Kobe and Kyoto

In October, I was excited to take a few days off work for an English language teaching conference I had heard about in Kobe. It wasn't sponsored by my job at all, but I was getting really tired of my work, and there was rarely any work for me to do anyway (!), so I left Nagoya on a Friday and took a train to Kobe.

My conference badge

I spent a day and a half taking workshops on teaching techniques. I learned some interesting methods for using technology in the EFL classroom, teaching English using comics, and using some new games with very young learners. I browsed the promotional teaching materials area and got a chance to talk with other participants about their working life. Most of them were professors at Japanese universities, and I found out you pretty much need a Master's to get into those kinds of jobs. I took a look at the job board, but nothing seemed to fit my current qualifications. I have thought a bit about getting a Master's to teach in universities, but I don't want to go more in debt while chasing higher pay. Seems counterintuitive!

In Kobe, I Couchsurfed with a Japanese guy my age, who was super kind and had great English, so it was comfortable talking to him. We couldn't spend time together when I was at the conference, but afterward he walked me around Kobe (it's small!) — Chinatown, the port, and an observation tower. Then we went for dinner at Bikkuri Donkey, a place I have no idea how to explain! It was kind of Western, and had interesting "down-home" American-style themed decorations. He was a very genuine guy, and quite relaxed — he's originally from Kyushu, and that's the reputation they get! It was cool to stay with him.

Dressed up for a kimono photoshoot

Kobe is only a short train ride from Kyoto, so next I met my friends (we'll call them Pennsylvania and Iowa) in Kyoto after my time at the conference. We stayed at a really nice hostel together, called K's House. It set a high bar for our hostel standards. We met up with Iowa's friend for lunch, and wandered around town to see Gion, the busy district known for geisha. We didn't see any geisha, but we discovered a Kyoto treat on the street: yatsu-hashi, a doughy triangle pastry filled with chocolate, red beans, or other tasty fillings. On our walk, we saw many traditional buildings along small old streets, and stumbled upon a kimono competition!! At the competition, there was a Miss Kimono, and we took a picture with her.

The competition was being held at a temple ground, and there were some activities in an old-style house onsite. Pennsylvania and I tried our hand at fan-throwing, an old-fashioned game. I won the practice round, but she won the real thing. We had to throw fans at a target to knock it down; the aerodynamics of the fan made it difficult!

After that, we walked around more and shopped for souvenirs. Pennsylvania and I were secretly plotting to make a scrapbook for Iowa, because she was planning to leave in November. But it seemed our plan was suddenly foiled when we were browsing at a stationery store and Iowa had the bright idea to make a scrapbook for herself! Pennsylvania and I exchanged despairing looks but in the end we revised our plan and planned to give Iowa some photo prints instead, to add to her scrapbook.

The next day, the three of us rented bikes from the hostel — a steep $7/day compared to $1/day in Vietnam! — and rode through the fall chill to Fushimi Inari shrine. This shrine is famous for the thousand torii gates lining the path up the hill. The shrine is guarded by foxes, both real and stone, and it was cute to see them dressed warmly for the cold weather. We got to the shrine early enough to miss the tourist crowd on the way up, so we got some good pictures. On the way down, I'm glad Iowa made us stop at a little teahouse; we had a nice cup of green tea with Japanese manjuu and had a nice view of all the gates and trees below.

I really wanted to try tofu in Kyoto, because it's known for that, among other things. But my companions were not as keen, so we had ramen for lunch and biked all through the city, stopping at a scenic garden along the way. Our goal was to get to Arashiyama, a giant beautiful park where you can see monkeys in the mountain and walk through a bamboo forest. But we underestimated the distance and time with our bikes, and it was starting to get dark. So we took the tram and arrived just at twilight. The bamboo forest was too dark to get the best experience, and I have to say I was a little crushed. It was also pretty cold, and the monkey park was already closed. So we wandered around Arashiyama and then just went back to the city, a little disappointed but hardly the worse for wear in terms of adventure. We got lost returning to the hostel but finally made it, and hopped on the train back to Nagoya.

I'm so glad we were able to get to Kyoto for a short time. I'd be happy to go back someday, and Pennsylvania is especially determined to go back and see those monkeys! I have a few things to check off my list, although eating parfaits is not one of them. On our second day in Kyoto, I managed to eat three parfaits and didn't even realize it until we were on the way to Nagoya and Iowa pointed it out to me. I say, you only live once!