Day 7: deer in Nara are less shy than the people

It had been a week since I had left home and I'd already felt like a different person in some respects. I'd met so many different people and had so many new experiences every single day that I'm having a hard time keeping track at this point. After checking into my new hostel in Nara, however, I was starting to really feel the anxiety and loneliness of being really alone. It seemed that each hostel I went to was progressively quieter and quieter. To overgeneralize a race: Japanese people are very shy. There wasn't much interaction with humans while I was in Nara - I had a good amount of fun, but it was mostly had with deer (they were EVERYWHERE!!!!!)

I'm being kind of harsh.

Perks: It was really tourist friendly, easy to get around and generally nice.

I visited Nara Park which was really neat and paid visit to the giant Buddha in Todaiji Temple. I think photos will better illustrate this day so I'm going to break off my reliance on text here...

okay... this is the point where i was basking unabashedly in 6 year old dreams coming true.

precocious deer, shy japanese

hi again

hold on a minute - I had a spiritual experience.

Despite the fact that the Daibutsu was like an active beehive of tourists, there were a few seconds that swept me off my feet. Before you enter the temple, there's a giant pot full of burning incense creating this thick veil of perfumed plumes. You walk through, squinting a little because smoke is sometimes unkind to the eyes. There's a moment where the cloud lifts revealing the giant holy body, hands poised to preach where you can't help but stand in awe, whispering a faint "wow". But that's just me talk-talk-talking.

(photos didn't really capture the size, but you can rest assured that these guys are massive)

ate my map...

On the way back to the hostel, I got to order for myself in Japanese! Well not really in Japanese... I ordered in broken English with Japanese words of courtesy thrown into the mix. Either way! I wasn't entirely sure of what I had ordered but it was very delicious - oiishi des! And eating alone was an interesting experience involving a lot of people watching and getting to eat as sloppily as I dared.