I am living at the Okazaki International Student House, a recently constructed four-story building with about 50 rooms for students and researchers. Once accepted at Kyoto University, it was easy to organize the stay, but one must first win a lottery if the demand is high. After two to three rounds I “won” a room.
On the first weekend I used the last chance to do some hanami, before most blossoms have fallen from the cherry trees.
In the first half of the day I visited the southern Higashiyama region, all the way from Kiyomizu-dera to Heian-jingu. In the afternoon I went shopping in Shijo-Kawaramachi.
Spending a minimal time in the flat, I just grabbed my camera and started exploring. The weather was perfect and the Sakura were in full bloom, probably only for a few more days.
Air travel has picked up again in the recent times, but the direct connection between Zurich and Osaka by Swiss is not restored yet. My journey therefore included a stop-over in Paris, from there it was non-stop. At the airport
As mentioned in my last post, I just left Zurich for a research exchange in Japan. Today I want to talk about how this came about.
In the beginning of April I am moving to Japan (yet again), this time for a bit longer than usual. I’m going to live in Kyoto for half a year to do research as part of my PhD.