i was at kyoto university this summer thanks to the mit misti japan program. this was my first time in japan, although i’ve been studying japanese for ~3 years. i’m jlpt n3 level so i can get around and talk to people fine, but not about advanced topics or be as expressive as i’d like.

some things about japan i didn’t know beforehand:

• you pay for the bus when you get off, at least in kyoto
• there’s no jaywalking
• bikes need to be registered like cars, and most bike locks are inconspicuous and look like they’re part of the bike on the back wheel
• lots of clean public bathrooms including inside convenience stores, and you don’t have to buy anything. also lots of drink vending machines, and i like barley tea
• everyone stayed for the entire credits when i watched the chiikawa movie
• lots of people using umbrellas even when it’s barely raining or barely sunny. i’ve gotten into the habit of using it for sun because it’s been so hot
• goshuin is a book you use to collect calligraphy from temples and shrines that you visit. i got mine from ginkakuji (silver pavilion)
• white lines on the walls of temples/shrines/palaces indicate how imperial it is, with 5 being the most and 0 being the least. the person who told me this joked that adidas is a medium level of imperial
• a lot more of a cash economy than in us, e.g. my rent (180k yen for 3 months), for temples and goshuin, some restaurants and the dining hall
• i went to a ping pong tournament (wtt yokohama round of 16) and it was so silent, you could hear the ball boy/girl drop the ball or people say encouragement from the back of the stadium
• learned there’s a yume wo katare (jiro-style ramen) near where i live and went, since there’s one in boston but i’d never been

a little bit about my daily life in japan:

• my goal was to do something new every day, and i think i succeeded at that. at first it was very easy, like going to famous attractions in kyoto, but later it became more like walking around a new neighborhood, trying a new food, or talking to someone new.
• on weekdays i go to rims (research institute of mathematical sciences) and work in the lobby. it’s just a 15 minute walk from my apartment and has a nice tea + water dispenser. they did gave me a desk in an office with other visitors, but it’s more isolated in another building so i don’t go there much except to call friends/family because the office is usually empty. i like going out and doing something after work even if it’s just going on a walk, or to a mall or cafe.
• i’ve explored a different city every weekend! yokohama, nara + uji, osaka, sapporo, kesennuma, shanghai, datong, beijing, hiroshima, tokyo, seoul, kobe.
• it’s been hot like 95 degrees, but i’ve gotten used to it to some extent. while walking around and exploring, i basically have to constantly drink water. if you know me, you know i drink a lot of water, but still i’ve been dehydrated twice.

i think i was successful at being social in japan, even though i was the only one doing misti in kyoto.

• a tip i got during the misti japan training sessions was to “say yes to everything,” which normally is terrible advice. but what this meant was that when people in japan would invite you to something, saying yes even if you’re unsure can lead to more future opportunities and meeting more people, which i found important since i didn’t know anyone in kyoto beforehand.
• for example, the first week i saw some people at rims for a conference were going out for dinner and i just asked to joined, and they were very welcoming! then during the first week we hung out twice more, going to kyoto gyoen, an izakaya, and heian jingu.
• i also attended a few seminars that my professor told me about, just once or twice, and this led me to meet some kyoto university students.
• i stayed in a shared apartment with 11 rooms (but usually only 5-7 were occupied) with people coming in and out but staying for at least a month. i chose this over a studio so that i could meet people, although we would talk in english because it was all non-japanese people.
• i met an mit alum from the misti retreat dinner who now lives in kyoto.
• i met someone sitting behind me at wtt yokohama because i was cheering for lily zhang, and he had played in the same table tennis club as her in california, but now coincidentally lives in kyoto.
• i met up with my japanese language partners and friends from science tokyo/imperial last summer in yokohama and tokyo!

i thought kyoto was a great place to be for the summer for me, because there are a lot of famous temples/shrines, a lot of nature nearby, and it’s very peaceful and not as crowded as tokyo. some of my favorite tourist spots:

• heian jingu shrine: besides the shrine, there's a really beautiful garden with different parts, including lilacs and a lake.
• otagidera nenbutsuji: lots of unique buddha statues that i found cute but some of my friends found scary, there's a bus every hour from the arashiyama bamboo forest.
• okochi sanso garden: also in the arashiyama area with a nice view.
• fushimi inari: the iconic thousand red gates, there are lots of steps but it was a surprisingly gentle hike. the first time i went was on the misti retreat and it was downpouring so we didn’t go too far, although we saw a frog and a crab! the second time was with my parents, and we went to the summit.
• ginkakuji: nice viewpoint over the temple and surrounding area, and there's the philosopher’s path nearby.
• the kamo river: one nice place is demachiyanagi, where the river branches like a Y, and has a stone crossing. the photo is of a smaller crossing upstream. some of the stones are turtles!

my favorite cafes: these were near ichioji, a quiet neighborhood close to where i live that seems to have a lot of cozy cafes and restaurants.

• inkyo cafe: record bar/cafe, really good coffee cream banana cake + yuzu tea, i was the only one there
• 遠藤珈琲店: record cafe, possibly the best hot chocolate i’ve ever had (very dark and rich), i was the only one there

if you ever go to kyoto, let me know how it is! i can give more recs, and tell you random stuff like how the 6 indian restaurants near kyoto university compare lol. maybe relevant if you’re staying in kyoto for more than a week.