Awara

Upon arriving to Fukui, the plan was to go to an onsen with Atsu. First, we walked around the station a bit and looked at the various traditional Japanese goods that were in some of the nearby stores. In America, there are not quite as many choices of traditional goods as one might expect. At this shop there were many cool and out of the ordinary chop sticks and goods that you would not normally see back home. Atsu got me a really cool looking pair of chopsticks so now I can remember Japan and Atsu every time I eat with them at home 😎

Fukui is known for かに(crab), 恐竜(dinosaurs), 米(rice), and 日本酒(sake/nihonshu) so we also took a little time to take a picture with the animatronic dinosaurs. I guess that there were many dinosaur fossils found Fukui so it has became famous for it! There even is a big dinosaur museum. However, because of the new year the museum was not open. I guess I'll just have to visit Fukui again next time ☺️

It was raining so we took a couple of quick pictures then headed off the the onsen. What Atsu did not tell me was that we were actually going to a Ryokan! My friends from the first part of the trip went to a ryokan while I was in Asakusa so I had not experienced one just yet. I'm super grateful to Atsu for helping me have this experience that I thought I was going to skip out on this trip! There is an onsen within the Ryokan so Atsu was never techincally telling a lie 😂

We entered the Ryokan and were greeted by a hostess who explained how everything worked and guided us to the room. I was giving here blank stares while comprhending about 20-40% of what she was saying. Luckily Atsu was there to understand for me 😅 She guided us up to the room and explained all the Ryokan had to offer. Generally, there are meals such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner where they serve you a full course of Japanese food. The food was unapologetically Japanese and very declicious! I think there was only maybe one of the foods that I had trouble eating but in general I liked everything I ate. There was also chawanmushi which is a type of egg custard dish I've been wanting to try. I've not seen it as an option in the restaurants I've been visiting.

Around the Ryokan there was a game room, onsen, video game room, massage area, reading nook, etc. Pretty much everything that someone may want to be able to relax. In the massage area, they had stone tables that were heated that you could lay on. I didn't try them out, but I thought it was neat because I had not seen them before. There was also a trough filled with little pellets and a heated bottom was under them. I believe the idea was to warm your feat while drying them if they were wet. I don't go to many spas in America, but lots of these things seem like they would be rare in America. I'm lucky to have got a glimpse at how the idea of relaxation mixed with Japanese culture is different.

Inside the room, was a traditional tatami mat floor with traditional furniture and futons. Pretty much everything about the room screamed "Japanese". Outside the window, you could view the outdoor area and onsen. It reminded me of the Fatal Frame video game series because one of the games was within a very similar looking shrine 😅 Fatal Frame is a horror game where you use a camera to defeat demons and spirits. The vibe here was obviously much different than that but when my experiences in Japan have been limited to anime/games/movies/etc I tend to relate the things I see to what I've imagined before coming to Japan. Needless to say, I was having a very good time and there were no demons I needed to defeat with a camera 📸👻

After eating dinner, we decided to go for a walk in the rain to the nearby convenience store to retrieve some alcohol. We returned to the room and Atsu showed me how to put on and wear the yukata. The hotel provided yukatas to all the guests which are traditional more casual than kimono attire. It took me about five tries to tie the band around the waist correctly with Atsu's direction, but I doubt I'd be able to do it again in a couple days. The waist band was tied with a type of knot I had not done before but I thought it looked pretty cool once it was tied.

On our quest for alcohol, we grabed some wooden shoes and walked over to the convenience store. These wooden shoes made a clacking sound as you walk and Atsu explained to me how there is an onomatopoeia that describes their sound as カランカロン or "karan-karon". One of my favorite parts of Japanese is the onomatopoeia and I love learning new ones! In Japanese, there are lots of things described via onomatopoeia, much much more than in English. The shoes very relatively loud and I thought it was a funny image having two guys in yukatas with wooden shoes walking to a convenience store. I never expected to be in a Japanese convenience store wearing a yukata and wooden shoes! It's just something I would never have even thought about being a possibility 😆 I understand why geisha's walk upstraight now because balancing on the shoes required keeping your weight further back than how one might normally walk. I kind of want a pair of wooden shoes now but I doubt I'd ever use them for anything practical!

We retrieved the alcohol and proceeded to have a great time talking and drinking together. It was nice to finally get a chance to hang out again because we had only just met in July and it was frustrating to make such good friends who had to leave so soon! I'm really happy that I was able to visit and that I'm able to spend more time with everyone 😄 I think that's sort of the theme of this trip. I much more appreciate getting to do things with friends and people I have emotional connections with rather than just seeing monuments or tourist attractions. It's the people I've been with who make everything special 🙂Read more