From One Extreme to Another

 

February 9a , 2026

We landed in Osaka in the late afternoon. It took over two hours to get through immigration due to some improperly filled out paper work by a student. But once we finally all got through, we met up with our local program provider who led us to the train and then the subway to get to the hotel.

A Labubu in the Hong Kong airport.

Labubus were one of the hottest selling toys last Christmas, invented by a Hong Kong artist.

When we flew into Osaka the last two times, we had to take a bus to get to Kyoto. The 80-minute train ride was much quicker, but we missed the nice bento boxes we were served on the bus last time.

Even though we ate a meal in the airport, a meal on each flight and a meal before we left, we were hungry again! It was a 12-hour travel day. So, we walked to a small ramen shop for a quick dinner. We checked into our hotel room, which was impossibly small for two people. It felt like we were in a tent with an RV-sized bathroom. There was space for one suitcase to be opened, if you were in bed. We learned the hotel was full because of a marathon, and we got to move to a larger room in the morning.

At our new country orientation in the morning. If you look out the window you can see it was snowing! The transition between India and Japan could not have been any more drastic. India is loud, colorful, vibrant, diverse while Japan is quiet, monochromatic, subtle and homogenous. And India is warm and Japan is freezing cold!

Despite the cold, it was certainly picturesque.

It is unusual for Kyoto to get snow.