Patrick: Wrapping things up

So it's finally over. The SCTI quarter has officially come to a close. Final papers, presentations, exams have been done away with and the closing ceremonies have concluded. For the rest of the summer, we're on our own spread out across Japan. The independence is a little daunting, I must admit. Here are a few memories of the last week of SCTI:

Below is a gallery of other people's design cubes for the architecture class. We all spent a lot of time on the models, more time than was actually required it seems. I really liked how everyone had such unique ideas and concepts for their ideal living space. And in the end, the efforts put into realizing those ideas really came through , making the individual presentations all the more interesting.

Other dCubes

We each took turns explaining our motivations for the design cubes. Each person's presentation was around 10 minutes with an extra 5 to 10 min critique from the architects. The critiques would often run off on tangents and extend into the next person's time. As a result, we ran a little over time.

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Here's what my apartment looks like from shichi-jo 七条. I'm on the 5th story facing this street. I just found out last night that the city is a little noisy at night with the random police sirens and roaring engines of street racers interrupting the otherwise standard city static.

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On Thursday, Brian, Daryl, Todd, Jean, and I went to Amanohashidate 天橋立 in northern Kyoto. It is one of Japan's three most scenic locations 日本三景; the other two being Miyajima (which we went to already) and Matsushima Bay (in Sendai, north of Tokyo on the Pacific coast). It had been raining for the past week on and off so I was a little worried about the weather. Fortunately the skies held up and the sun even came out later in the afternoon. Transportation was a little expensive since the express trains cost extra hence a lot of people dropped out of the trip last minute. Jean is here on vacation so she had a 3-week long JR pass making the trip much cheaper. However, the location is definitely worth going to and coupled with the great company, I think we came away with an invaluable experience in the end.

As for what we did there... when we arrived, we walked across the isthmus that connected the lips of the bay. It was a 3.2 km walk in a park of pine trees on one side and a stretch of beautiful beach on the other side. I think this was my first time on a beach in Japan. Since it was a weekday, there were very few people there making for some great landscape pictures. Once we crossed to the other side, we decided to hike up the mountain to the vista point up top instead of taking the lift. I think we ended up regretting the choice a little since it was a humid day and the stairs were really really steep. By the end of the 30 minute climb, I was sweating through and through; absolutely drenched from head to toe.

The view on the top was definitely worth it though. The place is known as Amanohashidate, literally a "bridge in the sky" because when you look at it upside-down through your legs, you should see the waters reflect the sky making the sky and water indiscernible. Hence the isthmus sitting in between looks like it is rising into or from the sky. The reflections were not quite that clear but it does look quite amazing upside-down (through Brian's legs). From the side we were on, the sand bar wasn't visible. I've seen postcards, probably taken from the other side, where the sand bar looks like the spines on a rising dragon giving rise to the other nickname the place has which I haven't figured out how to read in Japanese but includes the kanji 飛龍.

From the vista point, we hiked another 40 minutes up to a temple further in the mountains (the bus was really expensive... 1100 yen for two-ways). The temple was nothing too special compared to some of the other temples we've seen back in more central Kyoto. But there was another observation deck which provided another stunning view of the place. Another 1 km up was supposedly the No.1 vista point in Japan. We were too tired to confirm the claim, but I must admit it is great marketing. Who can easily pass up the No.1 of anything?

On the way back, we found out the restaurants were still making preparations for dinner and closed for business. So we headed back to Kyoto and had ramen at one of the Kansai area's most famed ramen-ya. I think I liked the one in Ichijoji better though... The place was called 新福菜館 and located about 5 minutes from my current apartment. Next door is another famous ramen-ya but it was closed on Thursdays. I'll most certainly make my way back to try it out some time next week...

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The SCTI farewell party was held from 6 to 8:30 pm on Friday at the Royal Hotel on kawaramachi. It was quite a fancy occasion attended by our professors, our host families, president of Doshisha University, and other prominent figures involved in making the SCTI program possible. The hotel was also pretty classy and the food was delicious. My only qualms are that the timing was too punctual, too perfect. We ended at exactly 8:30. I didn't even have time to eat dessert...

After some speeches given in a mixture of Japanese and English, we had an excellent taiko performance by Rio and Deni. The host families were absolutely stunned how well foreigners were able to perform such a traditional Japanese art form. Following that Jason and MickeyD rapped in English and Japanese recounting some great moments that occurred during this past quarter. Then came the slideshow that Emily prepared by choosing representative pictures from all the ones we took while here in Kyoto. Looking back, we really had quite memorable experiences. The places we went to, the things we ate, the people we saw, the temples and shrines we visited, the friends we made.. I can't even begin to describe how special these memories mean to me now and I'm not even gone from Japan yet. I think that has got to be the most important reason for keeping this blog. Without it, my memories would mix and mingle and things would inevitably sift down into the abyss of forgetfulness.

After the party, a few of us went to karaoke on kawaramachi. It was going to be our last event with each other in a while so we really wanted to make it a night to remember. Of course, alcohol was kept to a minimum since people had early departure times the next day to their internship sites. I think Jason deserves the credit in really substantiating what it means to karaoke with our crowd. We have developed (unconsciously or consciously I don't know) this tradition of ending on Bon Jovi hollering the lyrics at the top of our lungs in a circle connected by arms and shoulders. The camaraderie is... absolutely fabulous.

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The next morning, I woke up early to attend an exhibition match between Doshisha and rival Ritsumeikan. The location was a sports facility near Kyoto station. It was quite a big complex and almost looked like a hotel. There were 6 courts in all. I only played 2 matches since I had to leave early to finish packing and prepare for my move, but again I was surprised by the organization and the dedication the players displayed for the match. The Doshisha players were better as a whole but the good players of the other school were indeed very good.

After that, I went home, packed my things, had lunch, and then my host family brought me and my luggage to the apartment. Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better residence. The location is absolutely perfect, being close to Kyoto station where I can take the JR and kintetsu lines as well as to the Kamo River where I can board the keihan. Convenient stores and restaurants are also abundant in the area. The room is much bigger than a Stanford dorm room, with a living room the size of 10 tatamis. It comes furnished with kitchen utensils, a closet, mirrors, a fridge, microwave, rice cooker, water heater, a/c (that's really really important given the imminent heat wave), a tv with a DVD player, and a laundry machine. Overall, it is quite comfortable and all my utilities are paid for so all I have left to worry about is to not lock myself out because there's no friendly RA right down the hall to go to for emergencies...

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I've updated my panoramas so here's the link to the gallery again:

Panoramas