Kaiten sushi, deliciousness on a conveyorbelt and PuriKura!

It has been a little while back but still fresh in my memory, kaiten sushi!
On april 14th  Miku (my lovely Japan<>Oranda exchange friend) and her friends invited me to go for kaiten sushi, which is sushi that comes by on a conveyor belt as if you were waiting for your luggage at the airport, only this time tasty luggage.
Me and most of the exchange students went out to meet up with Miku and her friends at Kokusaikaikan station and from there we traveled to Nijo.The sushi place was a short walk from the station!

Inside: Kyoto Seika University

I didn't have any expectations of Kyoto Seika before I went to Japan, which was good for a chance, mostly I have high expectations and everything turns out to be less than that.

But I can sum up my thoughts about Kyoto Seika University in a few words: Never. Want. To. Go. Back.

This uni is in one word amazing. The architecture is fresh and calming (to me at least) and the whole university is surrounded by greenery and forest which make the air smell fresh here up in the mountains, far away from all the traffic.

There are two way of getting in to Seika. By going down the main road and up to the front where you can park your bikes and where the free shuttle schoolbuses come and go. 

And there is this wonderful route through the woods that leads you straight in the back alleys of the small town around Seika and up into a climb through the forest, entering Seika at the back.

Going down the path from Seika into the forest

A lovely sunday, Arashiyama.

On Sunday me, Jesse (London) and Jane (Australia) took off at 10:30 to Arashiyama.

Shoe lockers where you change from slippers into shoes when going out.

Arashiyama is a little village west of Kyoto city, it took us about 30 min to get there from our dorm.
I went there once already back in 2010 but seeing it is absolutely my favorite part of Kyoto I didn't mind going again.
Arashiyama is famous for it's bamboo forest and bridge that crosses a big river.

School days

So the last time I wrote on here was sunday and I told you how very excited I was for my first day at school.
Well, that turned out differently. I went there on monday, all ready and excited. I had dutch cookies in my bag to share with my new classmates. But I came there only to hear that today was no classes and I would meet my supervisor/tutor the next day.
A bit bummed out I walked around the university a bit and went for a short cycle around the neighbourhood of the uni.

My wonderful blue bike really brightens up the already beautiful scenery.

Biking mice from Kyoto

Hi everyone! Good to have you here.

Some people have been asking me why I am not writing in Dutch. It is simply because in English is easier to express myself, I rather read English books than Dutch books. Also at the moment I am being surrounded by people who only talk english so I even think my thoughts in english. It is just easier for me.

Sometimes I will be translating text into Dutch but with lots of writing it take alot of time. So sorry guys but it will be mainly in English. But if you are really having trouble just use google translate.

Also there seems to be a problem with people using an iPad who want to post a comment. I have no idea what is causing this, it seems to be only the problem with ipad. I will look into a solution!

Thursday and friday I had to be at the uni for a tour around the complex, getting insurance and have my Japanese language level check.

The check wasn't really a test, it was a little conversation with the very sweet and patient Japanese teacher. She spoke English and Japanese with you to see how your level was and we talked about goals. I have to start working on my writing and reading for now.

The university is HUGE and I don't want to go back to my own school anymore because this is place is just amazing. The art shop is big and have everything imaginable, every faculty has it's own huge building on the uni grounds, we are surrounded by forests AND the most important thing: the cafeteria. The cafeteria has amazing, delicious and most of all big dishes, side dishes and desserts. I had a big plate of rice with deep fried delicious pork cutlet ontop with a nice savoury sauce... and it cost 230yen which is like 2 euros. This cafeteria is just amazing where you can get all the free green tea you can drink.

I will post some pictures and tell little stories with them now because it is late and I have my first day of school tomorrow!

Some of the lovely exchange student. This is such a great group of people!

The first days

Yes I should have giving this title more thought, because eventhough it sums up the coming content very well, is it very poor. Excuse me I am still experiencing jetlag.
It could have been worse, last time going to Japan and leaving from Japan I was experiencing heavy migraines and was feeling sick to the bone.

This time around I had a very funny, slightly crazy british guy living in Kyoto next to me on the plane who amused me greatly.

About the name: A Kitsune Udon

Dutch text starts beneath the picture

Already a few people have been asking me what my blog name 'a Kitsune Udon' means.
First off, Kitsune Udon is a dashi based soup with Udon noodles in it and as you might have guessed it is a Japanese soup.
Udon are thick wheat flour noodles, unlike ramen noodles which are thin and more well known in the western world. 

The kitsune part in this soup are deep fried, triangular (though sometimes rectangular) pieces of thin sliced tofu, called aburaage .
Now the triangular part is important, they represent fox ears, because Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox. And seeing my familyname (de Vos) in Dutch means the Fox the circle is complete.. oh and of course I am also crazy about the soup itself ;) Very delicious. But you can wake me up for any type of udon soup anytime.

So that is what the name is all about. The 'A' in the blog title actually refers to me, I am A Kitsune in the Udon, the big soup which represents Japan and Japanese culture.
You can see in the blog's headbanner I illustrated the little fox "ears" pointing out from the hot soup, curious about the island of rice, karaoke and Udon she finds herself on.

Kitsune Udon, photo via Tumblr

Een paar mensen hebben al aan me gevraagd wat de naam van mijn blog betekend.
Kitsune Udon is een Japanese soep op basis van dashi vis boullion met dikke Udon tarwe noodles erin.
Het Kitsune gedeelte in de naam van deze soep zijn driehoekige (heel soms rechthoekige) diep gefrituurde, zoete tofu plakken, aburaage genaamd.
Het feit dat deze plakken driehoekig zijn verwijst naar de oren van vossen, want Kitsune betekent vos in het Japans. Nu is toevallig mijn achternaam de Vos EN ik ben helemaal gek op udon noodle soepen!

Dat betekent de blog naam dus. De 'A' voor Kitsune Udon verwijst naar mij, ik ben A kitsune in de udon soep, de grote soep die staat voor Japan en de Japanese cultuur.
In de banner bovenaan dit blog zie je de illustratie die ik heb gemaakt van een kom udon soep waar twee vossen oortjes boven de hete soep uitsteken, nieuwsgierig naar het land van rijst, karaoke en udon soep waar zij zichzelf bevindt.