Hi Guys!

Classes have started, and I hope that not everyone is too freaked out at this point! Just remember, keep up with your homework, do all of your assignments, and come to class, and you are going to be just fine.

I hope you all had a great weekend this past weekend. I had a really good weekend myself. This weekend I thought a lot about the environment, and how beautiful the countryside is in Japan. I climbed to the top of Atago-san with a friend of mine. It was really great!! I love hiking in Japan! I took the bus from the Keihan Sanjo station in Kyoto and went to Kiyotaki. From Kiyotaki I climbed up 924 metres to the top of Atago-san. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and I saw some amazing views of Kyoto while I was hiking. On top of Atago-san, there is a shrine. I thought the shrine was very interesting, especially the wood carvings of wild boar. I also had lunch on top of Atago-san while I was looking out over the beautiful views of the Japanese countryside. I made some tuna onigiri, and the sure tasted delicious after all the hard work of climbing to the top of the mountain!

After I had lunch and I looked around on top of the mountain, I started to hike towards Takao. However, I missed the short hiking trail to Takao!! I actually took a different trail that was much longer. However, the trail I took was really beautiful, and there were no people around at all. In the end I was very lucky because I got to see some beautiful flowers that I had never seen before. They were large white blossoms almost five centimetres wide. I also heard some really cool birds while I was hiking. It sounded like the same bird followed me during the entire hike. Also, if my friend and I had never taken the wrong trail, we would never have seen an ancient jizo with no head. It was a little bit scary, but I left a couple of coins beside the statue to bring me good luck. I hope it works.

Anyway, by the time I got to Takao, I was really tired, but the entire trip was worth it. There was only one thing that bothered me while I was hiking. From time to time, I would see garbage at the side of the trail. People had left empty coffee cans and plastic bags in some places. I picked up some of the old cans and put them in my backpack. It's so easy to carry your garbage back home, I wish more people would do this! However, it was still very beautiful - I recommend that you all get out on the weekends and go hiking!

Study hard, and I’ll see you all in class,

Scott.