there and then you don't need to worry about whether or not you've got cash with you.

But anyway, I would tell you to get a bike. Right away. I used bike always and everywhere, if I just could.... They're not that expensive, either. There's one place on Imadegawa pretty close to Kyodai (Eirin, they have stores also elsewhere.) My (new) bike was almost 12 000 yen - and they bought it back for 5000. Just remember to take good care of the papers they give you, or you might not be able to sell it back, at least not for such good price. Also, you need your alien card when you're buying your bike. It's best if you have already taken care of all business at the ward office, so that you've got your address stamped on it, but it's not obligatory.

But remember, though it's easy to go from one place to another by bike in Kyoto, you can't park your bike just anywhere. If there are "no bikes" signs, it just might be a good idea to pay attention to them, even if (no if about it, really) others have left bikes there, too. It just might be your bike won't be there anymore when you return, and you'll need to go to pay the fine somewhere to get it back. There are parking lots for bikes here and there, they're not that expensive so it's better to use them.

Travel & hike recs

I'm still kind of sad I couldn't do the hike between Kurama and Kifune, because a typhoon had felled trees on the path. It's usually done from Kurama to Kifune, but I was planning on the opposite, as I wanted to go to the Kurama onsen after the hike. I did walk as far as you could, and go to the onsen too, and that I can rec. Go there in autumn, the foliage is amazing! And talking about onsens, the one in Ohara was wonderful too!

Also, climbing on Hieizan was quite great. I've written a long post about that, so I won't get into it here. Note my trouble in getting down from there..... xD

The  river boat ride on Hozugawa was awesome as well.

Kobe and Osaka are kind of matter-of-fact places. Of course, Osaka is the place to go out in the evening, but I also went there for kabuki, and had great okonomiyaki there at a place called Chibo.

And Okinawa! There were so many places where I'd have wanted to go but didn't have time (or money) to go everywhere.... but I'm so happy I did go to Okinawa. It's a paradise. I went there in February, to see sakura blooming (second week of Feb is good time for that), and it was so beautiful, and the weather was perfect for me - warm but not hot. Of course, the sea is so beautiful there, but it was a bit too early to go to beach then...

Other than that, I only went to Hiroshima. By shinkansen.... which was an experience in itself, but I confess, I wouldn't have done that on my own. (I went there with my father, and he bought the tickets......) It's expensive, but if you've got the money, it's definitely, as I said, and experience. We did only a day-trip there, so there wasn't time to do much. It would be worth it, I think, to spend a weekend there, if you can.

ETA: Oh, I forgot about Takatori! It was a great little trip! They have the samurai festival in autumn, in the end of November (23rd, I think), and I'm so happy we went there! So much fun. And it's kind of... not so touristy. Me and my friend were basically the only foreigners there. And in any case, Takatori is a really nice little town, so even if you can't go there for the festival, you can go there just for fun. There are some castle ruins we didn't have time to go to see....

KOKOKA

This place definitely deserves a mention. I'm kind of sad I started going there only at the end of the year. It's the Kyoto city international foundation. They have all kinds of happenings (to which I didn't go...) for foreigners in Kyoto, but they also have volunteer taught Japanese classes, which cost hundred yen/time. Yep, less than one euro. Definitely worth checking out!


Annnnddd... I just have to mention Cafe Rumbita here, last but not least. ^^ If you have any interest at all in dancing salsa, bachata etc.... check this place out. They have great lessons, lots of really nice people (chance to meet all kinds of locals, young and old), and you can stay there dancing after the lessons. Fun place, I miss it~~~

Merry Christmas!

This is my first Christmas away from home, and it's kind of weird. All the stores are full of Christmas decorations and carols are playing, but that's it. Tomorrow's going to be an ordinary Monday... It's been quite difficult to feel like it actually really is Christmas now.

Yesterday I went to a Brazilian Christmas party. Ate so well. Oh god. So many delicious things. I'd love to have the recipe of each and every thing, especially of the desserts, but everything else too. Or better yet, someone to make them for me on a regular basis, because I'd be sure to mess them up. (And the smashed potato & meat thing was so very similar to perunasoselaatikko that it reminded me of home. xD More cheesy, though, so it was even better, I guess.)

Today I went to an onsen with some friends. It was lovely, quite different from Kurama onsen which is the only place where I'd been before. There were three very small baths, just big enough for four persons (and we were exactly four). But it was so nice and quiet. Atmospheric. This was Ohara onsen, some half an hour bus trip from where we live. It was up in the hills in this rather small place, and there was a fifteen minute walk from the bus stop on really small roads. I love the area. It was rainy, but it just seemed to fit the atmosphere there. I couldn't, of course, take pics inside of the actual onsen, but here's the place (photo by Marina):

  

Note the little piece of snow in front of the entrance on the left! Snow! 

And a photo of the main bath (obviously not from this time of the year):

 And us on our way there... it wasn't quite as dark yet as it seems on this pic.

So, I had  Christmas onsen instead of Christmas sauna, and as for my Christmas dinner... well, there was pork in it, anyway. And it was tasty.

And tomorrow it's ordinary Monday, as I said, with ordinary Japanese classes... but at least we are going to have one week vacation for the New Year.

Autumn & Kurama

Somehow I can't keep track of time here. Technically I know it's November, but it doesn't feel like that. What do you mean it's about one month to Christmas?! Unbelievable. It's the weather, I guess... The autumn foliage has only reached its beautiful peak here, and it's a bit difficult to truly believe that right now home in Finland it's the gloomiest time of the year... rain, sleet, barren trees, leaves turning to mud on the ground... November in Finland is manageable, I think, but it takes some effort. Or, at least it takes candles, good books, warm blankets, tea or hot chocolate, and no need to go out. Some rain is ok, too, gently tapping the window glass, the wet streets glistening in the lamplight, or even sleet and wind, howling behind the said  window, but then it is of utmost importance there is no need to go anywhere...

Well. Yes. Back to Japan. Here it's autumn, and a gorgeous autumn, what comes to that. One area that's famous of its autumn colors is Kurama, and I decided I simply have to go to check what ruska is like in Japan. It was quite easy too, for you can go to Kurama by the Eiden railway, which happens to be my local train. (For once it's easy to go somewhere from Shugakuin!!! xD) I made what should have been a perfect plan: I'd take train to Kibune (the previous stop before Kurama), check out the temple there, and then hike to Kurama, admiring the autumn colors on the way. The usual way is to do this hike the other way round, from Kurama to Kibune, but my goal was at the end of it to get to soak at the Kurama onsen. Perfect, right?

Well, it all started fine. Woke up early, caught the train I'd planned (!), arrived to Kibuneguchi. There's a bus service from the station to the town, operating in schedule with the trains, and though it's a very short walk, I figured I'd soon get to walk quite enough and too the bus. Arriving to Kibune I soon spotted the little red bridge from which I knew the hike would begin. Only, something seemed to be off...

Indeed.

I spent a moment swearing at the kami of nature who seem to be conniving against me (first the Jidai matsuri cancelled because of a typhoon, now this - I'd imagine paths don't just collapse and trees don't fall on their own, it takes rain or such to cause that...) In Kurama there was also a photo of the collapsed part.

できません。(◕︿◕)　(できますよ~！)

Oh well. So, after the useless rant against the powers of nature, I climbed up to see the Kifune temple. It is dedicated to kami of water, and there is water gushing pretty much everywhere around. Also, in the Heian times delegations were sent to this place to pray for rain or good weather. In the latter case, a white horse was offered to the shrine, in the case of rain, a black horse.

And then I ended up walking back to the Kibuneguchi station - which wasn't all bad, as it was a lovely road.

At Kurama you could follow the beginning of the hiking path up to the Kurama temple and the Reihoden museum. The starting point:

This Japanese cedar tree is about 800 years old and 53 meters high. (No wonder I couldn't make it fit in my photos.) If you pray to the tree with all your heart, your wish will come true. Remains to be seen.

 

Zooming in:

Up at Kurama dera:

I wasn't the only one disappointed....

You can ring the bell once to, again, make a wish...

Coming down from the temple I stopped to eat Buddhist vegetarian food at Yoshuji. Loved it (except the soup on the right side that didn't really taste of anything.) I took the first set on the right side of the menu.

And then, to the onsen! This was my first visit ever to a bath like this, and I loved it too. So relaxing, the hot water. At first I thought it's not that hot, really, but after a short moment I was very happy to have the cold wet hand towel to place on my head. A lovely place. Quite small, I think, but then again, I have nothing to compare it to. But that made it just more atmospheric. You couldn't take photos there, of course, but here's a few from the way. It was only a short walk away.

That's more than enough photos, I guess. Imagine how much I'd have if I'd been able to do the hike...  One more, though.

 My face, looking at the sign at Kibune. xD