James Wynn

I return from Japan, a 22 hour trek, and come back to the apartment where I had only lived 3 days before leaving. All my stuff still in boxes, the rest of the apartment evolved without me. Strange how upon arriving in Japan I somehow immediately felt ‘home’ but my actual apartment seems very foreign to me. I figured after some unpacking, and rearranging, the place would seem more lived in and natural, but here I am at 5:00am still up and uncomfortable. Surely it will pass after a good night of sleep.

I was tired when I got off the plane, but now I just sit here trying to sleep and thinking of all the things I have to do, all the things I want to do, all the people I want to see, and what they are likely to be doing right now.

Daily Wisdom:
“Nothing worth doing is every easy”
“If you follow any story far enough, it turns to shit, but it turns to gold too”

Last semester sucked, the finals week that followed equally sucked, and between my intersession class, moving to a new apt, and preparing to leave the country, I was utterly overwhelmed. But now I’ve finally gotten to wind down here in Kyoto with some good friends from back home, and some awesome new friends from here at Ritsumeikan. I’m going to set up a gallery with pictures of all the stuff I see, and if you are lucky I might toss up some good Japanese slang for your amusement

If you’ve ever thought about studying abroad, and haven’t, and I mean for ANY reason, you need to stop your debating and do it. It is quite possibly the most interesting and enjoyable experience that can be had in college. The friends you meet are awesome, and the new perspective you gain from experiencing another culture are absolutely invaluable.

And now a synopsis of my first week in Kyoto in 20 lines or less:
It started with a flight like any other, huge lines and almost missing my first plane in OKC, transferring in Denver and almost missing that plane, and finally a 3 hour lay over in LA before my decently comfortable 11.5 hour flight to Osaka. The train from there to Kyoto Station was also long (~45min), boring, and uneventful, but once I got there and realized I didn’t know where to transfer to and had no idea how to contact anyone, it was extremely interesting. And by interesting, I mean very… disconcerting. I was too tired to really think straight, over paid on my locker, couldn’t figure out how to use the phones, and couldn’t remember any Japanese for the life of me, but in the end I found a little hostel to stay in for only 2300 yen (~$21) right before they closed. The next day I got it all sorted out through email and checked into the dorms and have been having a blast ever since, hanging out with my new Japanese buddies at karaoke and school, and drinking with my friends pretty much every night. Wednesday I went to Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Pavilion) and then to a welcoming party where I met a ton of kick ass friends which then took me to karaoke. So in short, KYOTO KICKS FRIGGIN ASS HARDCORE MONKEY STYLE!!