Spring Break Experiences

So spring break came and went, as expected. It came quickly and quietly and ended before I wanted it to.

Instead of giving you a breakdown of everywhere I went I'll just give you some highlights of the trip...

My friend Marty came and visited. It was a big move on his part because it's a pricey trip, but early spring is a good time to visit for a number of reasons 1) Airplane tickets aren't usually too expensive (I think his were around 800 bucks round trip compared to $1000-$1400 other times I've come...) and also if you plan right, the sakura (Cherry blossom trees) will be in bloom which is basically the soul of Japan. Everything kind of relates back to the cherry blossoms.

Our first stop on the trip was Miyajima, a small island off the coast of Hiroshima. It was a really long day of train riding and boats to get there so we were tired when we arrived. We walked around the island a bit and then crashed at our Japanese style hotel, a ryokan. Ryokan's are a good Japanese experience. They can be pricey but are worth the cash. The room is a tatami mat room, you sleep on futons. During the day there are little pillows to sit on, while you are out the house keeper comes in and lays out your futons for sleeping. Really good Japanese dinners are included and there is often a Japanese style "Onsen" bath. We were given a welcome cup of tea and some snacks. They explained to us how the whole place worked. Then the lady said "Do you want to take a bath in our outdoor onsen?" "Sure," I thought. I've done the Onsen public bath thing before, the outdoor baths are surrounded by high fences so no one can see... it doesn't seem so weird for me to get naked at one even with my friend around. May be a little bit weird... but when there are like 30 other naked guys there you really don't care. Marty seemed like he could handle it. "Yes, we'd like to go to it." "Go to the bath at 8:30, please." the woman explained.

We went for a walk around the island, came back and had our crazy multicourse Japanese style meal. We had sashimi, oysters (Miyajima is famous them), miso soup, grilled fish, a pot of boiled veggies and egg, a little steamed egg custard soup thing... it was good news.

Then came time for the bath. Luckily we'd had some beers to loosen us up. Turns out... the bath was a private bath... not a public onsen. Like... JUST for Marty and I. No other people. I wasn't sure if I should explain that to Marty or not ahead of time. It's embarrassing to be like "We're too afraid to get naked in front of each other so we're gonna bail on our bath time." We couldn't just give up! I decided I should explain the situation to Marty, though... after all, it'd be weird if I told him there'd be other people and then I was like "Surprise... it's just YOU. and ME." He marched forward with the bath, though. We entered the changing room which was a teeny tiny room that had barely enough space for us to stand. There was a constant danger of bumping into the other's naked body. Especially since we weren't looking at the other person.

I took the "Act confident, get those clothes off and get in the water" attitude. If I didn't make it seem weird, it wouldn't get weird. Right? Kind of. I don't think I committed 100% to that attitude. The result was awkward dialogue like...

"Alright, I'm naked."
"Ok... well I am too."
"..oh.. well don't look at me!"
"I'm NOT. don't look at ME!"
"I'm DEFINITELY not. I swear."
"I'm too shy for this."
"Oh shut up and just take a shower and get in the bath."
"I'm READY just open the door and go out there!"
"I will in ONE SECOND!"
"Mike, GO!"
"Marty, I'm NAKED! ONE! SECOND!"

and things like
"Don't look at my butt."
"Why would I look at your butt?"
"I don't know, just... I'm shy."
"Oh shut up. Take a bath."

The bath was on a balcony that looked out at the ocean and the famous shrine on Miyajima. When we were submerged in the water it was not weird at all. There was nothing to see. It looked no different than if we were at the beach. I knew Marty was naked under the water, but I couldn't see anything. The problem was that in order to get a good look of the shrine you had to stand up to see it. I wanted to see it, heck, I'm not often naked and outside on a bath THAT often... so we both took turns standing and "not looking."

The whole experience was less awkard than I thought. I probably made it seem stranger than it was. We laughed our way through most of it...


As far as the rest of the trip, it went well. Of course when two people travel together you have little bumps along the way. I'd get tired and crabby, Marty would get tired and crabby... we got through it pretty darn well though, I think... Marty may disagree.

We went to...

1) Miyajima/Hiroshima
2) Osaka (Aquarium, Dotonbori, Umeda)
3) Kyoto (Kiyomizudera, Sanjusangendo, Nijo Castle, Gion, Arashiyama Bamboo forest, Arashiyama monkey park and some other places)
4)Tokyo (All over...)

We did get to catch the sakura blossoms in bloom. Hiroshima, Osaka, and Kyoto were about half way opened up but Tokyo was in almost 100% full bloom when we arrived. We did some night flower viewing in Asakusa and it was beautiful... I can't wait for the blossoms in Niigata. We have one of the top 3 flower viewing parks in all of Japan! HOORAAY!