Ying Ying

So much has happened since I came to Japan.

I’ve been to the onsen, hanami (flower viewing) in the morning and the evening, hotaruika (firefly squid) museum, shishimai (type of festival) and so much more places with my host family.I haven’t had much trouble adjusting to the Japanese lifestyle, maybe because the food has been amazing. I don’t think I’ll ever return Australia if I can. Another reason would be my host family. I can’t ask for a better host family. It’s always fun to chat with my host mum, she tells me so much about Japan. I have English lessons with my host dad when he comes home early enough, and it’s one of the activities I enjoy most. My host sister helps me out so much that I don’t even know how to thank her

I hope you guys are enjoying life as much as I am right now. While it is Sakura season, I’m not gonna talk about Sakura, cause I’m sure many you’ve heard plenty of stories about it and seen plenty of pictures. So instead, it’s going to be my experiences with the onsen (hot springs, FYI). You definitely need to go at least once (I recommend whenever you can) whilst you are in Japan. The rooms are Japanese-style rooms, which meant tatami (woven bamboo mats) and shoji (paper sliding doors). It’s a completely new experience. It’s like you’ve been transported back into the Edo period, except you have TVs and such. Olden days meant futons (quilted Japanese-style mattresses). They are heaven~~~ ??? Once you have slept on one for the night you would never want to sleep on a bed ever again. The futon was soooooo fluffy and warm (it’s spring but it’s like 13 degrees here, OK?), and it was the toughest time getting out of bed. And what even is the onsen experience without the onsen?  The bath was just so hot and so full of steam that you can’t see much anyways. Let me warn you first. It’s hot. Like super hot. More like you can hardly put your feet in. And if you think the rotenburo (open air bath) is cooler, you are wrong. It’s EVEN HOTTER. So how did I survive? By lying down, looking at the night sky at the place that my host sister found. It was soooooo good and I would’ve taken a picture if I could. The feeling is out of this world. It’s indescribable!!!!!

Now, the best for last, the FOOD. Sorry but I’m not the most generous person so I decided not to take pictures so you can try it out for yourself. But there was so much food laid out on the table, and it just keeps coming and coming until at the end you realise you ate like a 3 course meal. But it’s even better than a 3 course meal. There were sashimi, pickled vegetables and 2 mini shabu shabu (hot pots) and much, much more. They also provided snacks and green tea in the rooms. The snacks were amazing of course, mochi and something else (sorry, I forgot, but it was delicious nonetheless). And the green tea. Uuuuuugh, I mean REAL GREEN TEA. Not the ones in Australia, oh no. Not those. I mean the real deal. So in conclusion, come to Japan and eat real Japanese food!

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