So, Garrett and I went on a trip to Nara. It is a beautiful city with many traditional looking buildings and many sights to see.

Entrance to Todaiji Temple

Statue in Todaiji Entrance

Todaiji Temple

Daibutsu (big buddha)

View of Nara

In Nara, there is Nara Park, which is famous for it’s amazingly docile (and cute!) deer. These deer are just as tame as everyone says. You can buy crackers to feed them, but I would not recommend it because when you do they get crazy. If you have food, it is likely you will be surrounded, and they will probably bite at your clothes. Even if you do not have a treat, you can still walk right up to them and pet them. Sometimes they even follow you around!

Deer and some Japanese schoolgirls

Super friendly deer

They get aggressive when fed

A deer warning sign

Sento-kun, Nara's creepy mascot

 

By the way, this is just a side story, but while Garrett and I were in Nara, some strange thing happened to us (actually mostly to Garrett). Anyway, we were just walking around minding our own business when this cute little Japanese elementary school boy and his friends stopped and said to Garrett, “Excuse me.” So Garrett said, “Yes?” and the boy asked “Where do you come from?” Garrett said “America.” and boy asked in return, “Do you like Japan?” Garrett answered, “Yes. 　はい。”  (はい means yes in Japanese). And the kids looked a bit surprised that he answered in Japanese, so Garrett said “少し日本語がわかります。(I understand a little bit of Japanese)”. Then, the kids all smiled and said “ありがとうございます。ありがとうござくぃます。(Thank you, thank you.)” and walked off. Then, a little bit later, another group of elementary schoolers stopped Garrett again and asked pretty much the same questions and asked if they could take a picture with us. I think it is because Garrett has pretty light hair compared to most Japanese people. But the whole incident was very funny. I wish I had a picture to show you, but I did not think to take one until after!
So anyway, that was our trip to Nara!