Traditional Onsen

Traditional Japanese onsens (hot springs) are common throughout Japan.  We wanted to try one while we were in Gora!

Our hotel had a traditional onsen which are separated by genders and you go in naked.  It was so interesting trying it out because first most of the signs were in Japanese so I was not sure what exactly to do but I had been told the process was extremely important and ritualistic.  First I had to figure out which door to go into! It was separated blue and pink for women but once I got through the pink door there were two options, red and green, and I couldn't read the signs to know which was which.  Thankfully another women came in and read them saying one was for the outside onsen and the other for the inside onsen.  From here you went into another room where you took off and left your shoes.  Then you disrobed in the next room which contained baskets for your belongings and had vanity mirrors along the walls to prepare yourself when finished.

From here there was yet another room with the inside onsen.  Along the walls were bathing stations with faucets and shower heads, showering necessities (shampoo, conditioner, body wash...), and a bucket to sit on.  The process of bathing before entering the onsen is important and a process.  There weren't any signs explaining how to go about bathing because it is so common in Japan that children grow up knowing how to do it so I had to copy a few ladies next to me.  There were several different body washes to use, then you wash your hair, next face, and finally one more overall soap up before finally finishing.  It took me at least 20 minutes just to bath before entering the onsen and other women were still going.  The water was so warm and relaxing though!

Gora, Hakone

We just got back to Kodaira from a mini vacation to Gora, Hakone (about 70 miles Southwest of Kodaira and Tokyo).  Gora is located up in the mountains and is known for quiet sight seeing and scenery.  We left Wednesday, the whole trip took about three and a half hours which included 2 trains to get to Shinjuku where we caught the Romance Car.  This was basically equivalent to an Amtrak train.  This took us to Hakone where we caught a switchback train which took us higher into the mountains.

We spent Wednesday through Saturday morning exploring Gora. The area where our hotel was was extremely small.  It contained two hotels, a few small shops, one restaurant, and the train station.  But no big surprise there were buses that we could take to explore around!  We went to the Hakone Open Air Museum, Yunessun (a family friendly onsen or hot spring), a cable car and ropeway line down to a lake, and then a boat across the lake to another part of Hakone.  

Overall it was a great trip, relaxing and something new!  We only got lost once but managed to find a bus back to our hotel.  

The views from Gora were beyond amazing!  We were even able to see Mount Fuji! (Not in these pictures though)

Welcome Lunch

We had a welcome lunch Wednesday at Kyoritsu Women's College in downtown Tokyo (the other university Seth teaches at).  The original welcome lunch had to be postponed a few weeks back due to the first typhoon.  We had our first traditional Japanese bento box lunch.  These are common for lunches on the go or for larger groups.  There were seven different compartments within the bento box with all different types of food.  Out of the thirty or so food items in the lunch we could identify maybe 5 haha the rest we had no idea!  There were many different types of gelatin squares, pickled vegetables, and other unrecognizable things.  But of course being at a welcome lunch with ten of Seth's colleagues we had to eat and appear grateful.  I have gotten extremely good at hiding any emotions or thought while eating since coming to Japan haha

After the lunch we were invited to meet the chancellor and the president of Kyoritsu.  In Japan universities are often connected with junior colleges and primary schools as well.  So the chancellor is a representative of the entire set of schools while the president represents just the university.  The president was an older gentleman that seemed extremely business like and straight forward.  The chancellor on the other hand was near his 80's, guessed the staff, and was an outgoing and friendly man.

Earthquake

We experienced our first earthquake while we were awake on Sunday, around 2pm.  It was a magnitude of 5.0 which is significantly less than the one we experienced a week ago which was a 7.1.  However, this earthquake occurred over 43 miles underground and was still felt throughout Tokyo and Chiba.  Kelly was at the dinning room table alone when it happened.  She said it is much scary when you are alone and awake because you instantly realize the disaster than can come from such an earthquake.  She said the earthquake was long enough that she began to question whether she cold be going under the table or if it will stop soon.

What did Seth, Marley, and I think of the earthquake?

Nothing.

We were riding the trains and didn't feel a thing! Its weird to think that we didn't notice anything while on the train.  We didn't feel anything sway more than normal nor did we notice things outside moving either.

So much for our first daytime earthquake...

Tama Zoo

Marley and Seth took the train yesterday morning to kill time while Kelly and I slept.  They have a routine during the week where they will take the train somewhere and get a cinnamon role or other sweet pastry and then come back and it'll be my turn to watch him until we take him to school.  It has gotten to the point where when they walk into the coffee shop at Mitaka the lady will grab a cinnamon role and two small cups of water and bring it to them before they even get to the counter.

Since yesterday was a weekend for us Seth and Marley ventured to a new stop on the train.  They ended up at Tachikawa which is a few stops SW of Kodaira.  They found a  monorail that led to a zoo.  To give Kelly some time to get more work done Seth and I decided to take Marley to the zoo after breakfast.  This was by far much better than the zoo we went to in Tokyo.  First, it wasn't in downtown Tokyo so they had more room for the animals, more space overall, and more of each animal.  Also, the zoo in Tokyo  you could get within 10 feet of the animals but there were huge fences in between you and the animals that distorted the views and pictures.  You felt like it was a cage and not a real experience of the animals naturally.  The Tama zoo however did not have any gates but rather a fence that was about hip height and then the animals were a little father away behind another hip high fence.  This was better though because you could really see them without anything in the way.

This zoo also had a bus that would take you into the lion habitat.  It was a long line, that didn't go well with Marley, but once we were finally in the bus we all sat facing the windows.  On the outside of each window was a peg with a raw piece of meat hanging off it.  As we drove around we saw all the lions sleeping and walking.  The the bus went up right next to a bench where two lions were laying.  One got up and came right up to the windows to grab the meat.  It was so cool! The lion was literally inches from us only stopped by a window in the bus!

We only made it about 1/5 of the way through the zoo because Marley was tired form not sleeping well the night before.  We will definitely have to go back before I leave though to see the rest!

Rainy day fun!

Things get interesting when its raining and we are stuck inside for most of the day. Marley has an attention spam of a mosquito! We can have 10 things planned to keep him going for the day and he'll burn through them within an hour if we let him.  We try coloring, drawing, crafts, parades with his stuffed animals, the alligator game, bingo, go fish, and anything else we can come up with in that moment! But he's usually done before before even begin haha

Earlier this week Kelly and Seth brought up one of the last luggages (filled with winter clothes).  This soon became Marley's hiding spot and kept him busy for what felt like forever!

Internet

It doesn't matter what country I am in or how many times I have connected to the internet previously there is always a problem just waiting to occur.  Kelly and Seth both had the same problem when we first got here and it took a few days but they were able to figure out something.  Of course Kelly and Seth aren't having problems anymore haha

I haven't been able to connect to the internet any of the numerous times I've tried in the last 5 days.  I would try and log in and it would say there was a problem, I'd restart the computer and it would be the same.  Again and again.  Kelly tried to help me by deleting the network from my computer and trying to set up a new profile but that was unsuccessful as well.  Finally after days of no luck I found an Ethernet cord at the house and was able to log in.  I'm afraid to remove the cord and see if wireless is working because I finally got this to work.

Fingers crossed it keeps working!