I bumped into a lovely Kentuckian family guided by a young Japanese man who used to be a student in Louisville. I asked if I could tag along with them if they were heading to Gion tonight. They were, and I could! Through my Kyoto contact whom I found through Journeywoman.com, I learned how to get a metro/bus/train pass (not JR) and passed along the info to my new friends. The crowds were insane, and who knew that Japanese could be so loud?! It was great to have company to get lost with - although their young son could have done without the miles of walking and Japanese kids touching his blond hair, I think! We saw a huge float all lit up and loaded with men playing bell drums. Gorgeous! 
We never made it to the Yasaka Shrine for the dragon dance, but we had a ball anyway. I have become very adept at asking in Japanese - where is ___? and apologizing in Japanese that I don't understand Japanese. Tomorrow's goal: Can you please help me? in Japanese.
No comments:
Post a Comment