The flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong took a really long time. It got pretty cold in the plane, but somehow I managed to sleep through most of the flight. The old woman next to me chatted with me a bit (we talked in Cantonese) and she was telling me about all the places she has traveled to.
The flight from Hong Kong to Japan didn't take very long. It was so nice and sunny on the way to Osaka, but once we arrived, it was dark and rainy! By the time I got through customs and retrieved my luggage, it was already 4pm, and I spent another 30min (maybe more) trying to find my friend S and his girlfriend A. Luckily, they found me and we had dinner at a restaurant somewhere in Kyoto before heading to the hotel. The drive took a pretty long time. I'm really grateful for their help!! I was so dead by the time I arrived in Osaka and it was dark and rainy.
What a cute couple!
Miso ramen!
I stayed at the El Inn for one night. The toilet was so amusing!! I used the water spray thing for the butt! That was an oddly nice feeling XD haha
Picture below is the view from my hotel room.
This morning I met all the other UC students that are studying abroad with me. We had orientation in the morning and free lunch at the cafeteria in Doshisha campus. Then we went to our apartments (4 other UC students live in the same building as mine) to wait for our luggage to arrive, and then we went as a group to the welcome party near campus. Got lost a lot today, but it was fun! Glad I had the other people with me the whole time.
This is the main street (Kawaramachi) that my apartment building is on.
After getting our luggage, we headed over to the welcome party that's at a restaurant near campus, but we got lost. People in Kyoto are really friendly though. We asked a lot of people for directions and they were all very helpful. We made it to the party late, but there was still food (very good food!) and we got to chat with the other students more. Then I went with a whole bunch of UC students and one Doshisha student to a Doshisha dorm party, where we met and chatted with a lot of new people. Got lost going back home too, but found it after walking a while!
Will update more another time!