Dijshin no kowai!
So my first week has been going pretty well. I'm learning Japanaese at a speed I was not anticipating. By the end of the 8 weeks I'll have taken what equivilates to 4 semesters of Japanese at SEU.
I know I promised a report on the onsen I went to, but the big news is actually the earthquakes. There is a lot of volcanic activity down in the southernmost city in on the southernmost island of Japan. I am on the very same island, and the mountains that this school is perched on is part of the same range that is having activity. Thus; earthquakes. The biggest so far has been a 4.8. The entire building shakes, and living up on the fifth and top floor doesn't help. The rumbly ones don't bother me as much as the rolling ones. They make me dizzy and disoriented, and sometimes I think I'm imagining them. There have been approximately 24 quakes in the past 24 hours, and about four or five of them were really big. (To me). The Japanese people alternate betwee nonchalance and utter terror, squeaking "Kowai!" at the top of their lungs. ("Kowai" means scary---"kawaii" means cute). The buildings here at the school can stand up to about a 7.0 before collapsing, since they were all built within the past 10 years.
The hot springs or Onsen are, on a related note, heated by the volcanos to a startlingly hot temperature. Some of the springs are hotter than others, but all of them are much warmer than the average american hot tub. Cristina, Ashley and I went up the mountain on a bus to a family bath onsen to try it out. We undressed, washed off with the provided hose and soap, stuck our feet in the water, and promptly pulled them out again. I mean, I expected it to be hot, but not tingly, painful hot. Finally, after many attempts, we managed to submerge ourselves to the neck. And damn. Any slight movement, particularly in the legs, sent sharp, stabbing pain throughout the skin that moved. After about a minute, I had to get out. The skin that had been submerged was bright pink. I felt like I was cooking myself!
After getting in and out a few more times, we got dressed and left, disapointed at our wimpiness. However, upon exiting the building, we all suddenly felt...great! My tireness from trekking around the mountain and city all day were gone, and I was ready to take on karaoke! The minerals in the water are really good for you. All around the baths are little huts that make epsom salts from the water, and the food shops all cook using the steam from the springs. It smells very sulfery up there, but it wasn't so bad to me. Afterwards, at karaoke, I was talking to Shima-sensei, who admitted that she could only get into the springs for a few minutes at a time too, and that the sand bath that she had once made her pass out from the heat. I felt much less wimpy. Apparently, many people are the same when it comes to onsen. I'll definitely go again, this time to a hopefully less-hot spring.
Anyway, next time I post I'll put up my mailing adress in case any of you want to send me a letter or something. :) I have it, but it's up five flights of stairs and the elevators are offline because of the quakes. When I go up five flights to go to bed, I'm staying up there!
Mate ne!
I know I promised a report on the onsen I went to, but the big news is actually the earthquakes. There is a lot of volcanic activity down in the southernmost city in on the southernmost island of Japan. I am on the very same island, and the mountains that this school is perched on is part of the same range that is having activity. Thus; earthquakes. The biggest so far has been a 4.8. The entire building shakes, and living up on the fifth and top floor doesn't help. The rumbly ones don't bother me as much as the rolling ones. They make me dizzy and disoriented, and sometimes I think I'm imagining them. There have been approximately 24 quakes in the past 24 hours, and about four or five of them were really big. (To me). The Japanese people alternate betwee nonchalance and utter terror, squeaking "Kowai!" at the top of their lungs. ("Kowai" means scary---"kawaii" means cute). The buildings here at the school can stand up to about a 7.0 before collapsing, since they were all built within the past 10 years.
The hot springs or Onsen are, on a related note, heated by the volcanos to a startlingly hot temperature. Some of the springs are hotter than others, but all of them are much warmer than the average american hot tub. Cristina, Ashley and I went up the mountain on a bus to a family bath onsen to try it out. We undressed, washed off with the provided hose and soap, stuck our feet in the water, and promptly pulled them out again. I mean, I expected it to be hot, but not tingly, painful hot. Finally, after many attempts, we managed to submerge ourselves to the neck. And damn. Any slight movement, particularly in the legs, sent sharp, stabbing pain throughout the skin that moved. After about a minute, I had to get out. The skin that had been submerged was bright pink. I felt like I was cooking myself!
After getting in and out a few more times, we got dressed and left, disapointed at our wimpiness. However, upon exiting the building, we all suddenly felt...great! My tireness from trekking around the mountain and city all day were gone, and I was ready to take on karaoke! The minerals in the water are really good for you. All around the baths are little huts that make epsom salts from the water, and the food shops all cook using the steam from the springs. It smells very sulfery up there, but it wasn't so bad to me. Afterwards, at karaoke, I was talking to Shima-sensei, who admitted that she could only get into the springs for a few minutes at a time too, and that the sand bath that she had once made her pass out from the heat. I felt much less wimpy. Apparently, many people are the same when it comes to onsen. I'll definitely go again, this time to a hopefully less-hot spring.
Anyway, next time I post I'll put up my mailing adress in case any of you want to send me a letter or something. :) I have it, but it's up five flights of stairs and the elevators are offline because of the quakes. When I go up five flights to go to bed, I'm staying up there!
Mate ne!