Lost in Translation

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

Our stay had come to an end in Okinawa, so we boarded an early shuttle to the airport, and checked in for our flight bound to Kyoto.

We arrived to the Osaka airport late afternoon, and luckily we were right on time for the hour long bus ride to Kyoto, which is the more traditional city in Japan. If you’ve read Memoirs of a Geisha, this is where it took place.

We decided to book a ryokan for a one-night stay, which is a traditional Japanese inn-with tatami mats for floors, an onsen for bath (public bath), futons for beds, and a traditional Japanese dinner and Japanese breakfast. We quickly found our way on the Kyoto subway, and made it to the ryokan—where nobody spoke a word of English. I’m totally fine with people not speaking English-we are not America, and we were staying in a Japanese traditional inn. What I’m not comfortable with is people laughing at me because I’m different and trying to learn their culture, which is what happened in the ryokan. The Japanese have mostly been very humble, welcoming people—and it was surprising that in the one traditional setting, I found the people to be the most unwelcoming. Perhaps it was because I speak very little Japanese (I've picked up a few phrases, but still....)

After checking in, we went to our room-which basically were tatami mats, and to little chairs on the floor and a table. We assumed our futons would be put out later, like Fodor’s had mentioned (but at this point, I was not entirely trusting Fodor’s.). We knew we’d be eating shortly, so I decided to throw on my robe, and head to the onsen (a public bath-same sex only). Of course, I had no idea what to do once I reached the onsen. I desperately looked around trying to emulate others, but all I got was laughter and some women not so discreetly pointing at me. I just shrugged and continued-determined to have the experience we paid for. From what I could glean, you are supposed to sit on a small stool and wash yourself completely-shampoo, soap, etc, before entering the onsen.

I washed myself off and entered the onsen-which is a hot, hot pool of water. And there I sat, with all of me for the world to see and make fun of.

After the bath, I returned to our room to have dinner, which is served in one’s room in the ryokan. Our “maid” brought our food promptly at 8, and we had no idea what we were about to eat. Each dish looked utterly different than any of the foods we’ve been exposed to on our trip so far-with the exception of the sashimi and rice. But, there were all of these other dishes that we had no idea what they were, and while they were beautifully presented, this dinner would prove to be a light one. Al and I are pretty adventurous eaters, claiming to try most things once (with the exception of a few things, but we’re fairly open minded), so we did try a bit of everything, but could not eat most of it. I think that the pictures of the food speaks for itself, as well as our reaction to it.

Once we “finished” our dinner, our tables were cleared and our futons were set out. It was about 9:15 pm. I left the room to briefly wash my face, and returned to Al passed out on his futon. So, this was our much anticipated experience…and while it was nice to do something so traditional, sleeping in a room that reaked of smoke, and having a somewhat uncomfortable encounter, I was relieved to have only booked this hotel one night-the rest of our time would be spent in another hotel in Kyoto.

Next day: breakfast at the ryokan, a tour day in Kyoto, and drinking with some cool Brits.