First day of REAL travel in Japan!

Today was really fun for all of the group members. We traveled by bus, train, and bicycle to the city of Kyoto. It seemed to be an upper class type of area, because the stores were very expensive and the locals were very well dressed. But we didn't spend much time at the station/mall. We visited cultural landmarks such as a castle and BEAUTIFUL temple. The architecture was really the highlight of my day. I never knew that the Japanese people were so complicated in their design of monuments. The scenery is one aspect that embellishes the beauty, then they have excellent curling roofs on the buildings. Each landmark is also decorated with a wide assortment of decorations of statues like dragons or phoenixes. And the most interesting structural design to me is the creaking floorboards in the castle that we visited. They designed the boards to make noise in case their enemies entered the building unannounced. It is obvious that they put a great amount of energy into preserving these buildings for many years to come as well. We were not able to touch many objects, take pictures, and there was also heavy surveillance to ensure that nobody defaces the artifacts. One major problem has occurred on the trip though. It seems that the swine flu made its way into Japan. It didn't come from us by the way :) So we have had to alter our plans for this week because the college that we were planning on visiting has been closed to ensure that the infection doesn't spread any more.