Japan, I love you.

I am on my fourth day in Japan and loving it. Why I decided to move to Korea and not this lovely country is entirely beyond me. Japan puts Korea to shame in almost every sense of the word (which is a huge insult to Korea, given their tumultuous history with Japan... but it`s true).

We (three foreigner friends and myself) spent our first few days in Hiroshima, better known as the city that was nuked by America. It was a very eye-opening trip and I would be lying if I said I didn`t consider renouncing my American citizenship by the time I finished walking through the A-bomb museum. What a terrible tragedy. And, perhaps not terribly surprising, the States has never issued a formal apology for wiping out tens of thousands of innocent lives in one of the most inhumane ways known to mankind. Notwithstanding, I loved the city of Hiroshima and I`m amazed at the way they`ve been able to recover over the last few decades.

I`m now in Kyoto and loving every moment of it. This city is beyond gorgeous and I really want to forget even going back to Korea and just find a job here. We spotted three real geishas wandering the streets yesterday afternoon. I was told before I came here not to get my hopes up about seeing them because they try to avoid public attention, but I was lucky enough to snap a few pictures of them. (I will be posting my pictures when I return to Korea, since I was an idiot and forgot my USB chord). The temples and gardens are insanely beautiful here in Kyoto. I found a huge Zen temple today and wandered around the gardens for a few hours, taking a few moments to journal and read every now and then (until I was attacked by an enormous green spider... nature didn't seem like such a great idea after that little incident.). I love this city!!

OK, this internet time is costing me an arm and a leg. Japan is a lot of things, but it sure isn`t cheap. So, I will bring this to a close and leave you with one of my feeble promises to post pictures soon. Have a good day/night!