Kyoto & Tokyo

Yesterday I met up with a friend of mine in Kyoto. She was going to school in the states for a year and now she has returned to her home town of Kyoto. Yesterday she was my guide. It was great! We ate udon for lunch and then saw the sights. I bought more stuff to bring home... I didn't plan very well becaue my suitcase is tooooooo small for all my stuff! My host family in Osaka keeps laughing at me and my shopping problem. I told them I don't know when I can come back so I want to have no regrets about not getting something! I'm going to have to send a HUGE box home. Oh well! After seeing the sights in Kyoto we walked around the city. It was so beautiful because a festival was starting today. My friend and I went to izakaya for dinner. Izakaya is cheap food and beverages. It's a good place to hang out for a long time becasue everything is cheap! We had a mother load of food!! I've already gained TONS of weight! Everyone thinks you eat so healthy here, you do, but you eat so much! HA HA! My clothes are a little tight on me.
Today I'm going to meet with another friend that I haven't seen in 4 years. She was living the the town where I was working, but she has now moved to Tokyo. So, I'm taking the bullet train (shinkansen) to Tokyo. I will meet her for dinner (AHHH, more eating!) and then I'm meeting one of my old students and staying with her for the weekend. She has some big plans for us, with lots of eating! HA HA! She is going to take me around the city on Saturday. Of course that means more and more shopping! Then Sunday we are going to Kamakura to see the sights and that night go to a fireworks festival! It's major festival season here. Then Monday I have to say good-bye and fly to Hokkaido to see my old students and co-workers!
I can't get over how fast time is moving! I wake up and next thing I know it's midnight or 1 am and I'm going to bed again! Who put time on fast foward?