The obligatory bathhouse episode

Even though we have a language pledge, many of the students in the program have certain English slang phrases that they have a special fondness for, and so we've been getting some pretty bizarre Japanglish slang phrases. Among them:

何ザヘル (nan za heru)

これはサックス (kore ha sakkusu)

エピック失敗 (epikku shippai)

ドラゴン失敗 (doragon shippai)

WTFという感じ (WTF to iu kanji)

彼女もそう言った (kanojo mo sou itta)

あなたの顔は＿＿＿ (anata no kao ha___)

エピック勝つ (epikku katsu)

Points to anyone who can guess what they're supposed to be. (I guess I'll put up answers tomorrow or something.)

Anyway, today we went to an onsen in Okayama, which was a 3 hour bus ride away.* 3 hours is pretty much too long to ride in a bus anywhere, for the record. I brought along homework to do, but I couldn't read kanji while the bus was moving without getting motion sick and for some reason being in moving vehicles makes me really tired, so I wound up sleeping through most of the ride.

Anyway, after spending friggin' forever in that friggin' bus, we arrived at the onsen, which it turned out was located in a hotel in Okayama. Lunch at the hotel was included in whatever package it was that the program had bought, so we had a HUUUUUGE multiple course lunch. Every time we thought we were nearing the end, THEY KEPT BRINGING MORE STUFF.** Most of the people weren't able to finish. But in any case, it was DELICIOUS. And the waitress was really shocked that I knew how to debone a fish properly. I guess I have my host mom to thank for that.

Anyway, after lunch (and after some of the other students started creating techno songs by beat boxing random words in Japanese) we went into the onsen, which was a lot like this:

Actually, that was a lie. It was pretty much nothing like Gurren Lagann***, aside from the fact that the boys' side and the girls' side was separated by a wall, and we could hear the guys on the other side. But anyway, we spent most of our time in the outdoor pool (there was both an indoor and an outdoor pool) 'cause it was raining and otherwise the water would have been too hot to stay in for an extended period of time. As it was, pretty much everyone gave up after about 30 minutes. But three of us stayed in for a reeeeeally long time. About two hours. Although we were all sitting on the edge of the pool and sticking our feet in, 'cause otherwise we would have died of heat stroke.

After that we got out and I attempted to comb my hair with the flimsy little combs they provided, which turned out to be pretty much impossible. And then we went back to the lobby of the hotel, and I found something in the little store in the lobby which will make a certain member of my family very happy. But this person won't get to know what it is until I get home, mwahahahaha.

And then we got on the bus and rode for three hours again (and I fell asleep AGAIN****) and then I came back home and now I am typing this.

In any case, I should go do homework or something slightly useful because I have basically spent all day doing nothing remotely useful. HRGG.

*Also, we got super excited because at the bus station there was a big sign saying, "大雨・洪水・雷・注意報" (Heavy Rain/Flood/Thunder Warning Information) and we could read all of it, 'cause "flood" was one of our vocabulary words this week. This is a fairly common occurrence, honestly. During our first or second week we ran into a sign about a woman who was wanted for attempted murder, and one of the students started squealing, "Oh, I'm so happy! It says 'attempted murder' (殺人未遂) and I could read it!"

**I will tell the story of the sad crab when I have pictures to show off, because it won't make a whole lot of sense without pictures.

***But I couldn't pass up a chance to reference the epicness which is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

****I seriously don't get why I fall asleep in moving vehicles so much. I think part of it might have to do with my constant state of exhaustion. I've been getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night, which is pretty normal for me, except that usually I get 7-8 hours on school nights and then sleep in on the weekend, which I can't do here, 'cause breakfast is at the same time every morning. So I think I'm missing my catch-up-on-sleep time, and that's part of why I'm so tired all the time. HMM. It's a mystery.

P.S. In pretty much unrelated news, I have successfully converted two people to the epicness which is Ludo. HO HO HO HO. エピック勝つ！