Australia: Prologue

So, this is the beginning of my somewhat lengthy recounting of my vacation in Australia. As a forewarning, it is not as exciting as it should have or could have been. But I had a good time and I think there are at least a couple of interesting anecdotes buried in here. Considering that this is about going to Australia in their summer (which, of course, involved a lot of sweating and a little sunburn), it is somewhat ironic that it begins with, ends with, and even in the middle involves snow. But, you'll just have to wait and see what I mean by most of that.

The reason today's post is called the 'prologue' is because... it's a prologue. This takes place before the trip to Australia even happened. I would have written about it before if I had been busy, you know, going to Australia.
What I'm talking about today is the Semine Junior High School Bounenkai, which roughly translates to the "Forget the Year Party." See, at the end of the year they have the bounenkai to look back and thank everyone for their hard work (and drink). Then, after the new year they have the Shinnenkai (New Year Party) where they look ahead and thank everyone for the hard work to come (and drink). New Year's Eve itself is basically a family holiday, reminiscent of how we do Christmas. The family gathers, eats traditional foods, visits a shrine to wish for a good year, and often try to see in the first sunrise. Now, I know what you're thinking right now, "Hey, why don't WE have two parties at New Year!" I simply don't know what to tell you.

Anyhow, December 22nd was the Junior High Bounenkai. This was the last day of school, a Wednesday, and the next day was a holiday. So, after school everyone got prepared and then headed a couple of towns over (actually into a different prefecture, the equivalent of leaving the state) to a ryokan, after driving through a light snow. This is a Japanese hotel, which is actually pretty different from a Western hotel, which is why they use a different word for the two. I got a ride with one of the other English teachers and took a change of clothes with me. This would be an overnight trip.

The really interesting thing here is that this wasn't just a ryokan, it was an onsen. Because Japan is an island nation born from volcanoes there are lots and lots of hot springs all over the place, and that's what an onsen is. The basic idea is that you go to the hotel, relax in the hot spring bath, have a party, sleep, wake up, relax in the hot spring bath again, have breakfast, and head home feeling much better.

Now, entering an onsen is done the same way as you take a bath at home here. Basically, you shower first, becoming totally clean, before you ever get in the bath. This goes way back when the whole family would share the bathwater so they didn't want to make it dirty. Now, they still share the bathwater in nearly all households, but instead of using a bucket of water they actually shower beforehand. The bath is for relaxing and warming up, not for getting clean. The onsen is the same thing.

So, after I arrived at the ryokan, traded my shoes for a pair of slippers (like a coat check), and saw the room four of us would be sharing, one of the other teachers suggested we get a quick dip in the onsen before the party started. Apparently most of the teachers were doing the same thing, at least those who weren't preparing for the party itself. So, Sakino sensei (the music teacher) and I changed into the handy robes provided for us. You take off your pants and socks, but just throw it on over everything else. Then we got on our slippers and headed for the baths. You enter the preparation room where you, well, prepare. In other words, you get completely naked. Even the slippers come off and all you have is a hand towel to cover yourself with. Then, you walk into the bath room (not the bathroom) where you have to shower. So, you pick a spot from the wall of showers and sit down on this tiiiiny little stool which couldn't have been more than 6-7 inches off the ground. These are not shower stalls. There are no walls in between them. Everyone sits down and cleans themselves thoroughly. Shampoo and soap is provided and there's a bucket there to help you rinse the hand towel out (since it has now become you washcloth as well). Once you're all done you walk over and step into the actual onsen itself.

Now, I expected all of this. I knew what an onsen was and I knew what I was getting into. Your butt may be as bare as the day you were born, but judicious use of the towel can prevent anything more personal from being revealed. I also knew that there are a lot of different types of onsens in the country, and only a few of them use 100% onsen water. Most of them mix in hot tap water, and they have to tell you what percentage they use. Because they are considered such a big part of the culture there are several laws concerning this. Sometimes they are outdoors, sometimes they are tiled, sometimes they are little more than a mudhole filled with really hot water (although this type is apparently not that common, you do still have to clean thoroughly before getting in). I was prepared mentally for stripping down, showering, and getting into the bath with nothing more than a hand towel to preserve my dignity. What I had never bothered to consider was that the water might be crystal clear. And it was.

Admittedly, I barely hesitated and just decided to relax but it was a surprise when I realized that the towel was coming off and the only thing taking its place would be some calm, clear water. However, the bath was pretty nice and I did it again the next day.

After the first dip we headed back to the room to get re-dressed and head to the party. This was a blast because all of the teachers really chill out and have a great time. And since everyone is spending the night, there's no reason not to drink. A couple of people simply DO NOT drink so they still didn't, but the rest of us knocked back a couple of liters. Actually, in Japan you don't pour your own drink. You keep an eye on the drinks of those around you and you especially try to top everyone off at least once. This means it's nearly impossible to keep track of how much you've had to drink. So, I don't know how much I had. But it was fun.

One of the things they did at the party was to Top Ten News Stories of the year from our Junior High school. These were culled from suggestions from the whole staff and were interesting. A scroll would be unrolled with a hint, and then if not one could guess it they would give a more detailed hint. For example, one hint was about someone caring a lot. Apparently our principal hand writes every single student a New Year's card which is, understandably, nearly unheard of. One of the news stories was about me, and I felt pretty silly since I had no idea what it was. It turned out that most of the teachers are impressed because I study Japanese harder than the students.

So, after that was the bingo game (somehow I am terrible at bingo which makes no sense since it's totally random) during which I won a video. Everyone bought a cheap, possibly gag, gift for this part. Well, you know those cheap Disney knockoffs you see in Wal-Mart? Imagine that in Japanese. It's Cinderella and Aladdin. I find it hilarious that I'm the one who got the Japanese children's video, and that was random too.

Afterwards we had a sort of guys-after-party. I assume the women did the same thing, but all of the men gathered in our room and drank some more and chatted. The next day we had another dip in the onsen and had a nice breakfast before gathering or stuff and trading our slippers back in for our street shoes. I said good-bye to everyone except Shida sensei (since he was driving me home) knowing that the next time I saw them, I would have returned from Australia. It was at this point that I realized it had snowed the entire time we had been there. The ground was covered with at least an inch of snow and it was undeniably winter.

Time to go to Australia...