It was mild and overcast with occasional drizzles of rain like a light mist. The temperature was definitely cooler than what I was used to in Houston, so my first stop was a coffee shop around the corner from my hotel for a cup of something warm.
I discovered that my host family has two toy poodles named Melo and Sena! My host mother, Kazuko, was worried that Sena would try and attack me, but we ended up getting along really well. I've never met a pair of dogs with so much personality!
On Saturday, I visited a famous park around the corner from my house called Tetsugaku-dō Koen, which means "Park of Philosophy" in English. The park was founded by a philosopher named Inoue Enryō, and every area was dedicated to a different philosophical teaching. The inside of the park was like a whole new world, bustling with nature; I couldn't believe that it was just a five-minute walk from my new home!
