Studying

... is what I've been doing for the last three weeks. And going out to restaurants with friends, but mostly studying. I'd almost forgotten I was here as a university student...

So there's no big trip to tell you about, but I did just want to share a few pictures from around Kyoto.

This is part of the local tram tracks that you go past on the way to school. The people who live along the road grow flowers up the bank and there's always something new to look at.

 The azaleas have just started losing petals but I think they still look pretty!

 Speaking of flowers - in ikebana class we reached the modern art part of its history, so our teacher explained a few ideas of what you can do, but then set us loose on our own designs for the first time. I... tried to make a butterfly. It was really fun, though!

And on the topic of insects - we found this huge dragonfly on campus the other day! It's kind of exciting to see so many flying about (though my friend from Taiwan was less impressed - she said they have so many dragonflies on their university campus back home that they're actually kind of a pest).

We went to the Tofu Cafe again the other day - I enjoyed their summer menu very much.

I also almost forgot to mention, but I went to see fireflies the other day! With about half of the population of Kyoto, it felt like. Fireflies are only about at a very particular time of year - the rainy season - so when there's a chance to see them people flock there. The Uji Botanical Garden had late opening hours for a week especially for firefly viewing.

The entrance at dusk was really pretty, and there were swarms of bats flying around just above our heads.

 This is the best picture I can give you of a firefly, I'm afraid. Photography is banned in the garden in case flashes disturb the fireflies (and even if I were allowed to take pictures I'm not sure my phone camera would be much good).

It was pretty mesmerising watching the fireflies floating around under the trees. It was also just lovely to hang about in the garden at night, when the weather was cool! (Everyone warned us about the heat and humidity of Kyoto, but this right now is ridiculous!)

So with report deadlines and presentations I can't promise a blog post in the next couple of weeks. But we do have a lot coming up. There are a few tourist spots in Kyoto that I'm going to try to visit while I still can, and soon it'll be the Gion Matsuri (possibly the biggest festival in Kyoto?). Also I have a trip booked to the Moss Temple (you have to reserve in advance by sending them a postcard, it was all very exciting) and I'm really looking forward to that!

(p.s. I just realised I didn't write about the Takarazuka, either. I'm so behind! It was fabulous, I definitely recommend it. There you go.)