Spring Break: Day 3

Day 3

Monday my parents again woke up very early.  I woke up around 7:00 around the time my parents were calling my grandparents and my youngest brother via Skype.  Justin, my youngest brother, is adorable.  While my parents told him about the food and how they didn’t like it much, Justin was the one explaining to them that they were in a different country, and therefore the food should be different.  He even told them how difficult it would be for me to come home and readjust to American food…gosh, he is such a smart and caring kid.  He sent me a rosary that he made of hemp and beads as a late birthday present, even.  I can’t wait to be home so I can give him a giant hug.

[singlepic=356,320,240,,right]We headed to the Heian Shrine, just north of the hotel.  It was a beautiful site, and its gardens really impressed my mother.  We started a competition to see who could take the prettiest photographs–but I have to admit that I took a lot of Mom’s ideas.  She’s a really artistic woman.  It’s a good thing I have a better camera. =P The Heian Shrine itself is one of Kyoto’s largest and newest shrines, built in 1895 in order to boost the city’s morale and economy after the capital was moved to Tokyo.

[singlepic=412,320,240,,left][singlepic=382,320,240,,left]The gardens were not yet in full bloom, as most of the trees inside where of the cherry blossom variety.  There were a few blooming plum trees and the pond was surrounded by furs and other greenery, but it was a place I wish I could have seen a few weeks later during Hanami.  There were skipping stones across the water in some portions–which I crossed.  There was also a tea house and a Chinese style bridge.  I think it would be so neat to have a similar garden like this one back in America.  It takes a lot of work to trim the trees and weed and rake, etc., but gardens have a magical way of making life simple and at peace.  Japanese gardens also tend to have so much more rocks, dark greens and mosses–which I find I am more attracted to.

[singlepic=413,320,240,,right]Afterward, we walked another short distance to the Kyoto Handicraft Center.  It is a building filled with different hand-crafted Japanese pieces, such as dolls, wood-block prints and jewelry.  Mom bought a ceramic/glass plate from a guy that was super nice and friendly.  Dad rested upstairs in the cafe.  The center is pretty fun to go through, but I would not recommend buying a kimono or a yukata here.  They seem a little overpriced–and at a low quality.

I took a look at all the different dolls and saw a few that I was interested in, but I told Mom I could come back and get it later–just in case we saw anything better.  It might be good to add that I have been looking at getting a doll in Japan to add to the collection my grandmother left me when she died.  She had an enormous collection of porcelin dolls that I now own part of…and in her memory I want to add to it.

That afternoon we headed back to Hirakata and took the bus to my seminar house.  We dropped off a bunch of food my parents brought me from America, and we packed up a lot of my souvineers and random things I didn’t need anymore.  We went to my favorite restaurant, across from my campus, at the New Dehli (the indian curry place).  I could feel some tension that was developing betweent he three of us…I think mainly because my parents were tired.

In addition, I had this strange conflict in myself–it was like two of me were meeting each other for the first time, and figuring out just how different we were.  Kristin-from-home and Kristin-from-Japan,  two and the same.  It was like trying to fall back into being the person they had dropped off at the airport two months ago, but not being able to.

We made it back to the hotel and my parents passed out.  I walked down to a Lawson down the street and bought some wine and sake to share with my parents the next day, wanting to make up for any bad attitude I might have had that evening.