Autumn is finally upon us. Riding in the bus back home today I noticed the leaves have already started changing color and it has become a bit more chilly.

Speaking of weather and the seasons, I have finally found a good use for my balcony. Sitting outside with a blanket, watching the sky turn pitch black and the stars appear one by one with a cold beer in one hand and my ipod in the other... it hardly gets any better.

Now, on to school. I have Japanese classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, which is really nice because it means I can sleep in every other day. The classes are really fun as well, we get a lot of practice speaking the language and just like home we have fun making lots of mistakes.

My other classes are good fun as well, Mondays I have religion which I enjoy very much, Tuesdays I have literature and Thursdays I have Politics in the third period and Diplomacy in the fourth. It´s all very interesting and homework is not that bad so this semester is looking good so far.
As for other activities, I tried joining the Kyodo club at school but they (like many other clubs) won´t allow first year students to actually participate, they just get to clean up etc. Archery costs 20.000 yen a month which is insane and I haven´t tried any others yet.
I just might try the horse riding club, if I can get over the fear of freakishly tall foreign horses.

Now that I have finally gotten into the routine of things and received my sports shoes I can start to put my feelers out for jobs and circles (like clubs but are organized by the students, not the school), I´m also thinking of finding clubs or courses in downtown Kyoto, whatever I can get my hands on, I just want to learn something new and enjoy a hobby while I´m out here.

Not that it´s easy to get bored around here, my weekends are already booked a few weeks ahead, we have bowling coming up next weekend and a trip to Nijo castle, which should be interesting. The 26th., I think, a few of us are going to see Noh and Kyougen plays, something I am very excited about. Friday after that there is a tutor meeting where we´ll be having shabu shabu (sooo delicious!) and the weekend after that we´re going on a field trip with religion class. We´ll be going to see a monastery inhabited by the "marathon monks" of Kyoto. Click here for more information. :)

Now I have to go prepare dinner, as an exception to most nights I won´t be having cup noodles. I think I´ll heat some frozen chinese ... rolls and boil some baby corn and even heat some rice. Ahh the joys of living on your own.

Best regards to everyone back home, I miss you all and wish you could come soon to visit.
Again, I will try to send out packages as soon as I am able and find proper gifts.

Till next time,
-H