Nara; Land of Deer and Long Bus Rides (Maybe even one of the world's largest Buddha statues)

 Today as the big field trip ending of orientation at KGU, all the foreign exchange students went to Nara!
Nara is kind of a big deal, and home to some of the biggest and most incredible Buddhist temples in Japan.

Today we went to the Honryuji and Todaiji Shrines, and the deer feeding course in Nara. It was a nearly 2 hour drive out from KGU, but it was once again a Norway party on Bus 1 (Whoop), so it went by real fast. When we arrived we toured the Honryuji temple; it's the one with a 5 story pagoda, and is the oldest wooden structure in the world.

Also met this super cool Aussie, Ian. Totally had a camera battle, with my .22 against his howitzer... Turned out pretty well though. New friend!

This is Ashlyn from Boston and her best friend, the Cookie Monster. They were selling cookies for the deer for 150 yen, and the deer would follow you all around Nara until you gave them you last cookies. I myself got headbutted and nearly gored by the bucks over there after a terrified classmate handed me the remainder of her cookies so that she could escape the deer onslaught. It was a good time.

 These two here are some sort of Guardians against those who came into the temple with malignant intent, and they were awesome. You could find them at all the major gates in the shrines.

 Definitely speechless on the sight of the Todaiji Shrine. This is the biggest and most impressive structure I have ever seen. And inside was a Buddha statue so big that it must have been 10 times my size at least.

Everything about this place was AMAZING and I really hope that everyone reading this  gets to come here someday, because it was a fantastic experience. My only complaint was that it was raining too hard for me to get as many pictures as I wanted. :3

Next update as soon as I go on another adventure!