明けましておめでとう！

“Akemashite Omedetoh”

That means ‘Happy New Year’. And what a happy new year it will be, eh? Let’s hear it for the year of the cow! Moo!

A little culture lesson:

Around the start of the new year, stores in Japan like to sell fukubukuro. The kanji is 福袋, and a direct translation is “lucky fortune bag”, but a more descriptive translation might be “bag of mystery”, which is just something I made up, on the spot. Wow. Now, onto the lesson! My observation on the origins of this delightful tradition, is that it stems from the practice of trying to make leftover, un-sold merchandise into something everyone wants. The most popular types of fukubukuro are, of course, clothes bags. Shirts, jackets, scarves, dresses, etc, anything from the past season that has not sold, is put into a bag with anywhere from 2 to 10 (give or take) other objects, and can be priced in the range of 2500 (around $26) yen to 15000 yen (around $160) (again, give or take some). I, of course, partook in this traditional even, purchasing a fukubukuro at a department store in Shinjuku.

My bag was 3150 yen (about $33.50). It looked like this:
What was inside? Well, a lot of stuff. My favorites are my white fluffy cap, and a big sweater, which is really, REALLY big. My least favorite item is the hippy bag from hell (brown, [probably] fake leather, absolutely dripping in fringe). In total, I give it the value of OVER 20000 yen (over $213 dollars), even though there are a few items I would NEVER wear.

1-Ugly Hippy Bag. 2-Leopard-Print Jacket. 3-Long Black Jacket (with fleece lined hood).4-Cute Fluffy Hat!5-Odd, checkered Fleece Coat.6-White Fleece...Jumper (looks like a bathrobe mixed with a wrestling singlet!). 7-BIG/Long Striped Sweater. 8-Long Sweater/Dress. Depends on how you wear it.

Good buy, yeah?!!

Next, I should tell you a little about my trip to Kyoto!

I went with my two [American] friends, Briana and Kathleen. We left at 3pm, December 23rd and returned to Tokyo 10 am December 29th. We used a special [cheaper] ticket, called the Seishun Juuhachi Kippu. Which means somethingsomething 18 Ticket. It’s a little hard to explain (look it up in wiki!!) but basically, I have 5 (non-consecutive) days (24 hr period, ends 12 pm the day you get it stamped) to go anywhere in Japan, using only local lines. So, when we left Tokyo at 3pm, we arrived 8 hours, 5 train transfers later. It was a little stressful, but so much cheaper than Shinkansen! We went to a lot of temples, my favorites were Shimogamo, Kiyomizu and Chioin. I have been to Kiyomizu in the past (four years ago, when I went to Osaka through AFS), but this time it had a different feel, because it was raining! I also went to Kinkakuji this time around, and the show made it absolutely stunning! Check out this picture:

Kinkakuji in the snow! Click on it for a bigger size!
I really like this photo :) Kinkakuji looks good in the snow!!

Being in Kyoto was such a nice change of pace. Tokyo is quite hectic and, especially since I’m a student, there is not a lot of time for me to relax (without worrying about homework and my social life). Kyoto is a fairly big city, but without the big city feel. There are not a lot of big buildings (you can see the mountains from almost any part of the city!), and it’s built on a grid system (so it’s very easy to get around on foot). I was so relaxed! I mean, the hostel was so-so (and our last few nights we had MALE roommates), but going to all those temples, and seeing nature was really a great change!

The scenery at Shimogamo! What a great, winter day!

The rock garden at Ginkakuji. It's so green here!

Most of my money was spent on transportation and lodging, so I didn't leave myself a lot for food/entrance fees. Luckily, my host family gifted me with a little food money, so I didn't have to worry about that. I ended up buying my siblings various charms, hopefully I will send them soon. I know Ann need hers *wink*

Well, take care!