Onsen-it'll cure what ails ya

...So the next we grabbed more uni-ikura donburi for breakfast, and then bought some crab and fish to be sent home. And this was some rather fresh stuff. Once we realized you can't really send the live crab walking around in the pool via takkyubin (Japan's UPS/FEDEX, etc.) we went with already dead, on the rocks. After heading back and checking out, we went for a drive, with our ultimate destination being lunch. Anyway, Hokkaido reminded me a lot of Wisconsin, not only in the fact that it was still refreshingly cold in May, but also the scenery. Save for sharp changes in elevation, between the farmland and the pine trees I felt right back at home. Oh, and the cows. Not exactly anything surprising for me, but my family seemed to get a decent kick out of 'em. At one point, we saw some horses galloping (not walking, trotting, etc.) across a meadow, and that was rather picture-esque. I also couldn't help remembering how delicious that horse meat I ate back in the fall was. The road starts climbing, and we arrive at some huge, fancy hotel which is quite literally on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere. There is, however, a rather pretty vista overlooking Lake Toya, which I assume is part of the draw. That and the golf course, how could I forget. Anyway, we had a nice lunch there, Yugo terrorized the hotel as best he could, and then we were off for Noboribetsu. The place is famous for onsen (natural hot springs) and I could immediately tell because upon driving into the town I was literally knocked over by the overwhelming smell of sulfur in the air. While, yes, it does kind of stink at first, the smell grew on me, and evetually my nose got used to it. The onsen was attached to the hotel, so a simple elevator ride was all it took to get to the bath. After an extensive meal that was brought to our room, I put on my yukata (a thin, summer-style kimono, or in this case something that resembled more of a bath robe) and headed with Yugo and my host dad to the bath. After heading into the changing lounge (and yes, it is not a room but a lounge) and stripping down, I grabbed my little hand towel (with which most people hide their unmentionables) and headed into the public bath. First on the list, I threw water over myself with this little handled bucket, and found and empty shower station. Basically, you sit down on this little bench take a shower, all the while breathing in steam filling air and enjoying a generally sense of warmth. After the shower, it is natural spring time. And this is where it can get difficult, simply due to the number of choices. There were probably a good ten different bath indoors, plus three more outdoors, each one having different water with varying minerals and properties. Oddly enough, that was one of the more interesting things for me. Each spring had a sign (no English, sorry) explaining what minerals the water had in it, and what health benefits one could supposed get from steeping in said water. The creepiest looking one was a murky gray color, due to the high sulfur concentration. Other pools had naturium, calcium, high acidity, etc. Benefits listed included helping against high blood pressure, certain skin deseases,...even hardening of the arteries could be stemmed by taking a dip in the stuff. Man, do they bottle this stuff?! There was even sort of a 'cure all' spring. I took my time in that one. My favorites have to be the outdoor ones, though. It was even the perfect temperature out (probably upper 30s I'd guess), so that while soaking my body was nice and warm, but there was a refreshingly crisp breeze against my face. Probably nothing better to refresh oneself both physically and mentally. The water constantly flowing into the 'cure-all' spring was brought in on this criss-crossing set of roughly hollowed out wooden halfpipes, really giving it and authentic natural feel...it also really, really felt like Japan. While living in Japan can have its downsides, the hustle and bustle, the crowded, cramped feeling, there are certain wonderful things that one can only experience here, and the onsen is one of them. Granted I sleep like a log anyway, but after going in the onsen sleep comes almost instantly. The next day we went to a bear park. After taking a ski-lift up to the place, there were a couple a large pens where you could toss puchased food nuggets to the bears. One bear was rather active and would stand on his hind legs and even put his paws together in an 'itadakimasu!' sort of fashion to try and get everyone's attention. Yet another bear, who's laziness I rather admired, refused to get up from his laying down position, but lazily put one paw to see if there were any takers. I decided to give it a shot, and even managed to get one in his mouth, he didn't even have to move. But in the end, that sort of thing isn't my cup of tea. It's cool to see the bears and all, but it's kind of sad when you realize they spend day in and day out in this pen sitting around catching the same nuggets over and over again. We grabbed ramen and yakiniku (grilled meat) for lunch, and then left for the airport. We took the scenic route, but mother nature must have had it out for us that day, as the fog was so thick I could barely see the trees lining the road, let alone any sprawling, distant scenery. That and I think my host dad was getting sleepy, as his driving was getting rather irratic. Random slowing down, hitting the brakes a little harder than he needed to, and considering these were windy mountain roads, it wasn't the most comforting thing in the world. My host mom was yelling at him constantly to pull it together, but her license had expired a week or so ago, and that fact served as fodder for my host dad. 'You're commenting on my driving? You don't even have a license. Haha' etc. The comment doesn't come off well without his light-hearted, joking tone of voice, but he was indeed joking around. At the airport, we bought a bunch of souveneirs (i.e. dessert) some of which had to be eaten the same day. So we ended up munching on these cream puff sort of things while still in the airport. I managed to find an interesting 'gourmet' variety of Kitkat only sold in Hokkaido-red wine and raspberry Kitkat. Delicious. Japan seriously knows how to do dessert. The portions may be smaller, but they are exquisite.
Halfway through finals. Two down two to go. Unfortunately the two remaining are the tougher of the four. After finals, only a few weeks until I leave. Scary! One of those weeks will involve me painting Tokyo red with the Bushas (for family who doesn't know-two really good friends of mine who are both going to study abroad in China). The city will be brought to its knees. Any international incidents during the week of May 22nd will likely be our doing.