My Japanese Best Friends

(PICTURE: Masumi and Kensuke.)

I consider myself to be really really really lucky. I've made some good friends out here in a short period of time who have made my Japanese experience countless times better than it would be without them. A few weeks ago I went out to a bar with Paula, her friend Lydia and some friends of Lydia and some friends of friends of Lydia. While out that night I befriended Masumi, the one Japanese person there.

Since that night I have become very good friends with Masumi and her husband Kensuke who happen to live about a five minute walk from my house. To say that Masumi and Kensuke are awesome would be a huge understatement. I feel like I have gotten to see another side of Japan since hanging out with them. In the upcoming days I'll talk about a few of the things I've done with them but first I thought I would point something funny out:

The first time I met Kensuke AND the first time I met Yuya (Paula's amazing husband) I saw them naked rougly within the first hour of shaking their hands. Hold on, hold on, Japan isn't some bizzare swinging culture. No, we went to an onsen together.

I've mentioned in a prior blog, at the Japanese baths the sexes are seperated and everyone is in the buff minus a tiny little wash-cloth-esque towel. Upon meeting both Kensuke and Yuya we headed straight to an onsen to take a bath. To me, this is truly a unique Japanese experience. Could you imagine meeting your friend's significant other in America and then immediately getting naked with them to have your first chat? Both times this has happened to me, I've felt like I was on a very strange first date where my friend's husbands got to size me up.