I'm at the Santiago Guesthouse in Kyoto. 2000 yen per night. Plus 200 yen hotel tax per night, but whatever.
The people are of course the best part. But I guess I needed a reminder. In fact, I came back for two of my last few days just so I could give two people a proper goodbye.
Both of them were my teachers. I guess that's their commonality. They've both been my teachers of Japanese. And Kyoto locals. One is Nepalese. I met him at the hostel where he was staying for two weeks because he broke up with his girlfriend whom he was moved in with and was trying to find a new apartment. He took me to bathhouses and taught me what to do, all the while giving me new Japanese phrases as we dumped cold water on ourselves before getting into the cold bath, or sitting in the sauna. He's a character.
And one was Japanese and Brazilian. But really Brazilian. She grew up there and moved here in middle school. She was bullied for being mixed, but she's gorgeous. She spent more than half her life here in Japan but most of her Twitter is in Portuguese. She showed me some great songs. Now I want to go to Brazil.
But I'm coming back here. Japanese has been on my list of goals and I knew I wanted to stay in Asia, but not quite sure where. Being here taught me where to next. It's funny how you just need to take the next step, and then the next will be visible. A reminder to have faith and take that step.
I'll move here next year. It will give me something to work toward in terms of Japanese, and business. Push comes to shove, there's a great tourism industry to capitalize on, particularly in Kyoto. But I should stay steadfast to my goal and build my own business. Can we do both?
I'm here by myself in the cafe on the first floor. Guests get a cup of coffee for 300 yen. I'm surrounded by pottery, which I haven't really paid attention to until now. There's a whole warehouse behind me with even bigger pieces. Something tells me this place is too chill and not marketing itself enough.
But again, the people were the best part. You meet friendly people from around the world with plenty of stories and perspectives to fuel hours of conversation. You can always grab some drinks from the convenience store and gather around the table in the kitchen. A high school student from Beijing taught me poker. A backpacker from Germany taught me to appreciate America more. And a Canadian showed me that even 6 months is not long enough in this country.
I guess that's what Kyoto has been for me. A place for teachers. I've learned a lot of Japanese, and had a lot of unique experiences because of the kindness and patience of new friends. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have stayed here this long, nor have come back last minute to say better goodbyes.
I gave each of those two special teachers these prayer charms from the Yasaka shrine. An omiyage (お土産/おみやげ). One I gave to wish him prosperity in the business that he dreams to start. The other to wish her luck in achieving her goals. I hope to see them both prosper.
Thank you to my teachers on the road. May we meet again!
元気でね!
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