Girton Grammar Gojo Trip 2008: Day 8

After accidentally sleeping in, Liz and I found ourselves in a rush to pack our bags up ready to check out of the Kyoto Dai Ni Tower Hotel. The group met up at 8:00 and we set off to see Kiomizu Temple. We pciked up some breakfast at a Seven Eleven on the way. To get to the temple, we had to walk up an extremely steep road. It was a relief to get to the top.
We looked around the temple, for about an hour; the temples and pagoda`s provided a good photo opportunity looking out to the city of Kyoto.
We then split up and were allowed some shopping time at the shops set up along the road. The walk down was much more enjoyable than going up. Some of the items bought were wall hangings, fridge magnets and lucky charms.
We then walked back towards the hotel to find a plcae for lunch. Half of us chose to have ramen (noodles) while I and seven others chose Okonomiyaki because we liked it so much last time.
After lunch we changed into our school uniform, then lugged our suitcases to the station. We caught a train to Gojo which took about forty minutes. We were met at the Kashiharajingumae station by Mr. Morikawa and the Gojo school bus which took us to Gojo High School.
We met our host families and attended the welcome party. This was our first look at Gojo High School. I went home with my host sister, Asako, and her mother. On the way home we stopped at SATY, the local shopping complex to pick up food for the week. This included cereal, pocky, haichu and a welcome drink of CC lemon (Japanese version of lemon squash).
We went home and had dinner (spaghetti bolognaise), then I had a shower and went to bed after a long day.

Ashlee Elliott