October 3, 2009

Well, MY COMPUTER IS WORKING!!!!



Well, anyway, I guess that this means that I can start to upload pictures of my quest to Japan. I won't upload them all right away. Some of them I already plan on using in further entries. But I guess I can give you all a taste.



This is a picture of me, Saumya, Megan, arriving at the hotel in Musashi-sakai. The two other girls are Miyuki and Ayaka. I particularly like this picture because it is one of the only times that I actually appear to be tall. It feels so weird to be constantly staring down at people in Japan. Well, weird in an awesome way.



This is a better picture of the two alpha females, Megan and Saumya. This was while we were still shacked up at Musashi-sakai. This picture was taken at a restaurant where we attempted to order and pay for our food in Japanese. Needless to say, I kept my mouth shut and let the ladies order for me.

Hmmmm......

Now that I think about it, that's all I am going to share for now. Truth be told, I didn't take any other pictures for a while because my computer was broken. Yeah, in hindsight that seems like a stupid reason for why I didn't take more pictures.

And that's because it is.

Well, okay, now for some stories......

Oh! I got one!

Today I went to a Japanese bathhouse for the first time!

To summarize it: I have never seen so many naked men in one place before in my entire life.
And I've been to the YMCA on Senior Swim Day.

But that's not to say that it wasn't a good experience.

I went with the dormitory president, Joey Stockermans. I have mentioned him before, but I can't remember whether or not I have described him in any detail. He is a lively fellow, originating from a mystical, faraway land called Novia Scotia. Or, more commonly called in the states, Canada.



Yes, the man who is in charge of the 2nd Men's Dormitory and all that it entails has been known to frequently enter people's rooms and say, "It's been quite a day, eh?" That kills me. Over the summer, my family traveled to Niagara Falls. Not ONCE did I hear a single Canadian say, "Eh?" Every time Joey says that, the little immature part of my psyche jumps up and down and squeals with delight.

That's not to say that he is always amiable. Joey has somehow figured out how to toe the line between being approachable and likable to being a stern taskmaster when the time calls for it. But those times are rare. Needless to say, he is a swell guy to work with. If there was one guy that I would want to go to a public bathhouse with for the first time, it would be Joey.

Okay, that's a lie. It would be Jean Gabin.



But given his current circumstances, what with being dead and all for a little over thirty years, I am glad that I could go with Joey.

You see, I have never been naked in a public place before. In fact, it was here in Japan that I first showered with other guys. Now I know the automatic thought that will occur to anyone reading this is to assume that when I was in high school I was one of those cowardly kids who always brought in a sick note on gym days so he wouldn't have to show with the seniors. Well, I wasn't. Somehow, the cosmic forces that be aligned in such a manner that I missed out on two very important high school rites of passage. The first was reading J. D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye." (Honestly, I don't know HOW I managed to be in the only literature class that didn't have to read it) The second was taking school showers. I guess it was all for the best. God knows that I had self-esteem issues back then that I did not need to aggravate with THAT ordeal...

So, here in Japan, there aren't shower stalls in bathrooms for residential buildings that are designed for a lot of people. You have a row of shower heads that you use to wash with while you sit on a plastic stool right next to several other guys. So, after a day or two of not washing, I bit the bullet and did it. I was surprised to find that it didn't really bother me. So, foolhardily thinking that I was superior to my American brethren who are internationally renown for not wanting to appear naked in front of other people, I jumped at the chance to go to a bathhouse. "Take that Melissa Pankake," I thought, "You may be in beautiful Scotland, but have YOU appeared naked in front of a crowd of Scots? I thought not! Haha!" Of course, as we biked towards the bathhouse, my arrogant pride gave way to a cowardly trembling that I bit my lip to maintain.

My fears were calmed when we walked into the bathhouse and saw a clean, bright reception area with a kind attendant at the register. "This is not so bad," I thought, "Nobody is naked out here...." My fears were gone when we then walked into the shoe room, where we put our shoes in a locker for safe keeping. We then grabbed our towels and went into the changing room where all of my fears resurfaced at once with devastating speed at the sight of half a dozen old Japanese men changing.

How shall I describe what I saw?

Hmmmmmmmmm.......

Maybe a reading from the Good Book will summarize the experience.

Ahem. We will now rise for the reading of God's Word. Thanks be to God.

Thanks be to God.

Our lesson today concerns man's mortality and his destiny to grow old, as is referenced in Ecclesiastes 12:5. Our translation comes to us from the New American Standard Bible. Yea, listen to the Word of the Lord:

Furthermore, men are afraid of a high place and of terrors on the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags himself along, and the caperberry is ineffective. For man goes to his eternal home while mourners go about in the street.


The grasshopper drags himself along.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.

Well, now that that's over, on with the story. We undressed, showered, and plunged into the baths. Hmmm, I probably should have mentioned that you are supposed to shower BEFORE you go into the baths...

You know, it's really late. I need to sleep. I think I will finish this story tomorrow. Stay tuned for part two.

This is Nate in Mitaka, signing off as just another gaijin.