I have now been in Japan a bit more than 24 hours in Kyoto. I so love it here! Got in late and was picked up by a good friend, Rhett, at 7:15pm at Starbucks across from the new train station. We went out to my favorite (to date) Okinawa restaurant. Having been up for 30 hours with no sleep, I slept well in Rhett’s guest room from 12:00am until 6:00am this morning when we needed to be up to get to a country auction up in the mountains 1 1/2 hours from Kyoto that started at 7:50am. It was cold and raining hard all morning, but at least they let me stand under the roof this time! Eight hours of standing on cold concrete in the windy winter was a painful, but amazing adventure. No one is allowed in these auctions without a license. Rhett thinks I’m cool enough to slip in, white skin and all. We found lots of crazy good pieces straight out of Kyoto area country homes.
I am always impressed with how the Japanese treat each other/everyone; always with respect. Just walking into a 7-11 is refreshing, complete with bows and greetings, coming and going. Coffee at McDonalds is served with a smile and a bow. The conductor on the train from Osaka to Kyoto walks to the front of each car and bows to everyone before collecting tickets, then smiles and bows to each passenger after he punches the ticket. Monster and I are happy here.
Dinner out tonight at a vegan Japanese buffet, then up at 5am for a trip to the once-a-month huge temple flee market, then back up to the mountains in the afternoon to see my favorite country collector, Jiro. Life is too good to be fair. I couldn’t deserve this!
