During the four day holiday we managed to relax most of the time, but I did sneak off to Kyoto for a little bit of hiking. I started off with a bus ride to Ginkakuji, and spent about half an hour wandering through the grounds and spacing out. It was a good way to relax and take my mind off of work.
After looking through the grounds I followed a pathway behind Ginkakuji that lead slowly and steadily up the mountains. It was about a 30 minute hike uphill, but since I was so out of shape from hiding in air conditioned rooms all summer, I got some pretty good sweat going.
At the top it took me a little bit of time to realize that I was looking at Daimoji, which is a giant kanji symbol for big (大). From the ground it is a little hard to take in, but from google maps you can see it here. The pattern was made up of concrete blocks, and once a year they pile flammable material on top of the blocks and set it on fire at night. This was my first time to see it up close, and it was a little different from what I had expected.
After drying off in the sun at the top of the mountain, I headed back down the hill to grab some lunch, do some shopping for Kuniko, and then head home. It was a 3/4 day trip, and it was nice to get away from the regular routine.
Today I am headed back to work, and I’ll start with mostly new students. Three of my students had the pull/connections to manage another six months of English classes, so good on them. I’m looking forward to meeting the rest this week.
