I spent my "Greenery Day" doing pretty much nothing. It was nice. I usually run around like a crazed chicken on my days off, trying to not 'waste time' by staying cooped up, but I realized today that I felt stressed out about which leisure activity I was going to enjoy. Hence I took a vacation day from my vacation day and only went out once to see if my favorite supermarket really was a five minute bike ride away. (Answer: yes!)
Anyway, I digress.
One of the things I wanted to do today was take a bath. It might surprise those of you who know about Japanese bathing styles to hear that I actually hadn't taken a Japanese style bath since my homestay in 2001. My first apartment here had a tiny, shallow bathtub and my second place had no bathtub at all, so this is the first time I was able to get naked like a Nihonjin since coming back.
My bathroom is by far the ugliest room in my new place, but here's a picture anyway:
Anyway, I digress.
One of the things I wanted to do today was take a bath. It might surprise those of you who know about Japanese bathing styles to hear that I actually hadn't taken a Japanese style bath since my homestay in 2001. My first apartment here had a tiny, shallow bathtub and my second place had no bathtub at all, so this is the first time I was able to get naked like a Nihonjin since coming back.
My bathroom is by far the ugliest room in my new place, but here's a picture anyway:
For those of you not in the know, a typical Japanese house (or apartment) will have separate rooms for bathing/showering and for using the toilet. This is my bathroom. The gist is, you shower outside the tub -- there's a drain in the floor, although I don't think you can see it in my picture -- and, once you're clean, you get into the tub. The tub is small but deep, and you fill it with hot water and soak your stressors away.
That's what I did today, and, my God, it was amazing. My skin is still pink from the hot water and, while my muscles are still sore (they always will be, thanks to years of bad posture, heavy backpacks, and an inclination to stress), they are much more tender and soft than before. I want to make this a habit, like vacuuming and taking out my trash every day and not eating out if I don't have to. Speaking of which, I've made every single meal I've eaten these past few days since the mysterious ways of operating my gas stove were explained to me. I can't tell if I'm eating healthier or not, but I definitely FEEL better. I seem to have inadvertently changed my primary protein sources to tofu and eggs. I think I can live with that.
This is for my mother: I got my bangs cut yesterday, and while I ended up asking for them cut a little too short, they kinda work in a weird way, don't they?
That's what I did today, and, my God, it was amazing. My skin is still pink from the hot water and, while my muscles are still sore (they always will be, thanks to years of bad posture, heavy backpacks, and an inclination to stress), they are much more tender and soft than before. I want to make this a habit, like vacuuming and taking out my trash every day and not eating out if I don't have to. Speaking of which, I've made every single meal I've eaten these past few days since the mysterious ways of operating my gas stove were explained to me. I can't tell if I'm eating healthier or not, but I definitely FEEL better. I seem to have inadvertently changed my primary protein sources to tofu and eggs. I think I can live with that.
This is for my mother: I got my bangs cut yesterday, and while I ended up asking for them cut a little too short, they kinda work in a weird way, don't they?
I am addicted to cute things, especially household goods. This cannot end well.
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