Day 3

Lots of stuff happened today... I'll have to make this quick cause I'm several days behind now...
(the almost 200 photos above will probably give you some idea)
The schedule:
8:45am Breakfast
9:00 Meet with Prof. MacDougall (Program Director)
welcome and brief review of Orientation Schedule
9:15-9:45 Short Mid-Town Walk
Wings Kyoto, Youth Health Center, Museum of Kyoto
9:45-10:00 Arrival at Doshisha
10:00-10:30 Meitokukan Facilities Tour
10:30-12:00 "First Matters"
Meet staff, orientation packet, IDs, etc...
12:00-1:00 Lunch on own
1:00-2:00 Exploring Kyoto and the Kansai Region (Prof. Wigen & Prof. MacDougall)
2:00-2:30 Travel to Okazaki District by subway
2:30-5:00 Cultural Walking Tour & Discussion (Prof. Lagner)
Nanzenji, Miyako Messe, Heian Jingu
5:00- Optional entry to Heian Shrine Garden, Directions to downtown and Coop Inn

Yeah... busy... anyway we stopped by the Kyoto Imperial Palace after the facilities tour and saw lots of Sakura (cherry blossoms). Lunch is great, we are given 800 Yen a day (I got a lot of food for less than that), plus I can eat curry and tonkatsu every day! Lots of walking... After the Heian Shrine, 9 of us went and walked the "Philosopher's Path"; a pretty path with Sakura that follows a little stream and has tons of little shops to the side, we all had some Takoyaki (first time I've had it), it was pretty good. We tried to go see a temple, but it was closed by the time we got there. Then we had an adventure trying to find someplace to eat; we tried to find a place close by, but all we could find was a place in some back alley that couldn't take 9 people, some smoke-filled place to eat, and some specialty shops. Eventually some people decided to eat at a little eating place. I went with 3 others to find a place near our hotel. The place we found was really good, I had katsudon. It was a little more expensive, but it was good. More fun tomorrow (though less pictures).