Same same but different

I've only seen a few glimpses of the Kyoto I remember: the river bank where Michelle & I spent a memorable night in the midst of a crowded party celebrating cherry blossom season, with the pink blooms luminous above us in the moonlight; a familiar temple; Shakey's Pizza. Many of the iconic sites we have visited on this trip are new to me, leading to Imo's question, What did you do here for 6 months? The answer is that I lived and worked here, spent hours in Pub Africa, and largley ignored the touristy areas. We scavenged gomi (hard rubbish) items, including bicycles, and at local festivals ate the Japanese version of a sausage in bread - barbecued eel on a stick. I also learnt Japanese, studying each night and practising each day, and could get myself around pretty well in the local lingo. While my Japanese vocabulary is now limited, every word and phrase I can scrape up has been useful. The taxi drivers have certainly appreciated my attempts at conversation, with two giving me small presents. When I first came to Kyoto 25 years ago after 6 weeks deep in the Japanese countryside working as a golf caddy, I was amazed at the amount of English around - on menus, street signs and train stations. This time around, I'm amazed that the amount of English does not seem to have increased at all, despite its popularity with foreign tourists. Way to go, Kyoto.