Justin-Klein.com – Life of a Traveling Programmer

In the mountain town of Kurama, the first torch is lit.

Being back in Kyoto is awesome. No more sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, wasting time and breathing poisonous exhaust fumes while at the same time pumping money into the oil-billionaires’ pockets. Instead, day after day of pleasant bike rides, fresh air, and exercise. Because I’d done so much riding during my last stay, this time I decided to slap an odometer on my bike – just for the sake of curiosity. I’ve only had it on there for a week and have already ridden over a hundred miles.

Kurama Hi Matsuri (Kurama Fire Festival). Now that’s what I call a party!

During that week I’ve also run into nearly a dozen familiar faces – some near the Ritsumeikan campus, some downtown, some at Starbuck’s, and even one up in the mountain town of Kurama. I’ve attended a Rits Halloween party and gone bar-hopping on Kiyamachi. I’ve reunited with Dylan, Stuart, and Shivana of YHM (焼肉食べ放題!); Jason from the Kokusaika; Hitomi, Bobby, JJ, Marcus, and even met Carla, a previous Rits student whom I knew only through the countless stories I heard during my first semester in the dorms.
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My first month’s apartment.

Hello everyone from KYOTO!

After more than 24 hours of total travel time, I have arrived once again in the Land of the Rising Sun. And it feels very, very strange.

When I first got off the plane and into the taxi at Osaka International Airport, I was every bit as nervous as I had been for the past few weeks. I kept my fingers crossed that the feeling would change as soon as I saw the familiar streets of Kyoto, but in my daze of jetlag and exhaustion I barely even noticed where I was until just moments before the driver dropped me off in front of my new office building.

Facing the other way, the thin entryway/kitchen/laundry room

Here I was met by the company’s PR guy with whom I’ve been in very close E-mail contact over the past 5 months. We had a quick laugh about the excessiveness of my luggage and he helped me upstairs for a first glimpse inside my future workplace. But before I could even get through the door I was greeted by 25 smiling faces – some French, some British, some American, and some Japanese. Phew, there’s one thing to scratch off my list of worries: my co-workers seem to be pretty damn cool!

The president and a few of the core employees then escorted me into the conference room, past a big leather massage chair, every video game system known to man, a ping-pong table, and my soon-to-be workstation. A good work environment with a fabulous location. One more off the list 😀
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