that is soo cool, i love kyoto but not in summer :D

although lots of event in kyoto in summer. the burning of the kanji in the mountain should be happening soon.

ahhh i miss kansai so bad..

Yeah, what I don't miss is the weather there. Always a few degrees hotter than Osaka in summer, and a few degrees colder in winter.

oh yeah winter , its freaking cold there compare to osaka too.

Yeah...how is the weather over there, Akihiko?

It was rainy when I arrived in July. very rainy. now it's kind of mild. How's the weather where you're at MMM?

We are about to enter a mini heatwave where I am, in the Pacific NW. Not looking forward to it. Though it is more mild here than it is in much of the US. Kansai is often in the 90s and very humid this time of year, so be thankful if things are mild now.

You have been there since July and haven't started school yet? That's a bit unusual.

You are very lucky . . .Have a great time!!

I imagine the exchange kids might run on a different schedule to the main school so as not to clash with the US school timetables. Especially as OP is only there for 1 term.

Ah, I miss Kansai 懐かしい夏菓子夏河岸 8[

I understand what you are saying, but the Japanese school schedule is April to October, then October to April. Starting in the middle of August seems difficult to me, but I am sure they find some way to adjust.

I know the term dates, but that's how our schedule was run. We started last week of August and then worked over the break through till Xmas, then we got a month off through January. Sucked coming back second term though as of course, there were hardly any Japanese students around for half of it!

I guess it depends on the high school and how many exchange kids they take in. Either way, most high school exchanges don't require any kind of Japanese fluency, so it's not like they have to slot the kids suddenly into the set curriculum half-way through the term; they have their own lessons. Also gives the Japanese kids and teachers a chance to settle in before the excitement of foreign visitors. Certainly at my school here in England they don't even like doing school trips before half term.