Mushrooms and Bathing

I am now at the tail end of a weekend full of Japanese culture. Friday night after work my lab had a party for me and another woman who is leaving the lab soon. On Saturday I was taken to the forest to go mushroom hunting and we stopped off at the onsen (=Japanese public bath) after that. After bathing we returned to the lab to cook the mushrooms for dinner. It was all a lot of fun and everyone seemed to enjoy showing me these things.

Parties here are held in restraunts; most homes are far too small to hold a group of people. There was probably 25 people or so at two different tables. We ate all kinds of food - yakitori (chicken squewers), tripe soup, fried chicken skin (it was actually really good). At the party the new and departing people are introduced and have to stand up on their seat and tell everyone a few things about themselves. I was a bit on the spot and had a good time of trying to describe dragon boating to them (when in doubt, revert to charades).

At most restraunts here they have a thing called nomihodai (all you can drink). The way it works is you have 2 hours from the time that you arrive at dinner and you pay a flat rate for unlimited drinks during that time. So we had a pile of beer and of course they were excited to have me try some sake too. They asked if we have nomihodai in Canada, and I explained that if we did, most restraunts would go out of business. That said, it surprised me how much they all had to drink during the time, they all definately got their money's worth at nomihodai (nomihodai costs between $12- $20 depending on the restraunt and duration).

After that Okudy (a PhD student who I will be working with on my research) took me and a few others to his favorite pub, that incidentally isn't far from the apartment where Shawn and I will live. It was a "New Orleans style" pub and had a bunch of import beers (Yeah!). I had mentioned at dinner that I like dark beers so everyone that came for beers all tried a Guiness and other nice dark beers. The pub owner worked in Banff for a few years and speaks great English and serves North American style food so that will be a nice spot to go when we are homesick.

The next morning the gang from the lab went mushroom picking in the forest. We drove about 1 hour out of the city and off along a dirt road to get to the picking area. The mountains are steep and short. Much of the foliage is similar to a Canadian forest but with a bamboo understory added in. On our way back out of the "bush" one of the trucks that was in our group got stuck (ironically the jeep with the highest clearance was the one that got high centered on a muddy bit of road). We eventually managed to pull the truck back onto the road using some pretty slick little tow cables that are stored under the seat of all vehicles here (everything is cute little packages). Now the problem was that the cable attachments were aluminum and didn't handle the stress very well so they bent and we couldn't unscrew the bolts. So... more waiting around (now covered in mud from pushing the vehicle) while a local farmer drove back to his house to get a generator and a metal saw to cut the bolts off.

After all of this excitement, it was time for some relaxation at the onsen. The onsen is the traditional Japanese baths. It is considered a very cultural experience and they were all excited that I was game to give it a try. There are numerous natural hot springs in Japan and these onsen are based on the springs. You go in and scrub up at a washing station (making sure to wash your hair and get yourself very clean) then head into the bath. The bath is relatively unfiltered spring water (a little cloudy looking and with a sulfur smell). The one I was at had an inside tub and an outside tub. Yes, it is a naked thing, and the men and women are separate (at least at this one). The outside pool was great, fresh autumn air, a beautiful garden in front and a mountain backdrop with autumn colours sprayed through the forest. I am looking forward to onsen in the winter with the gardens covered in snow.

It was really nice to have a tub, and after we sat in the tatami mat cafeteria and had tea and lounged around before returning to the city. Once back, they showed me how to cook the mushrooms we had picked that day. I am looking forward to learing about Japanese cooking and over the weekend learned that Okudy enjoys cooking so I made him commit to teaching me some of the skills of Japanese cooking. I will save the review of lesson 1 for another blog. For now, I am off to the electronics shop to find a camera (I was kicking myself that I didn't have a camera on the mushroom picking trip).

Shawn is now back in Victoria and was under the weather at first. He is starting to recover a bit and has wasted no time in emptying the house out. He has had a few small projects to wrap up around the house before the renters move in. It seems that it is all going ok, particularly now that he is feeling a bit better. For any of you who see him in the next while - give him a hug from me. He has had a lot on his plate with the house all in boxes and moving out to do and no time to recover after his time in Australia!