March 24: R&R

Whew - finally a day to relax!
We are now at the halfway point in our trip and the exhaustion is just setting in. It doesn't help either that I have a cold and am trying hard to keep my energy up while sniffling and blowing my nose. But, this section of the trip is actually fairly relaxing.
Today my host family gave me a choice of what to do - I could do nothing or they could plan something out for me. It ended up being a combination of the two. I went online in the morning to try to catch up on some of my blogging (thank you for your patience - I'm glad you're still checking in!) After about an hour my host sister Iyami came and got me to tell me I was going to learn calligraphy! Iyami is very good and taught me how to write my name and the city name (Sakura) in hirigana. I also learned three words in Kanji - if I remember them by the time I return to San Francisco I will be happy to share my knowledge! After the lesson I ended up with two beautiful mounted boards. Kirae!
We then jumped in the car and went out for hamburgers - which turned out to be a bit different than American hamburgers. At least at this restaurant - the hamburger is just the patty on a plate. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious, but unfortunately it left me craving a real juicy burger with a side of onion rings. But, I suppose it's good if halfway through the trip only now am I craving other kind of food!
My host mother took me to the post office to buy some stamps for those postcards I keep promising to send out! I hope you get them before I return!!! The funny thing is - another language issue - I ended up with enough stamps to send 40 cards! Guess I'd better get to writing quickly, eh!
The big plan for the day was visiting the onsen. Sheila and I managed to arrange to meet at an onsen in her host-family's hometown. Two of the Uiije Rotary members, Abe-san and Ono-san came to pick me up to drive me to the onsen. We stopped off first to see Abe-sans art collection. I had no idea when I walked into his home what to expect. His collection could rival any museum. Mashiko pottery, paintings, blown glass - heck - I was blown away! He had many items from artists he referred to as "Japanese living national treasures". They were all stunning - this is a man with exquisite taste. One blown-glass box was worth more than $70,000. Wow! He also has an amazing car collection - I only saw the Benz and the Porche... I asked him what he did for a living - he's retired and simply invests now. I guess so...
Abe-san also gave me a lovely gift of a tea-cup made by Mizuki-san - the Mashiko Rotary Club president we had met the week before.
The onsen was so nice. Sheila's host mother and sister and her two children came as well - which was nice to Sheila and I didn't make fools of ourselves by jumping into the wrong pool or anything - well - Sheila did anyway - but shhh - I won't say anything if you don't! The two girls were so cute - one Haruka - was a bundle of energy - jumping up and down and yelling - but in a good way ;-)
The hot water felt so good - especially since I'm fighting this cold. We went outside - which by the way - the rain finally stopped about the time we arrived at the onsen. The cold air made the hot water bearable. I'm not sure how people can sit in these baths for more than five minutes or so without passing out! The women chuckled at men when I stood up a bit and had what looked like sunburn line on my chest - from the point where the water hit I was bright red - and where the cold air hit my skin I was pale white. After a while we came inside to sit in another pool - but with the steam and hot water - we only lasted a few minutes before deciding it was time to clear out and cool off.
We had dinner at a restaurant in the onsen - where it was strange seeing everyone in their bare feet and some even in their PJ's. Guess after eating they'll just head home and go to bed - which is pretty much what I ended up doing too!