Whirlwind

So since I last left you all it has been about a week! Time sure flies just as fast here as back home, if not faster. Last Thursday we went to Uji (famous for tea) and had many macha (concentrated green tea powder stuff) infused foods/drinks/treats. Of course we bought some to bring home too. While there, we also saw the Byoudoin (a famous Buddhist temple). The grounds and museum were beautiful but unfortunately the main building itself is under restoration and therefore covered in scaffolding. We were able to meet up with our friend Mitch (a recent NCC grad) who is doing the JET program in Uji. We ended the night with some delicious okonomiyaki which is essentially like a savory pancake thing... All this new food is quite delicious but most certainly bad for you! I was thinking that the food would be overall healthier but I am pretty certain it is just that the portion sizes are smaller and the people move around alot! On the average day Ryan and I walk about 8,000-10,000 steps. Another side comment about food, fruit is crazy expensive! I miss eating grapes and apples all the time :(. On the upside, fish is pretty cheap and super fresh of course so i suppose its give and take.
Friday, we went out with our friends to Kawaramachi again (we seem to be frequenting this place) for more food and fun!
Sunday we went to a Japanese Christian Church in the Gojo area of Kyoto with Seung-kyu. I have to say I did not understand much, but what I managed to pick up on was inspiring and whether you speak the language or not it was clear these people were full of love and light. We made some new friends there (from Korea) and one of them even brought us to the nearby famous temple Kyoumizudera! There were tons of people there and it would have been nice to take more time to enjoy it, but I am told there is really no good time to visit that place as it is always full of people.
And then Monday came around... lets just say that I completely understand why the Japanese go out all the time on the weekends. The first full week of classes was very hard to understand and we did not even discuss much more than introductions and the syllabus. Each day I felt a little more defeated. Sometimes I wonder how I am possibly going to do this but I suppose doing my best is all I can do. Lets just hope my professors will give A's for effort... (or at least passing grades). Everyone seems to tell me that the professors don't expect us to be fluent or anything and that in the end if we attend and show effort there will be no problems. However its still hard not to be able to be as good a student as you know you could be if you were at home.
Writing this and looking back on the heaps of fun we have going to new places and hanging out with friends its worth the trouble. Time to get ready for class again! Later.
がんばってねえ～！