I'm Going To Be In Hot Water

I thought it would be interesting for once to talk about plans for the future, rather than just talk about what's happened. And I liked the title.

This weekend, to make up for working on Christmas, Keiko and I are going to an onsen in the Hakone region. おんせん(Onsen) is a public bath filled with boiling water from natural hot-springs. I was warned that it's ridiculously hot, and that you have to enter extremely slowly, but it's a very relaxing experience. The other main thing is that you bathe naked. Eek.

Should be an interesting experience anyway, I'm very intrigued about it, and glad that I will get to experience it. Fingers crossed, the weather will be nice. This is where we're staying.

The students have been explaining the seriousness of etiquette in onsen. Here's a brief guide to the do's and dont's.