A Great Weekend and Only Six Weeks to Go

Well my last weeks in Japan are speeding by much more quickly than I thought they would - I have so many things to do before i go, but it will all get done eventually. My last day at AEON is April 19th. On the 21st I will leave for Seoul and then Beijing to visit my folks who are teaching English there. I'll spend a couple weeks in Beijing before heading back to the U.S. via Seoul and Tokyo. If all goes according to plan, I should be back in Minnesota on May 9th or 10th.

I've had a great time in Japan and made many new friends who I hope to keep in contact with and have visits from. My experiences here have ranged from the odd to the beautiful, from the noble to the ridiculous - in other words, pretty much the variety you experience any place in the world. I'm anxious to return to many of the people and things that I've been away from for the last year and two months, but in coming home, I will be leaving so many new friends and will miss a lot of cultural things I've come to appreciate.

This weekend was nice because two sets of students invited me to spend time with them. On Sunday, Fumi and Aiichiro invited Anthony and I over for lunch - they called it Anthony's welcome and my graduation from AEON party. Here's a rather staged photo of Aiichiro offering Anthony a natto roll (Anthony did try one - just before this picture was taken, and vowed never to eat natto again - wise choice, Anthony):

Today, Mieko picked up Tomoko, Stacy, and I in front of city hall to take us to Karasuyama. Our first stop was at some falls - we had a bit of time before our tours started. Unfortunately the river and the falls contain a pretty foul stench - for those of you Mankato people reading this, it's the same smell you get when you pass that farm on 169 just north of Le Sueur. But the reason for it here is because this is the country and some of the smaller country towns do not have proper sewage systems in place. Therefore, waste is dumped in the river. Here I am with Mieko and Tomoko in front of the smelly falls:

Next, we toured a cave where sake is stored. This cave was built by students and was used in WWII to store munitions I think. Here I am at the entrance:

And here're the four of us next lots of sake, being aged in an environment which offers a constant temperature:

After we sampled a variety of sake and bought a few bottles, we decided to go to lunch before visiting a washi (Japanese handmade paper) workshop. We had this kind of rice dish that people have told me the name of several times throughout the day, but for the life of me, I can't remember at the moment. Anyway, it was good and this is what it looked like:

After lunch, we went to the paper place, but the workshop was closed so we just looked around a bit. Then we stopped at an onsen on our way back and relaxed a bit before heading back to Utsunomiya. Once back, i made some amazake (sweet, hot sake, with some of the sake cake that I bought. In the evening, I headed over to AEON to write my farewell message and to meet Kanako, Yasuko, and Anthony for a snack at Cafe Praktica. Yuki - who is moving to Nagano next week - also came. Here's Kanako posing with a sculpture in the cafe. The artist who sculpted this corpulent figure has made several around town and they are to be found in various shops about the city - kind of like the Charlie Brown statues, but a bit more odd and shocking the first time you see one:

For the last three Mondays, I've been making Praktica my evening hangout - I go, get a pot of Irish malt tea and a small dessert, and either read or write or surf the net. I've known Ako-san and Kin-chan all year, but have been getting to know them better in the last few months. Ako loves classical and jazz music and has a pretty discerning taste, so I made her and her husband a disc of the Boswell Sisters, which they loved. Here I am at Praktica with Ako-san:

And here's the gang (from left to right): Kanako, Yuki, Me, Yasuko, and Anthony. It was fun to hang out with this group tonight.

That's it from my neck of the woods; what's happening where you are?

An (On)sensational Day ~or~ Who Smells Like Rotten Eggs?

Okay, first I am including a picture of my plum pudding - which unmolded poorly and looked like a pile of dirt, but tasted excellent. I think I will need to work on this recipe a bit. SpoilSport's mom has a real, traditional, family pudding recipe from jolly old England that she gave me last year and I am anxious to try it next time. Anyway, here's what mine looked like:
Now, on to today. Kanako and I planned on taking a day trip to Nasu with a couple of students. We'd asked Yuki, who accepted, but I didn't know who else Kanako was going to bring. Well, I was pleasantly surprised when we picked up Tomoko, one of my advanced students. We had a great day, and now I really understand why visiting hot springs (or onsen as they are called here) are such a popular weekend activity - especially in winter. I should have known from looking at Kanako's pictures from her trip to New York that this would be more of an eating tour than anything else. We drove out to Nasu - maybe about an hour by freeway and stopped first for a morning cone of ice cream. I had rum raisin, but I envied Tomoko, who had a cone of the best strawberry ice cream I'd ever tried. Then we drove to the main strip of Nasu. Nasu is a pretty sleepy, rural area with a lot of charm and some spectacular mountain views. Kanako told me that Tokyo folk generally buy second homes out in Nasu so they can get away from the city into the country and enjoy the hot springs.

We stopped at a restaurant and bought potato croquettes and munched away at them as a small snack before heading to the onsen. Here's Tomoko and Kanako:

And Me and Yuki (I'm wearing one of the green hats given me by one of my students):

And here we all are:

After our snack, we headed up Nasu mountain to the onsen. Unfortunately, on the way, we hit some heavy snow - the higher we got, the more the snow covered the roads. Kanako did not have her winter tires on and was worried about getting into an accident so we turned around and looked for an onsen in town - Nasu has tons of small places where you can have a relaxing soak in a hotspring. Yuki recommended a place he'd been to and we stopped there. Kanako was squealing with delight as we arrived as the onsen was pretty old style. Here are Kanako, Tomoko and Yuki in front of the entrance to the onsen:

Here's the gang, once inside:
We found out that the onsen was pretty old-school, indeed. This spot was first found 800 years ago and parts of this building were 200 years old:
We were sent down a series of steps underground which lead to two separate areas - one for men and one for women. Here I am, heading downstairs:
And here's Yuki:

I didn't take anymore pictures at the onsen because it would be a bit rude to take pictures of naked people at a hot spring. So I will just describe the event. Many hot springs, like this one, have separate areas for men and women. I bought a modesty towel at the front desk for 300 yen and Yuki and I headed to our area while Kanako and Tomoko made their way to theirs. There was a small changing room with plastic baskets for us to put our clothes and towels and such in. We disrobed and opened the sliding doors to the hot spring. In this room, there were two tubs, one with hot spring water, and one with even hotter spring water. The water was milky green and had a strong sulfer smell. The wooden boards and stones surrounding the tubs had sulfur build-up. There were windows running along the upper part of the room. When Yuki and I entered, we bid our fellow bathers - three guys - a "konichiwa" and grabbed small plastic buckets to wash ourselves off before sinking into the hot spring. The guys her were older - two guys looked like they might be in their 70s.
The other guy was probably in his 40s and his left shoulder and upper arm were covered in tattoos. I surmised from this - and Yuki confirmed it later for me that this guy was most likely a member of the yakuza - Japan's organized crime group. We soaked in the hot spring water for 45 minutes, taking frequent breaks to sit outside the tub so we didn't get light headed. The water felt amazing, despite its smell, and made my skin feel smooth and soft - I just checked my arm and it still feels great - and still smells like rotton eggs (tho' faintly). It was such a relaxing experience and I plan on returning many times this winter.

After we soaked for a bit, we met Kanako and Tomoko again in the hallway and made our way to the car. The onsen lady Yuki talked to recommended a great steak restaurant located in a small grocery store. This seemed like an odd place for a good steak house, but nevertheless, there it was. the steak was tender and juicy and came with an excellent miso soup, salad, rice, and pickle. After eating, we decided to drive back to Utsunomiya before the weather in Nasu got worse. Kanako pointed out places and stopped at points along the way. First we stopped at Dream Bakery to get some bread to bring home. Then Kanako suggested coffee and dessert - we were still a little full from lunch, but I always contend that even though you may feel full after a meal, there is always room for dessert. We decided on a cafe close to the highway - Shozo Cafe. I immediately loved this place. It was clean and white and a bit rustic and oozed style. We ordered our coffees and desserts and then found a table. Here's Tomoko and Kanako:
The waiter brought out our coffee drinks: a mocha, latte, and 2 cappucinos. Each time, the waiter/barista brought out a cup with espresso in it and a metal pitcher filled with steamed milk. He slowly poured the milk into the cups and made various designs with the espresso and foam:


After each creation, we clapped like five-year-olds and were so pleased to watch the man redden and smile at our praise of his work. Then we asked the cashier to take our picture with the barista. I think we made his day (we must have - I know for a fact that the somber, boring couple next to us didn't):
Before we left, I took a look back at Nasu as it darkened with the evening sky and caught a glimpse of the mountains:
When we got back, Tomoko invited us to her place for soba (buckwheat) tea - it was light and flavorful, and perfect after our day of eating and soaking.

Tomorrow? I'm cleaning my apartment and relaxing, then Saturday Aiichiro is taking me to see other areas around Utsunomiya.

What a great beginning to my winter holidays.