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Published: October 29th 2006
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Prologue: Ok, the Nagano trip rocked but because so much happened and I'm lazy, it's getting written in day-by-day installments so it's easier to read and to write. Enjoy!
October 25th, 2006
I had to leave my house earlier than usual so I could get to the meeting point at IES on time. We were supposed to meet at 8:30 and leave by 8:45 am. I went to Makuhari station, which made the walk to IES sort of wretched. I had packed my backpack and it weighed about 15 pounds; a 20 minute walk with that is not on my list of things to repeat for fun. About halfway to IES I met up with Ian and we walked together the rest of the way, discussing the gigantic spiders Japan has. When we got there, I finally got hit with the pre-trip excitement. It was great, in a strange way, to see all the IES students together and milling around waiting to get on the bus. We're rarely together since there are students at a different campus and it was good to have them all back. Before I got on the bus I ran into the conbini and bought 3
KitKat bars - by the way, America really needs to get the bitter KitKats because they're to die for. I dashed onto the bus and snagged a seat across from Liz and Ryan, and Matt F. sat with me. I feel like this is the place to mention Matt F. is my favorite guy here. He's a lot like a manlier version of Morri. In our vicinity, TK, Heidi and Kaitlyn were sitting and it was good. Matt migrated back a few rows soon and starting singing for
three hours with some people. It got a little annoying after a while, but oh well. Most of the trip I read. The bus ride was actually really easy, since the longest we ever drove at a time was an hour and a half. We had lunch at Lake Suwa service area where I split some grape mochi with Liz. It was oddly shimmery and tasted all right. I had eaten two onigiri at the first service station an hour earlier so I wasn't that hungry. The scenery was great though, and it was the first time I saw any fall color in Japan. After we got back on the bus, we
watched Pirates of the Carribean in Japanese...and the voice actor for Johnny Depp in that movie was hilarious. We all had a lot of laughs over the way it was done even though the movie is not nearly as witty in Japanese.
We stopped at Matsumoto Castle before we went to the ryokan but I was sort of disappointed by it. It's nice to stand in a building from the Edo period, but I didn't really like the castle itself. I feel like European castles are way more interesting. We spent about an hour there, then piled back on the bus and went to the ryokan. It ended up being 2 ryokan, Hatsunoyu and Matsuya. Our room was in Hatsunoyu which pleased me since that's where all the activities took place. We got to the ryokan around 6:00 and carried our luggage to our room. I roomed with Liz and Priscilla. Also on our floor were two guy rooms, with Noah, Ian, Ryan, Travis, Adam, Matt K., and Casey. We could have been MUCH more disappointed, let's just say. Dinner was at 6:30 and it was quite good. We sat on cushions and ate off little trays. There were
Shin-san and his hat
Yes, I took this just for the hat. the obligatory announcements about rules and not going in the onsen drunk since you could die. Then once we finished dinner, we were free to do whatever we wanted.
Liz, Pris and I headed off to bathe, thus beginning the cycle of "skinkin." Everyone always makes a big deal about bathing with other people, naked, but it's not awkward at all. First we used the one in the ryokan since we wanted to wash off. Then we soaked for a while. If you think you like hot baths, you have never been in an onsen my friend. They are almost unbearably hot and not pleasant to sit in for a long time. We turned on the cold water tap and had to slowly ease ourselves in right under the faucet. We didn't stay in too long since we had a date with another group of girls to go onsen hopping at 7:45. We dried off and put on yukata, took our souvenier towels and went out to the onsen. We hit up three that night. One we didn't go into since it was full of people already. The onsen are not as big as you'd think either. About 21
square feet all told, and they were inside so it was quite humid. We all came to the consensus that it would have been much better if they had been outside. At the second one, we got there and it was empty, but some guys came wandering in a couple minutes after we did, before we were actually in the water. The onsen were not co-ed but there was a gap between the wall and the ceiling so you could shout over it if you wanted to. Our group, dubbed the "Bathing Beauties," was...quite vocal, shall we say, when entering onsen. It made it easier to get in 130 degree water if you scream and groan. So right when the guys walk in, they heard us making a racket that probably belonged in an adult film, complete with Liz saying "Oh Jesus! Take me now!" Much ridicule occurred. But the last onsen went pretty much the same, with it being hot and us whining so it doesn't really merit anything but a mention. We figured out we could stay in each onsen about 15 minutes from the time we first touched the water with a foot.
We went back
to the hotel about 9:20 and wandered over to the boy's room next door with Ryan, Ian, Noah and Travis. Drinking party commenced. Pris brought a bottle of Bailey's and the boys had some sake. After trying a really awful sake that still had rice in it (this sake tasted like paste and looked like semen. Not a good combination.) Liz and I stuck to the Bailey's. Then a bunch of other people wandered in, making it about 15 people. Of course drinking games had to happen, so we played "Never Have I Ever" and "Hotseat." Poor Adam was a little embarassed by the time it was over but it's his fault; he just happens to be quite attractive by general consensus. I think he might even be voted "Most Attractive IES Male" with Pris taking "Sexiest IES Female" hands down. Went to bed around 1 am.
So ended day one of Nagano.
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