Butt naked (English verion)
Door: Martijn Nijland
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Martijn
23 November 2013 | Japan, Osaka
Kon'nichiwa!
It has been a long time since my last update. Too long actually… But to let you people now I’m still alive (especially after the fugu fish) a update from Osaka!
Well, actually not only from Osaka. Since my last story I visited a lot of different places. A small summary:
- Made a visit to Hiroshima and the peace memorial (for the people who don’t know which place this is… shame on you!). This visit was very impressive and there is no possible way to describe the feeling I got here.
-Visited Miyajima. This is a temple on an island and the tori gate is placed in the sea. The scene was beautiful and was worth the visit.
- Stephan, a friend from the boy scouts, visited me and together we went to Osaka and Kobe. I had a great time and for me it was very special to talk Dutch for 2 days. It’s strange you can miss talking in your mother language .
-Of course I did a lot more than this. A part of this is shown through the pictures I made. These can be found in the Dutch version of this story named “Met de billenbloot!”.
About last weekend I want to dedicate more than two lines of text. First because it’s something typical Japanese, second because in the beginning I felt pretty awkward… Together with my colleagues I went to an onsen with ryokan… Translated this means a Japanese hot spring with Japanese style hotel. The awkward part for me was that you don’t wear swimming pants to an onsen.
Directly after work we went to the resort. This was located in the west part of Kyoto and we had to travel a hour and a half to get there. Upon the first look the only thing I heard around my was “sugoi”(Japanese for amazing) and I have to admit it looked amazing! We were led to our rooms by a women wearing typical Japanese clothes. The room was Japanese style with tatami mats… this only meant 1 thing… we had to sleep on a Japanese futon (thin mattress which often causes backaches by western people).
Before dinner we all had to change our clothes to a yukata. This is typical Japanese clothing and can be best described as a long bathrobe with a coat over that. When everybody changed to their yukatas it was time to eat and drink. After we were done we went back to our rooms. Apparently magic, gnomes or the Japanese women visited our room because our futons where laying on the ground for us ready to sleep. This however was a problem for later. First we had to make a visit to the onsen.
Armed with a small and big towel we first went to the dressing rooms… the time finally arrived, the moment to expose myself butt naked… Normally I don’t care being naked in a sauna or something. However this was with people I work with and I normally only see in a suit on the opposite side of my desk… This was the reason I felt a bit uncomfortable… But apparently my colleagues couldn’t care less…
The big towel and the yukata together with the rest of my clothes stayed in a locker. Armed with the small towel I finally walked towards the baths. The small towel is really small… It’s too small to wrap it around your waist so you either have to chose between being butt naked or… well you get the point… Before you enter the water you have to rinse your body. You sit on a wooden stool and you make sure every part of your body is being cleaned and washed.
After the rinsing I walk towards the hot water springs. Holding the small towel in front of me I keep looking at people above the height of their shoulders. After arriving at the outdoor bath I slowly let myself drop into the warm water and I have to admit… It’s the most relaxing feeling I ever had! The water feels like a warm blanket around body and together with the sound of small waterfalls, I quickly forget any sense of time. With the feeling being reborn I eventually leave the water to have a small shower and to get back in my yukata again. After a beer of two it's finally time for me and colleagues to sleep. In a mental stage of being totally relaxed, I sleep without any problem on my Japanese futon.
The next morning we get awake at 6 in the morning, but for some reason I don’t feel tired or anything. Before breakfast we have another visit to the onsen and at 10 we leave the resort to visit Kyoto. I only will say this: sometimes it’s breathtaking to see the temples and the gardens around them and it’s impossible to describe al the colors of the leafs because of the autumn season. I ended the day by watching the football match Japan against The Netherlands… let put it this way… the first half it was pretty clear I was Dutch, the second half I was a little bit more quiet…
That’s all for today. Next time I will answer the questions of last time and this time, because otherwise this story will become too long.
As said before, the pictures can be found at the Dutch version of this report “Met de billenbloot”.
Until next time!
Sayōnara!
It has been a long time since my last update. Too long actually… But to let you people now I’m still alive (especially after the fugu fish) a update from Osaka!
Well, actually not only from Osaka. Since my last story I visited a lot of different places. A small summary:
- Made a visit to Hiroshima and the peace memorial (for the people who don’t know which place this is… shame on you!). This visit was very impressive and there is no possible way to describe the feeling I got here.
-Visited Miyajima. This is a temple on an island and the tori gate is placed in the sea. The scene was beautiful and was worth the visit.
- Stephan, a friend from the boy scouts, visited me and together we went to Osaka and Kobe. I had a great time and for me it was very special to talk Dutch for 2 days. It’s strange you can miss talking in your mother language .
-Of course I did a lot more than this. A part of this is shown through the pictures I made. These can be found in the Dutch version of this story named “Met de billenbloot!”.
About last weekend I want to dedicate more than two lines of text. First because it’s something typical Japanese, second because in the beginning I felt pretty awkward… Together with my colleagues I went to an onsen with ryokan… Translated this means a Japanese hot spring with Japanese style hotel. The awkward part for me was that you don’t wear swimming pants to an onsen.
Directly after work we went to the resort. This was located in the west part of Kyoto and we had to travel a hour and a half to get there. Upon the first look the only thing I heard around my was “sugoi”(Japanese for amazing) and I have to admit it looked amazing! We were led to our rooms by a women wearing typical Japanese clothes. The room was Japanese style with tatami mats… this only meant 1 thing… we had to sleep on a Japanese futon (thin mattress which often causes backaches by western people).
Before dinner we all had to change our clothes to a yukata. This is typical Japanese clothing and can be best described as a long bathrobe with a coat over that. When everybody changed to their yukatas it was time to eat and drink. After we were done we went back to our rooms. Apparently magic, gnomes or the Japanese women visited our room because our futons where laying on the ground for us ready to sleep. This however was a problem for later. First we had to make a visit to the onsen.
Armed with a small and big towel we first went to the dressing rooms… the time finally arrived, the moment to expose myself butt naked… Normally I don’t care being naked in a sauna or something. However this was with people I work with and I normally only see in a suit on the opposite side of my desk… This was the reason I felt a bit uncomfortable… But apparently my colleagues couldn’t care less…
The big towel and the yukata together with the rest of my clothes stayed in a locker. Armed with the small towel I finally walked towards the baths. The small towel is really small… It’s too small to wrap it around your waist so you either have to chose between being butt naked or… well you get the point… Before you enter the water you have to rinse your body. You sit on a wooden stool and you make sure every part of your body is being cleaned and washed.
After the rinsing I walk towards the hot water springs. Holding the small towel in front of me I keep looking at people above the height of their shoulders. After arriving at the outdoor bath I slowly let myself drop into the warm water and I have to admit… It’s the most relaxing feeling I ever had! The water feels like a warm blanket around body and together with the sound of small waterfalls, I quickly forget any sense of time. With the feeling being reborn I eventually leave the water to have a small shower and to get back in my yukata again. After a beer of two it's finally time for me and colleagues to sleep. In a mental stage of being totally relaxed, I sleep without any problem on my Japanese futon.
The next morning we get awake at 6 in the morning, but for some reason I don’t feel tired or anything. Before breakfast we have another visit to the onsen and at 10 we leave the resort to visit Kyoto. I only will say this: sometimes it’s breathtaking to see the temples and the gardens around them and it’s impossible to describe al the colors of the leafs because of the autumn season. I ended the day by watching the football match Japan against The Netherlands… let put it this way… the first half it was pretty clear I was Dutch, the second half I was a little bit more quiet…
That’s all for today. Next time I will answer the questions of last time and this time, because otherwise this story will become too long.
As said before, the pictures can be found at the Dutch version of this report “Met de billenbloot”.
Until next time!
Sayōnara!
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
