After being stuck in the Shanghai airport for 14 hours, I finally arrived in Osaka. It’s a nice city, but this is not my destination; mine is Kyoto. A quick 90-minute drive later, I was there — a place I will call home for the next month.
During that bus ride, I had the opportunity to interact with my fellow classmates and travelers, who seemed to be much more excited and prepared for Japanese culture than I was. Nevertheless, I was sure that we would have a great time.
Having been to Tokyo before, I expected Kyoto to be the same. But my first impression of Kyoto was that it is a lot more local, with fewer skyscrapers and more low-rise buildings. It has a much more relaxed, traditional feel to it — almost as if its architecture carries centuries of history.
On my first night, I tried the metro. The transportation here is very convenient—all we need to do is scan our metro passes (provided by the school), and we get on the metro to our destination.
If you do not want to ride the metro, you can also take the bus, which has been my preferred method. It’s clean and quiet, and you almost always have a place to sit. If you want to travel to places that are farther away, such as Nara or Osaka, you can take the express train instead of the local one.
Of course, we have a class to take. Attending classes at a local university made my experience more authentic because it allowed us to interact with local students.
Our host university is Kyoto Tachibana University, a small institution that receives few exchange students. The local students were very drawn to us and extremely friendly, so we quickly made local friends.
Furthermore, the campus is beautiful. On our first day, we got a tour of the university. With lush green trees and bright orange (Tachibana) brick, the campus contrasts yet harmonizes with nature, making the perfect first impression and a great start to our academic journey abroad.
One weekend trip we took was to Nara, famous for its deer park. We walked to the station and took the train to get there. As we walked to the park, we were instantly greeted by deer from across the street.
There were so many deer, but also so many people to feed them. A pack of treats (deer cookies?) costs 200 yen, and holding a cookie instantly draws the attention of the nearby deer.
Greetings from a friendly deer
They know how to bow, and it’s so cute to see them ask for a cookie by bowing. You can pet them, feed them, or simply just sit and enjoy nature.
As the former capital of Japan, Kyoto is filled with historic monuments, shrines and temples. Our accommodations were in the perfect spot in central Kyoto, which made traversing the city more convenient.
One of our first excursions was to the Yasaka Shrine. Experiencing the Azureus overcast, in conjunction with the warm-toned paint and lighting, and the gentle breeze — altogether, this was one of those moments when I was glad I had picked Kyoto.
As I hit my two-week mark in Kyoto, I am grateful for the experiences we’ve shared together. We are excited to experience everything that this beautiful city has to offer.
We still have plenty of time to explore Kyoto and potentially plan new weekend trips, such as Tokyo. Being in Japan has allowed us to immerse ourselves in a new culture, embrace our passions, and inspire people from all over the world. It’s moments like this that are truly unforgettable.
This post was contributed by Gordon Feng, a Global Ambassador for May 2025. Gordon is a sophomore studying abroad in Kyoto, Japan.
