Serenading our hosts

Friday night was our first try at Japanese karaoke. From the scores that show up after you sing, our team has some rehearsing to do. It is so much fun.

Our conference room where we had just had a Rotary meeting and done our presentation for the first time, had a machine and several four-inch thick books of song titles in a mix of English and Japanese characters.


Businessmen, often reserved and formal during work, use it as an opportunity to drink and relax their dignified fronts, one Rotarian explained to me.

Some crooned traditional Japanese songs into a microphone, while others gave impressive performances of oldies in English, with little of their usual signature accents seeping through the lyrics.

None reached such new heights of cacophony as our team's rendition of "No Satisfaction." Even after the last Japanese Rotarian went home, we stayed with our translator, Shunske, and a bottle of sake to have our own private karaoke party.

Lesson learned: No more satisfaction.

'Absorbing' the culture

Thursday was the day I've been waiting for. A group of Rotarians took us to a Japanese spa. Its a huge building with several attractions. There is a large pool with rounded blocks that form a maze. The current flows a certain way, and you jog with it. It was cute to watch the elderly Japanese women, bobbing up and down, swim caps on their heads. There are little "rest stops" along the way, where you can back up to jets or relax in a hot tub.

All the water is from the ocean, which is supposed to be good for you, but I didn't catch why.

One room is like a cold steam room. You lay on lawn chairs while sea mist floats in around you. We also tried lying in a bathtub with jets that move around to different parts of your body.

The grand finale was getting a mud pack. A cute Japanese woman smeared my back with thick mud paste, as I laid one a table. She wrapped me in thin plastic, then with a thicker padded plastic comforter. There was heat that radiated through the table. The mud is supposed to help with aches and pains. There was also a choice of a seaweed paste, which is supposed to make your skin soft.

We spent three hours at the spa, and after a lunch of rice, eggs and seafood mixed together, we were all ready to take a nap.

Instead we visited a ranger station, went to a vegetable and fish market, went to a park visitors center, and went to coffee twice. I told you, they pack it in. At the same time, I was constantly consulting our translator, Shuski, on how to say certain sentences in Japanese.

It was a great day. Now I'm back with my host family (The photo is of my room here). We ate sushi with more intriguing seafood and watched sumo wrestling. I couldn't help but laugh a couple times at these big fat guys in little diapers going around slapping their belts.


Tonight was a little easier, and I really tried to use more Japanese. I showed the Web site of the newspaper I work for. At one point, my host mom, Atsuko, pointed at the legal notices and asked what they were. She and Tetsuo were fascinated. Try explaining in Japanese why the government has to auction off a house when it's in foreclosure. I managed though, and it's always rewarding when the light goes on on the other end — signaling success.

Lesson learned: Sea urchin isn't half bad. It's sea cucumber I can't stomach.

Lessons in bathing

Okay, so I finally figured it out. In my last entry, I mentioned how everyone shares the same bath water. Well, our translator, Shuski, gave me some clarity on the matter. The bathroom I mentioned is a shower. The whole room. When you walk in, there is a shower head you pull from the wall and a cover that hides a drain. You sit on a stool and wash your hair, etc. The final step is to get into the bathtub.

So, that's a little better. I guess it's similar to sitting in a hot tub, since you're already clean. I just feel so relieved.

Lesson learned: The Japanese aren't as unhygienic as I thought they were.

Feed the birds

The Japanese don't kid around when they sight see. Wednesday we jumped from landmark to landmark, starting at the Jodogahama Beach. The highlight was taking a boat off the coast, passing by the myriad of huge rocks jutting out of the ocean. The Rotary members accompanying us pointed out the eastern most point of the big island of Japan.


At most parks I have gone to in my life, you bump into sign after sign that says "Please don't feed the animals." Here, they encourage it. They gave out slabs of bread to throw to the seagulls, which drew hordes of them to duck close to the tarp roof that covered the boat. They will take it directly from your hand — and as we found out later, your head, and your mouth.

Afterwards, we had lunch at a traditional Japanese restaurant, compete with low tables where we sat on the floor, and more seafood. We also went to another town on the coast to see the wall they had built to guard against tsunami, as well as visited some underground caves.


Tonight is the first night on our trip we are staying with host families. I would be lying if I said it isn't awkward. It's hard enough to stay in a complete stranger's home alone, but when you don't understand each other, it adds a whole other element of uneasiness. I'm staying with a couple named Atsuko and Tetsuo. They have been very gracious, making me a huge dinner and asking me questions about my life at home.

The guest room's floor is covered in straw mats, called totami. You sleep on a cushion on the floor. The customary thing is to take a bath at night. You are not supposed to use soap or drain the water tub, because the whole family should use the same water. They allow the guest to go first, so I am the lucky one, but it's hard to believe they are okay with bathing in the water I just stepped out of, and there was no shower in their bathroom.

Lesson learned: Sleeping on the floor isn't so bad.