Week nine: Oh my naked Kobe beef

Saikin dou desu ka?   最近どうですか？(What's new?) Everything is good here as I round up yet another week in Japan. The weather is officially starting to get cool, my toes are already starting to never have feeling, and my lips are already beginning to get chapped. Woohoo, cold weather (-_-?). Well, it has to be better than the hot-as-balls weather nonstop, but we'll see how long I'm singing that song before I complain about the cold. Let's begin!

School was fine this week, actually one of the best weeks I've had yet! ...mostly because I managed to have enough needless days where I was able to miss/have canceled class and I could sleep! This futon is beginning to get downright miserable--nothing can get this darn thing to puff back up at this point--so sleeping hasn't been too easy at night. And gosh, sleep is a darn wonderful, under-appreciated thing. We watched a very interesting video about China and Japan, and it kind of makes you feel bad for the Chinese people--they've never really had a break from something awful and bad reigning over them and stopping them from being so miserably poor. It's a real shame they went from bad to crap to bad to crap with communism, but I have faith that one day there will be a democratic China. Some day.

There were two typhoons looming this week, but only one hit us--Typhoon 27. You read that right. Twenty-seven. 27 STORMS!? Meanwhile, I just finished reading an article about what an "unexpected" quiet season it was over for us on the Western hemisphere. In 2011 there were 21 named storms in the Eastern hemisphere, so this is about an average amount of storms. It sure seems like an awful lot, doesn't it? Jesh. Even these "minor" storms (our tropical storms) can do major damage to Japan, just because of how easily they flood. Poor Japan.
Friday I relaxed with friends, (hopefully) mastered the art of cooking yaki-onigiri (the fried rice balls), and made some mashed potatoes with dinner. The potatoes here are tiny, and I haven't been able to identify sour cream yet, but they came out all right, thankfully. I'm going to attempt to work on my cooking skills and learn some Japanese foods, next on my list is the omurice, perfect because of how filling and cheap it is to make.

Waterfall, taken shortly after my bathroom trauma

Saturday three of my friends and I went to Kobe and Arima Onsen (hot springs). The journey from where we live felt a little far, around an hour away, but I think it felt long just because of how many transfers it takes to get there, costing about $14 each way. However, this hot spring is pretty famous, and was definitely well-worth it. After a little bit of confusion along the way, we finally made it to Arima, which was really secluded and in the middle of nowhere, a really nice change to the bustle of the city. We explored the "park", some shrines, and the waterfall, and here's a traumatizing story for you all!

There was a bathroom (one of the "park" kinds like we have in America, big and concrete but that still let all the bugs in the world in with the high ceilings and whatnot) I used, and while I was peeing, my friends (I came with three guys) shouted from over on the other side to one of the others, "Hey, dude look at that spider! Holy crap." So I just happened to look up, and boy, what a mistake that was.
What I saw:

Zelda rendition of the spider

Staring back at me was a massive (and I mean massive) neon-yellow spider, with a body (not exaggerating!) the size of my FIST. Automatically, I yelped, which then made his web vibrate so he started crawling around. Whimpering, I desperately tried unwrapping the toilet paper (they were out, so I had to open a new roll), but the darn thing was so difficult. As I struggled, I looked up and realized there wasn't just the one mother-of-all-Zelda-spiders, there were four. All equally huge. Every time my friends shouted at each other, the webs vibrated and they all moved around, dangling above my head, and I had no way of telling them to stop without angering the spiders in my direction. My only way of surviving this experience was the equal horror at the thought of keeling over from a heart attack on a toilet in Japan. I somehow managed, with shaking hands, to unwrap the toilet paper and get out of there as fast as humanly possible. My friends thought the spider on their side was big, but I made them come over and see the ones I had dealt with, and then we all ran out, brushing our heads off in horror like little girls. So moral of this story is that I almost died, I'm just sayin'. I think this is the spider, though it seemed more solidly yellow than this, but I don't know what else it could have been. http://wordsinjapanese.com/japanese-spider.php . This is also an antidote to open the doors to talk about how big their bugs are here--I think they are equal with, if not beating, Florida bugs. There are bugs the size of my face that fly by sometimes, I swear, look at the bug at the end of this for another HUGE FREAKING BUG. (No radiation jokes, guys, come on! ...but maybe, seriously though, they all flew in radiation and are now cracked out.) 

(Left to Right: Cody, Kris, and I, Arima, Kobe)

We explored and did some great omiyage (souvenir) shopping before heading into the hot spring. Ours was a public one, so it was only $6, though there were some more expensive ones available, plus they had a deal where, for two dollars more, you could do both the Golden and Silver springs. Arima has two kinds of springs, one is kinsen (金泉,"gold spring"), which contains iron and salt. The other is ginsen (銀泉,"silver spring"), which contains radium and carbonate.The golden spring we went to is said to make your skin softer and more supple. Here's a play-by-play, without pictures, because once you enter you (obviously) can't take pictures, and I warn you, this area is not for the modest or the faint of heart.

You enter, pay, and take off your shoes, and are given a locker to put your shoes in. You go over the counter and receive another key, this one for your locker upstairs, and you can buy a towel if you didn't bring one (more on this later). I opted for the large and headed upstairs. Girls and boys then split off into two different areas, and I entered, heart-hammering, into the girls section. As I was reading the rules, I suddenly turned to my left and was assailed by boobs, flying in every direction. The locker room here was tiny, with two benches and a little "powder room" section where you can put your makeup on/do your hair afterward, a bathroom, and that's it. Nobody covered up anything, and from young to old and everything in between, everything was out. I was the only non-Asian in the house, and everyone looked over, curious. In my panic, I struggle to figure out how to get my darn key to slide out so I could open my locker, butts and bushes everywhere. Japanese women don't really believe in "trimming", much less shaving, so everything is, /ahem, au natural. I came so close to backing out, especially after realizing the pathetic size of my towel. I finally just did it, covered up as best as I could, and again, in panic, struggled to figure out how to open the door leading to the water. After pretending to wait for the bathroom (which was unoccupied), I observed and saw that the door was a slider (duh), and "smoothly" headed out. Onsens are divided by men and women by a wall that goes almost to the ceiling, but not completely, so I could hear my friends as they laughed awkwardly at their own situation.

Arima Onsen

Despite that weirdness, it was pretty, stone and tile everywhere, with a big square pool of water to the left, a little clear "cool" pool straight ahead, two standing shower areas to the right, and sit-down "cleaning" areas lining two halves of the walls. Each cleaning area had a mirror, a hand shower, a cleaning basin, two bottles of shampoo and body wash, and a stool to sit on (no little walls to hide from each other, all just out there in the open). I first showered in the standing one, but then after creepily observing everyone else (and panicking, muttering to myself about the freakishness of nudity and still having a heart attack every time someone walked by), I realized I was supposed to sit at the stool and wash off completely. I modestly shuffled over to a stool, cleaned it as thoroughly as I could, and started washing up, averting my eyes from everyone and everything, including the mirror in front of me. People were straight putting their legs up on either side of the basin, thoroughly cleaning themselves (I can now safely say I never want to be a gynecologist, or a lesbian for that matter), and my brain was frying out.

Everyone copes in their own way, like how you're taught to imagine everyone in the crowd naked when you're giving a speech so you can get past your nervousness. For me, here, white and naked in a crowd of Asians, I dealt with it by hating (hard) on everyone else. If they were skinnier, I had a slightly bigger chest, my butt (yes, even my flat butt) was bigger, whatever helped me deal with my own trauma and insecurity. Everyone was looking at me, and various people whispered, "Americajin", muttering to each other, not entirely friendly. The older people were nice, at least, so there's that. After soaping up as best I could and washing my hair, I sucked it up, wrapped my hair in my tiny stupid towel, and walked over to the pool, which was a steaming dark brown/golden, kind of the color of a mudslide or Indian curry. It was split into two sections, but I ignored that at first and just got into the emptier section, which happened to be the hotter half. It was a steamy 44 degrees C, or 111 degrees F. It made my limbs tingle, and I sat down on the step, submerged up to my chin, and managed to relax. It was really nice, especially once you could splash some on your face, breathe it in (it smelt like Earth, but not like dirt, more like salt and some kind of incense), and stretch out. After 10 minutes or so, I was feeling woozy, so I got out and headed over the "wall" (technically you could get up on the ledge and swivel around to the other pool, but that gave the entire room the OBGYN view) to the other side of the pool, which was 107 degrees F. I originally started close to the other pool still, wanting to hurry back into the water, but it was crowded and still too hot, so I wanted to move over to the corner. I'm not quite sure, even still, what the proper method of moving around in the water is, but I tried crab-crawling over to the wall, and happened to brush my butt directly over the feet of this lady who was stretched out farther than I expected, and luckily, she was nice and just smiled and nodded at me as I muttered out a quick, embarrassed apology. There were ledges all around the pool to sit up on, but I didn't utilize that, instead opting to sit on the submerged steps or the ground.

This, too, quickly became too hot, so I got out after another 10 minutes, and I didn't really want to go in the little round "cool down" pool--afraid of what I'd see in that water--so I sat down and just rinsed with cold water for another 10 minutes. At this point, I was almost completely okay with the nudity...until someone (always around my age) shot me a sideways glare or dirty look, and this would both make me feel bad but also make me want to walk naked more just to get on their nerves. I dipped in the 107 degree pool for another 5 minutes, and decided to call it a day because another minute and I'd have full-on heart attack from the heat. I rinsed off a final time, face completely flushed--which NONE of the Asians had, oddly enough, despite their red faces when they drink--and dried off as best I could (with my soaking wet mini towel) before getting dressed. Can I emphasize again how much these people don't care about nudity? As I was at my locker, still naked, a lady who had a locker beneath me just bent right down and had her face INCHES away from my buidness. INCHES!! She appeared out of nowhere, and then she was that close, and I was still all dying from the heat, so that was another close call for my poor fragile heart. I got dressed, damp as could be, and tried to dry my hair (hah) before heading out. My friends met me at the bottom, equally traumatized, and we discussed our mutual horrors.

Now, I'm glad I went, and my skin does feel much softer (especially my poor calloused feet). So I think I'd go again, but do I think I'll be just as uncomfortable with the nudity next time? Yes. I know my mom will be saying "so what", but I think others my age will probably understand better--when you just aren't used to everyone being naked, it's really weird to suddenly be surrounded by a crap ton of naked people. I'm not even the most uncomfortable person in the world with nudity, or the most insecure (I am known for mooning people left and right) but it's just weird to be full-on naked. I'm also really glad I went with three guys, because that meant I didn't have to see any of my friends naked or vice-versa.

Helpful tips for when you know you're visiting an onsen:
-Bring your own towel. Seriously, they sold towels, $2 for the "chisai" (small), or $5 for the "ooki" (large). The large was barely enough to cover from the middle of my boob down to the bottom of my buidness, and didn't even wrap around my body fully. Also, because of all the before and after cleaning, you'll want to actually be able to dry off, and your little crap towel from them will be sufficiently soaked. Nothing worse than trying to pull on skinny jeans over wet legs.

-Bring conditioner and a hairbrush. Dear God, please do. Because they only have shampoo and body wash, your hair will be tangled. My hair was matted up to no avail, and every girl knows how it is to have to wash your hair without any form of conditioner. Also, the hairdryers suck, so don't count on that, as you'll have to sit there for hours to get it damp. I pointed it at my hair and it didn't so much as blow it backwards on full blast.

-Bring deodorant. It will all be gone by the time you get out of the water, so pack ahead! Better to carry it around than smell later.

-Mentally prepare yourself. It's easier said than done, but the mental prep would probably help before you're just thrown into this. Follow what other people do without looking like you're staring them down and being a creep. Try to fit in, blend in, it'll make the whole thing less stressful.

Nicest train station bathroom yet, Kobe

Gyu-kaku style Kobe beef

Anyway! We left Arima and headed into downtown Kobe, which was super pretty and really modern. Their train stations are all updated, with really nice bathrooms and marble floors and high ceilings. There was the massive Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995 which all but demolished most of Kobe, so they were forced to rebuild and they did an amazing job with it (all of the modernity makes me even more pumped for Tokyo this week!). We were determined to find Kobe beef that was reasonable, and after a little bit of searching around and creeping down alleys (Kobe has probably more restaurants packed per square mile than anywhere I've seen yet, I swear, there were SO many options!), we found a place that served it, gyu-kaku style. Gyu-kaku is where you are seated at a table with a little grill inset in the middle of the table, which they put burning charcoal inside, and you grill your own meat with a pair of tongs. For $15, we got six slices of Kobe beef each (each slice about the size of my hand, but thin), and grilled it. The way our waiter showed us was to let it get gray on one side for about a minute, then roll it up and eat it, with one side still pink. It was delicious, especially for someone who hasn't had good beef in months. They gave us a variety of sauces, one which was really good and tasted like the sauce they use for "ginger salad", and overall it was supremely tasty, and for me at least, surprisingly filling. Worth trying just to say you've had Kobe beef.

Kobe's China town, Nankinmachi

We explored Kobe's China town, which was kind of small but still filled to the brim with food vendors and restaurants, all begging to come into their stores. They had some places serving that delicious steamed bun roll I always get at Epcot during the Food and Wine Festival in China (I was too full to try it though, but I definitely will in Yokohama in Tokyo!), and places that had Kobe beef inside of a steamed bun (which my friends got and said was delicious). We checked out their port side, though by the time we got there (around 9), everything was already closed. There were great stores though, and so much to do, so if you get there earlier than we did I highly recommend this. It all was super modern and beautifully built, with wide streets and interesting architecture. And, like always, it was good to see a body of water other than a little river.

Beautiful Port Kobe

Also, on the way back home, we ran into a little old lady we happened to talk to before on the Osaka Loop Line (train). She's super friendly, and folds thousands of these little paper cranes, and taught herself English mostly through American and British songs. She's awesome and adorable and odd but sweet. Gotta love when the world is small in a good way.

Today I'm recovering from my hectic adventure yesterday, as always, and having a lazy Sunday. It was a good weekend, and Kobe was a beautiful city, definitely worth a visit. I'm headed to Tokyo this Wednesday-Tuesday, so this next blog will both be late and long, and filled with a ton of pictures I'm sure.

Ponder ponder~~

Their shoes size and bra sizes are very different here, so be ready. Check these out to see your various sizes in shoes and in bras! http://www.i18nguy.com/l10n/shoes.html#adult , http://www.85b.org/bra_conv.php

Awesome escalator in Kobe's Port Mall

Their paper here is just slightly taller than our standard paper. I don't know why.

They used to have squirrels on mainland Honshu (the island I'm living on), but due to "deforestation", they've all gone away. Who would have thought that squirrels could disappear from somewhere?

They have loudspeakers that go throughout the city of Hirakata (and, presumably, in all if not most towns in Japan), and they use it for various things--police warnings (old people scams, some guy breaking into the library, whatever), weather alerts, and...what I think are little exercise songs? It comes on every day around 4ish, and it plays happy little music, plus a 5-minute announcement and speech when the kids get out of school and are on their way homes (mostly). I'm not sure how I feel about this system yet, because it is both creepy (think North Korea) but helpful (stopping criminals on the run, weather warning system).

Well, I think that's about it, and I hope everyone has a great week, and I'll talk to you guys next time! Until then, ja mata!

Weird things found around Arima

Delicious Kobe beef!

Snoopy store, Kobe

Downtown Kobe lit up

Awesome construction things, Kobe

Huge dead bug I pass by. Do you see the size of this?!

Expensive whopper, Burger King, Kobe

Beer served at Burger King, Kobe

Kobe, Japan