This place is so much fun!

I love Japan, you know. It is quirky, and frequently infuriating, but insanely interesting and also aesthetically beautiful once you get out of the (to be honest) pretty ugly cities.

This weekend was fantastic fun. On Sunday I hung out with my co-workers and watched "Office Space," which I really enjoyed. It was hilarious in fact. I recommend it highly.

Yesterday I slept for a while, finished up some songs I've been writing then went out to what turned out to be a birthday party for my local landlord. He gave us lots of free drinks.

And today was the best of all. I fought off my hangover to take a train 70 mins north into the mountains to Gero. I sometimes forget just how beautiful the area of Japan in which I live is. The trasin journey was worth the ticket price itself, winding past rivers and tree-covered mountains, bamboo forests and past waterfalls. And my destination? the hot spring town of Gero.

Gero is a quiet and unassuming place, but if you stick a stick into the ground ten mineral-rich hot water comes out, meaning that the banks of the river are littered with little spas where naked Japanese folk lounge around. I went to a slightly more private (but still outdoor) onsen (spring) and spent half an hour or so taking in the scenery while going getting more and more light headed. I am not sure of my opinion onm onsen. They are so very very hot, but they definitely alter your state of consciousness and relax you (and I feel cleaner than ever before).

If you get a chance to sit in a hot pool with numerous naked Japanese guys in a mountainous onsen town, I think you should go for it.