an unusual night out
This past weekend, my boss (Yukiko) from BLESS school had a birthday, she told us all she was “20″, so that’s what we are sticking with (I think she is actually 29 or 30). She asked if we could get together to celebrate the occasion so Sarah (my co-worker), her boyfriend, Stephen and I took her and a friend of hers out to dinner at a great Indian restaurant out in Owari-asahi. Stephen and I were a bit overwhelmed at first as the conversation quickly changed between English and Japanese and we continually gasped for air to keep up. I’m sure our faces showed our lack of ability in Japanese, or at least lack of understanding them when they talked super fast. It was interesting to see three cultures come together and mesh at a small dinner. In the US we are more or less accustomed to ordering a set plate as individuals. In Japan it is customary to order more family style. Stephen and I have come to prefer the latter and it was a bit confusing with the translation to get our order in. That said, dinner was delicious.
After dinner, around 9:00pm, we went to an onsen here in Aichi prefecture. I’m not sure which city we were in, but an onsen is simply a hot spring. This one happened to over the city of Nagoya and it was a slightly humid rainy night but a beautiful view regardless. We entered the onsen area, took off our shoes and placed them in a locker. We retrieved the locker key, then went over to the vending machine to purchase our onsen tickets. Once you get a ticket, you take your key and ticket and exchange for yet another locker key and a bag with a towel and a funny little PJ-like shirt and crop pants. It was quite the setup.
The boys went their way and we went ours to bath and prepare for Ganbanyoku. Ganbanyoku is a version of a sauna, but better. You go into a choice of rooms with different focuses (a type of rock on the floor, aromatherapy, etc), they are all at different temperatures ranging from 39 degrees celsius to 90 degrees celsius. Yes, that’s right, 90 degrees celsius, not fahrenheit.! This area is co-ed, if you will, with just one room for women only. It was sooooo hot and I immediately began sweating profusely. I spread my towel down over the hot rocks and quickly laid down. My feet were burning from the marble floor. I stayed for maybe 3 minutes and then had to get out. I wasn’t sure I understood or appreciated the whole sweating experience (especially after a big meal) but after going into a few different rooms and staying hydrated, I came to really like this. Stephen and I even went into the 90 degree celsius room for about 5 minutes. Following the Ganbanyoku, we split up again and went into the bathing area. The three of us ladies took another shower and enjoyed the mineral bath inside and then went outside for a bit. It was just beginning to drizzle and the hot water was quite nice. My favorite bath was a big old fashioned like tub that stood up a bit higher than my waist, it was sized for one or two people. I sat in there looking up into the clouds and out over Nagoya. I had a great conversation with my boss about life and being married and living in another culture. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so relaxed, but Stephen and I both conked out when we got home. It was a good thing we didn’t have to work early the following morning. I’m sure we will be going back to relive this craziness in the coming months…
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