Saying goodbye and the art of the geisha

(Sorry to jump back in the timeline, but I wasn't able to post this earlier)

Kyoto, Japan – I have taken just one step on this six-month road through Asia, yet I can’t help but feel like this first stop is an ending.
Although I know I'll be back in Japan this spring before heading home to the US, it's like I'm saying goodbye to the country for a good while. I’m trying to soak up all of the country I can, flex my Japanese vocabulary and knowledge to ensure my memory of this place is strong. To prove that yes, I am worthy of claiming to have spent more than a year here.

Here are a few random things I'll miss about this country:

1. Talking appliances - most amusingly, the toilet, which also plays music and the sounds of flushing for those who suffer stage fright in public restrooms.

2. Vending machines on every corner - one never goes thirsty here - with both hot and cold beverages. And beer!

3. Jasmine tea

4. The nearly in-unison, loud greeting from the entire staff of a restaurant as you enter. And the plastic food in the windows out front, depicting each item on the menu.

5. Quirky and hilarious instructions on decorum at public places, such as at the roller coaster near the Tokyo Dome, which, during the what-to-expect video as you wait in line, instructs for the ride: "Please refrain from excessive shouting."
....

Temples, temples, temples! Kyoto is a rare city where you can turn a block and truly, astonishingly feel like you've been transported centuries in the past. Here, the ancient art of the geisha thrives. In a little area called Gion, east of the river that runs through the city, there are cobbled streets lined with short sliding doors - doors that seemingly never open. The area is quite deserted - quiet, like there's a shared secret. But as dusk falls, starkly white-painted faces with bright red lips appear as the doors slide open. Out steps a woman in full makeup with elaborate up-styled hair and an amazingly beautiful kimono. Teetering on four-inch tall wooden flip-flops, she shuffles hurriedly to her assignment for the evening. Or she welcomes a Japanese man, inevitably in a suit, into her garden (behind those tiny sliding doors emerge huge, candlelit gardens and tatami rooms). Only the very wealthy can enjoy the company of a geisha, as their craft is very expensive. The rest of us just stare mouth agape at the brief glimpse.