Here! Part 3

Ok I am back.

I forgot to mention in the previous post that while in Kyoto I also walked the philosopher's path, a route taken by an ancient philosopher which is about a mile, to Ginkakuji (below).

It was after this that we went to Osaka for a few days. In Osaka I went to Dontonbori bridge (below left), and Tenjinbashi suji (below right). Dontonbori is a famous bridge in the Namba area where the Hanshin Tigers (Japanese baseball team) go to celebrate a victory. Tenjinbashi suji is one of the largest shopping strips in Japan.

I also went to Tenmangu shrine (below left), a shrine where students go to pray for good luck in school, and Osaka Castle (below right), an ancient Japanese castle.

After going to Osaka it was time to head back to Sapporo. We took a plane back. After staying in the dorm for a few more days I moved in with my host family.

My family consists of a husband and wife and three sons. One of the sons lives at the house. They also have three cats (two adults and one kitten). Their house is really nice. It is small, but very comfortable. I have my own room and toilet. My room is actually rather big, I have a bed, desk, dresser, and couch. The family has been really nice since I've gotten here. They don't speak a lot of english and I don't speak a lot of japanese, but we are able to get the jist of what we are saying. we use dictionaries a lot.

School starts tomorrow (by the way over here it is Sunday night), at least my Japanese class does. I took a Japanese placement test last friday to determine my level. I find out my score tomorrow. I have 3 hours of Japanese every week day except Wednesday. I am also taking electives, but they do not start until next week. I will let everyone know how school goes and other things about my host family and stuff I do in Sapporo. Let me know if you want to know anything in particular.

Stephen