In the autumn of 2019 I went to Kyoto for half a year to study Japanese at Kyoto Institute of Culture and Language.
The studies went very well and I learned an incredible amount in just half a year. I was the only student from Sweden in our class, and with many of my classmates Japanese was the only shared language. On day 1 it was, of course, pretty difficult to communicate. But towards the end of the term we could have simple conversations, explain things and joke with each other. The development was really amazing!
The studies are high tempo, and you probably can’t be lazy with them. This is definitely an education you go to for results. There is a lot to learn every day and it’s good to figure out an efficient studying technique.
That being said, there is still lots of time for exploring the city and the country. There is lots to see in Kyoto and the surrounding area, most obviously the abundance of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. The most famous ones in Kyoto are probably the Golden Pavilion/Kinkaku-ji and Kiyomizu-dera, which you should definitely visit. But there are many others, which often have fewer tourists. Two of my favourites are the Silver Pavilion/Ginkaku-ji, which lies near the school, and Jōjakkō-ji which is on the other side of the city. Just outside of Kyoto is Fishimi Inari-taisha, which with its thousand torii gates might be one of the most famous Shinto shrines in all of Japan.
Kyoto also has a modern city centre with department stores, shopping streets and night life, so there is a very broad selection of experiences to find. If you really want to see the city city buzz you’ve seen in movies, you can easily take the train to Osaka where the crowds are tuned up to another level. It’s also easy to go to Kobe by train, or travel up to Tokyo for a weekend. In half a year I felt like I had only started to scratch the surface of what to see and experience in the Kyoto area, and even less of all of Japan.
Thank you
for reading this blog entry! ありがとうございます!
0 件のコメント:
コメントを投稿