It’s really been a while since I updated, I know. I never thought I would be so busy here, but the days are just flying by. There’s so much that’s been happening- so let’s get right to it, shall we?
I know I promised to tell you about my trip to the onsen, and I have to admit, I was REALLY hoping I could tell you all, "Oh, it was great, I didn’t get stared at or made fun of, the water was soothing, and I left feeling clean and refreshed. The End."
But you all know me better than that. Actually, I left that onsen feeling dirtier than when I arrived.
Let’s backtrack, to that morning. It was Saturday, around 10:30am when we left the house. I had thought it would just be Sukiko and I, but apparently, going to an onsen is a family affair. The mom, dad, Youto, and Fujiomi came with us, and we all walked to the onsen. That’s right- WALKED. It’s not that I’m adverse to walking, or anything, and it really wasn’t that far, but going from road to winding road, carrying a wash bucket full of shampoo, conditioner, soap, and handtowel- along with five other people carrying the same thing- is just a little weird when you think about it. At least, it was to me. The few people we passed didn’t even blink, they probably just knew we were going to/ returning from a bathouse. It made me realize just how common place public baths are in Japan, so that helped me calm down about bathing in front of other women a bit.
The bathouse we went to was relatively small. It was on a slightly wider side-street, with a big blue flag bearing a white hiragana "YU" fluttering over the tiled roof. We went inside and payed, and we left our shoes in little cubbies near the door. The front..um, lobby, I guess, was really dank and steamy. It was like the wooden beams across the ceiling were permanantly saturated with steam. Then, the owner said something to the dad, Fujiomi, and Youto that made them look at each other, then us, before nodding. I asked Sukiko what happened- that I didn’t catch what the man had said. Sukiko’s mom led us into the dressing room to the left, and Sukiko explained to me about the bathouse times. It took me a while, but I finally understood that there were different times each bath was open for men and women. The women’s bath opened first and was open from eight to eleven, both baths were open during the peak hours of eleven to four, and then the women’s bath closed and the men’s bath stayed open from four to eight.
Since the men’s bath was still closed, Sukiko said, the owner was telling her dad, Fujiomi, and Youto that they could use the men’s washroom to scrub themselves clean, but they would have to wait before they could get in the bath.
I didn’t really think too much of it- probably because at that point, right as I had been about to strip off my t-shirt, five younger girls walked into the dressing room and noticed me IMMEDIATELY. They looked about 12-14, and having them switvh turns staring at me was NOT comfortable. Sukiko went ahead and got undressed, and gave me that look like, "Why are you still clothed?" I sighed.
Okay, Pandora, this ISN’T a big deal, I told myself, you don’t have ANYTHING that these girls haven’t seen before. You’ll probably never see them ever again anyway, so just suck it up. This is a REAL Japanese onsen-something you’ve waited years to experience- and having a gaggle of pre-teen girls stare at you is NOT going to stop you from getting in that bath!
I give myself pep-talks a lot.
In the end, I did undress, and I have to admit I was strangely proud of my body. I’ll be the first to suggest I should lose about a ton off my ass, but having DD-cup breasts in that situation just makes you feel so good about yourself. I could almost taste the shame and jealousy in the air as those other girls got to stripping. Sukiko and I put our clothes in the tiny lockers the bathouse provided, grabbed our wash buckets, and walked through a door covered with a curtain into the wash room.
The washroom was really nice- the whole left wall was covered in plate-glass mirrors, and the wall right in front of us was painted in a sort of feudal Japanese mural, showing women in kimono undressing and bathing. There was a fake tree, too, snaking up one wall with the branches actually in the plaster, and the leaves hanging down from the ceiling. The whole floor and bottom eight inches of the walls were covered in tiny blue-green tiles, and there was a stack of short stools right by the door. The right wall had shower spouts and I saw that below, the floor wasn’t tile, but strips of wood, spaced about an inch apart from each other. Drain system? I thought.
I followed Sukiko to one of the spouts at the far end of the room, and set down my short little wooden stool. There were only maybe three other women in the washroom besides us, and they were at the other end of the room, so I don’t think they noticed us. Sukiko’s mom had gone ahead of us, but I didn’t see her in the washroom. I mentioned this to Sukiko, who replied, "She is in the bath already, then."
I nodded, and started washing. The shower spout was really weird, because it sprayed the water out at strange angles. I think it was broken. Anyway, after washing my body, I pulled out my John Freida Radiant Red shampoo, and began washing my hair, while trying NOT to be blinded by a rogue jet of water from the retarded shower spout. It wasn’t easy, having to sit down and try to clean my hair thoroughly. I have long, curly hair that has yet to be tamed by any chemical, machine, or magic spell, so washing it is no easy task.
Washing it in front of about five complete strangers while trying to speak Japanese in nearly impossible. But I managed it.
Sukiko: Hey, What’s this?
Me: *tries to stop soap from burning my eye sockets* Huh?
Sukiko: This- this bottle. What is it? *holds out my shampoo bottle*
Me: Oh- that’s my shampoo. It’s specially for girls with red hair. *scrubs scalp*
Sukiko: So, if I use this shampoo, it will turn my hair red?
Me: Uh, no *gets soap suds in mouth- spits them out* Ugh. It just makes hair that is….um… *tries to think of the right words*…hair that is already red…looking shiny and ….more red…
Sukiko: That’s cool. Do you want to go to the outside bath now?
Me: *finally gets all of the soap out* Yeah- I’ll put in my conditioner later.
Sukiko: What? Conditioner?
Me: Yeah- *takes out bottle, and shows it to her.* See? It’s for your hair, too. Makes it soft.
Sukiko: Oh- *in Engrish* Rinsu.
Me: Yeah…Rinse….
Side note: I’ve noticed that I don’t use NEARLY as much conditioner as I used to. Back home, where 100% humidity didn’t neccessarily mean rain, conditioner was a MUST to keep my hair from frizzing. I used about a bottle of conditioner every two weeks. Here, the atmosphere is much drier and cooler, so I barely use any at all. I followed Sukiko back across the washroom. We passed those girls from earlier- and they fell completely silent, not even trying to hide the fact that they were staring right at me.
I wanted to just scream, "WHAT?! What IS it?? What do you WANT?!" I paused for a minute, looking down at them where they sat on their little stools, and in UNISON, they all stare directly at my crotch. Now, let me just say that I keep a "spotless ship" down there. I don’t have time to deal with bikini lines, landing strips or any of that nonsense. Every third Thursday, I go downtown to my salon and get it all waxed off. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, you’re way too young to be reading this blog.
So, apparently, these middle-school girls thought my cleanliness down there rather fascinating, and didn’t seem abashed to turn around and check it out.
Okay. I draw the line at crotch staring. Sukiko had already gone ahead, so I was left to face these girls on my own. I paused and waited for them to realize that I was staring back. It actually took about thirty full seconds for one of them to look up- and meet my Glare of Doom. That girl elbowed the others, and they all looked up.
"You got a problem with me, little girls? Or are you just taking time out of your day to stare at the gaijin?" I asked in enunciated English.
Stumped, they turned around embarassed, and started half-heartedly to wash themselves again. I know that they heard the word "gaijin", and I’m sure I sounded pretty pissed off, but I don’t feel bad for scaring them.
I went on and followed where I saw Sukiko go, around a sort of bamboo screen, and I saw a glass sliding door. An outside bath! Awesome! I opend the door and went out, looking around. There was a high wall surrounding the whole area, and milky white water bubbled between dark grey rocks. Small sprouts of grass sprung between the rocks and wall, but every other available inch of space was covered in either water or cement. It wasn’t as spread out as some pictures of others I had seen, but that’s not to say it wasn’t nice. Don’t forget- it’s really, REALLY cold here this time of year (at least to me. I’m not good with cold weather.), so seeing that steam billowing off that water looked mighty inviting. I hurried up and got in, and tried to ignore the searing sensation on my skin as it melted off my bones. Sukiko was there, talking with her mother, and on the right side of the bath was a few of the older women I had seen earlier. I did my best to follow their conversation, but after a while I sat back and relaxed. It. Was. GREAT. Being outside, middle of the day, relaxing in the bath (with rather cloudy water, so there was minimal staring) was the best feeling I’ve had in Japan so far. I tilted back and let my whole body sink into the water. Once you got used to the heat, even having the warm water soak through your hair and in your ears felt good. I dipped my head back several times to let the water over my face, thinking happily how the minerals in the water would help my complexion.
The water was cloudy white because of the "natural minerals" in the water. Or so they say. Actually, Sukiko told me that not too long ago, the Japanese government ran tests on the water used by every onsen in Japan. The results showed that over two thirds of all onsens added the minerals and scents to their water, and used artificial heat to warm the baths. The Japanese people were understandably upset, I suppose, but I don’t really know what ever became of it. I think they were discussing putting national regulations on onsens, but it probably got all caught up in the beuracracy with everybody asking everybody else’s opinion and nothing ever really happened. We were in the bath maybe five to eight minutes, when one of the young girls poked her head out of the sliding glass door and said something to the rest of us in the bath. I made out the words "open" "man" and "bath". Immediately, the group of older women began huffing and puffing, talking about how they had a busy day to get back to and that maybe it was time to get out of the bath. This was really odd, considering how they had been spread out, dominating half the space only a few seconds before. I questioned Sukiko about this and she said that the men’s bath was opening now. I didn’t see the connection, but guessed that maybe those women use the time schedule for the baths like their own personal time keepers, just like other people set their watches by using the time the morning train arrives. Then, Sukiko’s mom said something that set a whole string of events in motion, leading to my eventual mortification.
Sukiko’s mom: *laugh* Even with those women gone, this bath is going to seem awfully small once Fujiomi gets here. He’s too tall for his own good.
Me: Wait- What? Fujiomi?
Sukiko: Yeah, they already said that the bath was opening for men.
Me: Wait wait wait wait wait! THIS bath? THIS bath is opening for men?!
Sukiko: *very matter-of-factly* Yeah. What did you think? There’s only one bath, so men and women share at different times of the day.
Sukiko’s mom: If you don’t want the men to see you, dear, there are towels on that rack over there. Feel free to go get one and use it to cover yourself, or just go back into the washroom. We’ll be there in a bit.
I agreed and waded over to get out the bath. Being stared at by old women with shag rugs between their legs, and middle school girls with as many curves as a yardstick is one thing. Becoming gaijin jack-off material for a group of wrinkly old Japanese men is something else that I am NOT willing to get involved in. I got out the bath, when Sukiko told me to wait, and that she would get out with me. I stopped, mere steps away from the towel rack. Right then, I heard Sukiko say, "Oh, hey, Youto."
Huh?
I turn around, and there’s Youto, a thin towel tied around his waist while he walked quickly to get in the bath, not even glancing at his studio. "Hey, Sukiko. Hey, Pandora. MOM- you’ll never guess what Fujiomi said to these men in the guy’s washroom!"
The events that followed occured within the span of about 6.0039 seconds.
Right then, while Sukiko was lifting herself out of the bath and Youto was getting in, I looked up and saw Fujiomi walking out of the men’s washroom. I froze- and he looked right at me, taking in the sight of my obviously naked body in one glace. Panicking, I dove towards the towel rack, stumbled, and nearly fell. I grabbed a towel and held it in front of me, shouting in English, "DON’T LOOK AT ME!".
Silence fell. Fujiomi didn’t miss a beat, either.
Fujiomi: Keep that towel around you, girl. Stop trying to show off. No one wants to see a body like yours.
I seriously had to stop myself from making him eat his own soap. I. Was. FURIOUS. Fujiomi’s mom and dad yelled at him for his rudeness, and Sukiko hit his shoulder, grabbed my arm, and pulled me back inside the woman’s washroom while slamming the door behind us.
I marched over to my previous washing stool and sat bavk down, turning on the water and scrubbing myself angrily.
"Who the fuck does he think he is??" I mutterd in angry English, "Goddamned playboy. I see how he flirts with all the other girls in school, but around ME he gets all stoic and sarcstic. I HATE guys like him- so cocky and arrogant when I’m REALLY TRYING to learn about this fucking country!!!!"
Sukiko sat next to me, and started washing off, too.
Me: WHAT is Fujiomi’s problem with me??
Sukiko: *sigh* Well, Fujiomi… Fujiomi does not really trust girls. He flirts a lot, but it is hard for him. He is the younger twin, but he wants to be a big brother for me really badly. It is difficult, though. Everyone knows he is my little brother, and they treat him that way. Other senior girls really make him their idol, because he is so popular. Sometimes, his fans get out of control, and they will try to use me to get close to him. Fujiomi hates that others try to use his family or friends to get close to him, so he has few real friends.
Me: Still- he could at least be a bit more courteous, without making friends with everyone.
Sukiko: Pandora, if he gave you special treatment, and was kind to you when he was impartial to everyone else, you would get bullied and there would be nothing Fujiomi could do about it.
Me: Then what about that "yanki" comment he made? Even after that thing in the hall with Perv, Fujiomi just made it worse at lunch by calling me a yanki in front of everyone! I was questioned by the Discipline committee!
Sukiko: I know. And so does Fujiomi. As soon as Discipline-kun dragged you off, Fujiomi knew what he did, and he felt really bad. He immediately went to the student council president who fixed it, got you back to class, and gave the discipline committee a stern talking to. Meanwhile, Fujiomi himself skipped class to find the real thief and take him to the teacher to prove you innocent.
Wow. Now I almost felt kinda…bad…. ALMOST.
Me: An apology still wouldn’t kill him.
Sukiko laughed. "Fujiomi is the worst with apologies. He means to say that he is sorry, but his pride gets int he way, and he just ends up making the other person even madder than before. Fujiomi is unusually blunt, so he tends to hurt the people around him with his straight words. Only the people close to him can see how much he really cares.
I didn’t really have much to say to that, so I just rinsed off my body and stood up. My hair was still wet from the bath, but I was feeling to annoyed to rinse it out and condition it, so I just pulled it all back out of my face and tied it up in a bun. Sukiko was about finished then, too, so we got dressed again in silence and walked outside into the hazy lobby again, waiting for the others. One by one, Sukiko’s mom, Sukiko’s dad, Youto, and Fujiomi came out and we put our shoes on and left the bathouse. Fujiomi and I were the only ones not joining in on the conversation. Sukiko’s parents offered to treat all of us to a nice lunch out. We had Korean food at this cute little open-air tent place, and the food was great. I was beginning to feel a bit better; my hair was still wet, keeping my head cool, and I felt clean and refreshed. Plus, it was nice getting another opprotunity to talk to Sukiko’s parents in a relaxed setting. Until Fujiomi opened his big mouth. He was sitting across from me, minding his own busines, when he suddenly reached over and poked my cheek- HARD.
Fujiomi: Don’t you know how to eat? You’ve got shit all over your face.
I pushed his hand away and wiped my fave with my napkin, spitting out a careless "WHATEVER." to him in English.
Fujiomi: "Waht….evah"…?
Me: (in English) Yeah, WHATEVER.
Fujiomi: *shrug* "Whatever".
Now he say it ALL THE TIME. And ONLY TO ME!
"Fujiomi, dinner is ready!" "Whatever."
"Have you taken a bath yet?" "Whatever."
"Where is my school bag?" "Whatever."
It’s driving me up a fucking WALL!!! And he STARES at me! He thinks I don’t see him staring, but I do. He’ll just LOOK at me while we’re all watching television, and if I try to ask him what he’s doing he just "Whatever"-s me.
Oh- and something else I forgot to mention. You know those "Special Healing Minerals" in that onsen water? Fuck that. I know it’s supposed to be good for you, cleanse your skin, cure your arthritis, etc., etc.
But there’s something else that you should know about that water; ladies, if you use L’Oreal Intensifying Hair Shine: Radical Red, color #274, and you dip your hair into that water and DON’T wash it out, be warned that your hair color WILL change. It’ll turn as copper as a shiny new penny, to be exact.
After I got out of the bath and was seen by Fujiomi, I just tied my hair back and didn’t bother to wash it once I was back in the washroom. I spent all day outside, first eating with Sukiko and her family, then walking around with her going window shopping, and eventually meeting up with Ai and Nana at a small cafe. When we got back to the house, I was the last one to bathe, and I realized my hair was feeling rather nappy and gross. So, I took out the hair tie, let it all hang loose, and rinsed it with the shower nozzle. All of my hair color washed out, too. Well, not all of it, but MORE THAN I WOULD HAVE LIKED.
I look like a mix between Little Orphan Annie and Pippy Longstocking now and I DO NOT ENJOY IT. However, I suppose if you ignore the dramatic shift in color, you’ll be happy to know that my hair is silkier and shinier than it’s ever been. Great.
Hope to see you in Japan soon, hopefully with somemore solid understandings of how this stuff works.