Kyoto by Night

Since I've left the clubbing scene many years ago, there's not much to report about the night life in Kyoto. Other than bar hopping and clubbing, I don't know what else there is to do. Even that seems hard to come by in this town. Yale and I don't feel like going out to fancy restaurants and we've haven't done something like bowling (even though I've seen a few lanes while on the train). The first night, we hung out with everybody in the hostel. Most of the people here are from England and Australia. There's a very nice Frenchman and a Danish girl. Anyway, it's typical for Yale and me to be the only Americans. I definitely don't try and have the "America is #1" attitude—I don't think I'd make many friends that way. Given that I share a bedroom with half the people I hang out with, I'd rather have them on my good side.

Speaking of hostel life, it's crazy to think that some people here travel for months at a time. I love to travel, but these people are hard core. One guy says he's traveled for a couple of years (probably in the past five) and he plans to retire in Thailand. He looks like he's in his late 20's. I must say that backpacking is fun, but something that I wouldn't want to do for more than one month. I'm not sure how Yale's going to do it. I think I might get burnt out. So much time on planes and trains (and automobiles)...