Another study abroad student chiming in. I’m spending the semester in Edinburgh, a location much less exotic than Kyoto, but still pretty fun. I’ll also be spending the summer working in Koeln, Germany, which makes 8 months abroad.
I’m glad you’re having such a good time nikonikosuru. When I was in high school I spent a few weeks in Hiroshima in a homestay program and took a day trip to Kyoto. I remember it being gorgeous. 
Inari Shrine is a little outside of Kyoto proper. It’s well worth going. My tip: go when the weather isn’t great. There’ll be fewer people and if you’re lucky, the place will be all misty and ethereal.
The weather this winter has been really odd. I was in Tokyo two weeks ago and the temperature was up to 18 celsius and some people were wearing short sleeves. A week later, they had their first snow of the year.
I think Sublight is in marketing. I’m in education, though. I’m just a lowly lecturer, but still, I have more disposable income than most people I know with similar jobs in other countries. I’m aiming to be that big shot prof with the secretary and the big house, though!
Enrollment is way down accross the country, so employment opportunities aren’t as great as they used to be.
Tanaqui,
Ahhh, cassis! I had no clue what it was for a good few months. It tasted like watered down apple juice to me, that’s what I thought it was originally. It’s really popular in chocolate, candies, and drinks, but I have yet to see the actual fruit here.
We do have the 99 en shops here too. There’s two of them really close by and I go there occassionally for frozen foods and the rare 8 slice a loaf bread. Man, I really miss normal bread! There’s a cluster of markets closer to my apartment where I get the bulk of my groceries, fruits, and vegetables.
Apples are so expensive! And of course now that they’re expensive, I’ve become addicted to them. I will never take apples and (real) cheese for granted ever again.
I do like Japan because everyone dresses so smartly. It’s a breath of fresh air from the sweatpants and NASCAR shirts back home. Sometimes it does seem too much (such as the girls always wearing high heels, I could never do that!).
The boys are pretty. I’d never want to date a guy that looks prettier than me 
but I see them as fun eye candy. 
I prefer the more masculine guys as opposed to the androgynous ones that are very pleantiful here, but I know a lot of girls who like the feminine type.
I was called a gajin the most during a weekend trip in Toyama, luckily it hasn’t been many times (no more than 10 from what I have heard). It’s just a surprised that they’re surprised, I guess you could say.
I can’t really think of hobbies in particular…I really should find a manga to get into to improve my reading. I was recently given a TV so I watch it before falling asleep (I love watching the English teaching shows! :D). I love bike riding, so I try to get out and bike around as much as possible. I really like it because it’s so safe here I can bike ride in the night, too. When it gets warmer I plan to go out as much as possible on my bike, exploring. I also enjoy cooking, so I like finding various vegetable stands and supermarkets, comparing prices (like a mom :p) and seeing what foods I can make with what I buy. I’m taking lots of pictures and I like to doodle on my sketchpad here and there, I was thinking of drawing some of the flowers I see or some of the scenery when it gets warmer outside.
Hey Stucco, I had a friend study abroad in Edinburgh for 6 months this year, and two of the girls in my dorms come from that college. They seem to really like their college from all of the things they tell me about it.
And thank you for the tips, Jovan! This year’s weather has been weird from what I’ve gathered. The teachers tell us that it has been unseasonably warm. It figures that as soon as our two month break rolls around, it reverts back to winter. There was one week where it looked like it was going to be spring for good: Bright, sunny, and temperature in the high 50s. Then it decided to snow the next day. Ugh, it reminds me of the finicky Michigan weather.
If my crazy teacher can land a job as a professor and keep it, I have no doubt that you can! Good luck!