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Published: March 28th 2006
Hello everyone,
Sunday was my day off and sticking to my plan o doing something new and interesting on my days off I decided to check out the onsens in Arima, which is about a 40 minute train ride from Kobe. Many of my students had told me that Arima is famous for its great hot springs and onsens, which are a huge part of Japanese culture. I knew instantly when I boarded the local train bound for the onsen that I was about to have an authentic Japanese experience as the entire train was full of Japanese people, of all ages, anxious to make their way to othe onsens for a day of relaxation.
Not really knowing exactly where I was going after getting off the train I simply followed the crowd and eventually I found myself at one of two bath houses open to the public in the area. The other option is the much more expensive private baths located in many of the fancy hotels in the area. I made my first cultural fauxpas when I walked into the reception area still wearing my shoes. A very nice Japanese man quickly began yelling at me SHOES, SHOES!!!, so I quickly figured out I needed to take these off and but them in one of the lockers, next I was taught how to buy a ticket for the onsen out of one ofo the vending machines conoviently located in the lobby. You often buy tickets for things in vending machines here, just yesterday I was ordering some odon noodles for lunch and I had to first buy the ticket from the vending machine and then present it to the chef.
I eventually made my way upstairs to the women´s change area, I had been told the pools were separate by gender and I quickly realized why, because you go in the pools NAKED! I had naively packed my Speedo, but I wouldn´t be needing it on this trip, as I entered the pool area, with my towel firmly wrapped around me at this point, I realized that the whole thing about being naked was a much bigger deal for me than the 60-70 or so Japanese women, ranging in age from their 90s to young babies that surrounded me. Eventually I simply got use to my new surroundings and embraced my experience at the naked Japanese onsen! It was incredibly relaxing and my skin felt amazing! Needless to say I have lots of stories, I often feel like I am fumbling around as I make my way through this country and things only get funnier when you are a fumbling foreigner who´s NAKED!
The water was very, very warm, about 42 C and I was quickly befriended by 2 elderly women in the hot tub, the one had an entire detailed coversation with me in Japanese for almost 30 minutes, with me just smiling and knodding, and then she bought me orange juice, very friendly and very random!
That´s it for now, I am hoping to catch a baseball game this week on my day off, I´ll keep you posted!
love, Melissa
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Kelly
non-member comment
Wow Fen, you are my hero! In a foreign country, and NAKED in front of 50 people!!! Your bravery knows no bounds!!!