I'm Here, I'm Here, I'm Here!

I apologize for not writing sooner. We have not come across many computers thus far (one at our hotel the first night and the one I am on now at the University) and when we do find one, all 22 students and both professors try to get on them at once. It's also a lot slower to type because many things are in different places on the keyboards. Right now, I am between two lectures from professors at the university and have decided to write as much as I can before I get called back into the room. Our first day in Japan, we went to a Kabuki performance that featured three plays (an hour each with a ten minute break between the first two and a half hour break before the last one for lunch). They were "new kabuki" performances and have departed from many of the most strict traditional aspects of performance... more of crowd pleasers. There were another three plays performed in this show, but we had to leave early to catch a train to Mt. Koya (the city of Koyasan) where we then spent the rest of that day and the following two nights and two days in a Shingong monastary with monks. We had class every day, did a LOT of reading and journal writing, and got up every morning at 5am to sit in in zeazan (I may not have spelled that correctly... it is sitting on top your heels with your shins on the ground) and meditated while the monks chanted and did a fire ritual. This went on for about an hour and a half. The day before yesterday, we met our host families for the first time. We have spent the past two nights with them. The first night, my host mother prepared a huge vat of food because all of her friends wanted to come to meet me (and bring their children, also). However, by the time it was done, everyone had headed out to piano lessons, homework, etc. so we had a lot of food to eat. My family is very kind. My host father works late (gets home around 10:30) and leaves by 5 in the morning. They also have a daughter named Aio (pronounced ah-oo-ee). She is very shy, but we started bonding last night over homework. Today, my host mom made me lunch and gave me an umbrella because it is expected to rain.
My initial impressions of Japan are that I would really like to return... maybe in the summer. It is chilly, but about half of the buildings are boiling (the others are freezing). It is hard to know which to dress for and expect. I enjoy the countryside a lot. The cities are huge, but very clean. I am impressed by the cleanliness and modernity of them. I really enjoyed the monastary, but my host family was quick to point out that "Kabuki and monastaries are not Japanese culture." They are more in the realm of Japanese tradition. Modern Japan is much more western with KitKat bars, Mc Donald's, and computerized toilets (YES, I do mean computerized! They have all sorts of settings I don't understand and don't think I need to understand.) The air here is clean even in downtown Kyoto and Osaka. In the mountains, there is brilliant green moss and orange, purple, and green lichens on everything. The temples are beautiful and the form of other buildings is practical, functional, and quite simply elegant.
Others are waiting for the computer, so I will write more later.
I hope this gives a quick picture of what I am experiencing. I promise to add more when I find the time and ability!