#4: Kiyomisu Temple

I’m sorry this is a little late in coming– this picture is from a few weeks ago.  So far I’ve been pretty abysmal with blogging, but I’ve resolved to do better!  So much to report.

This particular trip was to Kiyomisu Temple in Kyoto.  A few friends and I went on a trip through the school, with five Japanese students.  On our way to the temple we went to a special tea house to make green tea (matcha) in the traditional way.  As it turns out, the traditional way involves not much water, a sizable scoop of tea powder, and a lot of stirring with a mini-brush thing.  Meaning, it’s way strong.  Making the tea was an interesting cultural experience, but perhaps in future I’ll stick to green tea Kit Kats.

The area around the temple is filled with shops selling souvenirs various food items on sticks.  On such a nice day, it was great to wander in and out of shops to admire the vast arrays of fans, chopsticks, and all things Hello Kitty.  The temple itself was pretty, and offered a lovely view of Kyoto.  And on the way in we stopped at a shrine that will supposedly improve my matchmaking prospects (…?).   So all in all, a day well spent.

Since that weekend I’ve made a few trips that I’d like to post about soon.  Mata ne!

Notes:  From what I can tell, it’s all but impossible to buy more than 5 or 6 slices of bread at a time.  But the slices are huge, like 3 slices of wimpy American bread.   Also (unrelated) high schools here do actually have cheerleaders and pep bands — they perform at baseball games.  And according to my anthropology professor, in Kyoto if your host props a broom upside down in the corner, there is a chance they may be letting you know that you have overstayed your welcome.