It's made from rice straw. It's twisted together, not braided.
That evening I started getting a stomachache and then that night I got sick. So, I ended up not going to school on Tuesday and went to the doctor instead. Interac sent a translator to go with me to the doctor. It's good that I had someone with me because I don't think I could have even found the building (or walked there) without her.
Going to the doctor was a strange experience. The doctor's office looked really old and there were shelves overflowing with files everywhere. It was clean, but messy. They just took my temperature, asked me a few questions, and then gave me some medicine. I didn't have to fill out any forms or anything. They didn't even ask me if I take other medicines before giving me medicine. Also, here you can get medicine at the doctor rather than going to the pharmacy. I don't know if it's always like that or if it was just the type of medicine I got. The good thing though was that the whole thing was very cheap. For the checkup and three different types of medicine (which I had no idea what any of them were actually for) it was only 1200 yen. Of course, I'm paying for insurance so it's not quite that cheap really, but still much cheaper than the US.
Also, it was interesting that one of the first questions the doctor asked me was if I eat school lunch. When I said that I did he asked me if other people had gotten sick. I wonder if they've had a problem in the past... :P
I returned to school on Wednesday. I wasn't feeling great but I figured I could make it through the day because the only thing I had to do was attend the closing ceremony. The rest of the day was spent sitting at my desk studying Japanese. I generally hate such boring days (and I did still hate the fact that I had to be there doing nothing) but it was more appreciated then.
I was glad that I was feeling quite a bit better, because the next day we were going to Kyoto! :)
Thursday, December 23rd
I had a slight stomachache and didn't have tons of energy, but I still felt better than the day before. We left in the morning to take the ferry across the Suruga Bay. When we got to the beach, I saw that the mountains across the bay had snow on them. :)
I have taken the ferry twice before. The first time I couldn't see Fujisan at all. The second time I could see Fujisan for a little while but it was pretty hazy. This time the view was crystal clear! It was definitely the most clear view I have had (unless you count seeing it while I was on it, lol). In the full size version of this picture I can see the snow blowing around on the top when I zoom in!
After the ferry arrived in Shimizu, we took the shuttle bus to Shimizu Station, took a quick train ride to Shizuoka Station, and then took the Shinkansen to Kyoto.
That evening we went to Kiyomizudera. It was very nice at sunset!
I started feeling a little bad again later that evening. I was worried about how I would feel the next day, but I ended up feeling great. Yay! :)
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