I am at the end of a glorious week off from school. I spent the first half traveling to another prefecture on Kyushu island called Oita. There is a famous city in Oita called Beppu. Beppu is famous for it's natural hot spring areas. It rivals Yellowstone as an area with the most hot water volume in the world. Because of this, Beppu has many onsen, which are extremely popular in Japan. Going to the onsen is a great day to unwind after a day of hard work, and just relax in hot water while all your troubles melt away. When you go to an onsen, you wash yourself first at separate shower stalls. When you are squeaky clean, you are allowed to get in the onsen and relax with everyone else. Oh, and you are naked. The vast majority of onsen are gender separated. I felt a bit self conscious during my first onsen trip, and then I got over myself. Onsen are WONDERFUL. It's a great place to actually get to know people in your community. While in Beppu, another ALT and I visited a famous onsen where we took a hot sand bath. Yes, we literally laid down and had ladies bury everything but our heads in warm sand. My friend enjoyed it, but I thought it was a bit like being burried alive. I'm sad to say that my camera batteries decided to die, so I don't have any pictures.
During this trip, we also visited an aquarium located next to the Pacific Ocean, where we saw everything from jellyfish to sharks to dolphins to rare frogs. Right next to the aquarium was Takasaki Mountain, home to hundreds of macaque monkeys. They are so used to people, that they will come right up to your feet. Literally. It was a great trip and a great way to unwind and say goodbye to 2009!
