Today I took a field trip to the Naritasan-fudoson Temple with my pilgrimage class. We got on the train from Hirakata station and headed to Korien station. When we first got down, I was a little disappointed because the weather was very gloomy. I had been looking forward to this trip because I thought it was going to be sunny and we would also be able to admire the Sakura. Though the weather continued to stay gloomy, I found myself still enjoying the trip. My professor took our class to multiple shrines in the area and gave us a brief history lesson about each of the shrines and the traditions that they practiced. He also took us to a park and surprised us with a picnic which consisted of a lot of food that his wife made. It was a great day overall and it gave me the opposite to talk to other people in the class that I usually never speak to. Though the Sakura still weren’t in full bloom, they were absolutely beautiful. Next week, they are supposed to be completely in bloom in Kyoto and I am eagerly awaiting the trip already.