Retreat Version 2.0

Some of you may remember a post I did a few months back about a retreat that my study abroad program took as a chance to reflect on our experience and spend some time together outside of the city. Last weekend, we went for a second retreat, this time to the small mountain village of Minakami (水上).

A stream near the inn where we stayed. And to answer your question:
Of course we climbed to the top.

Minakami is one of many examples of a small town that is tucked away in the mountains of Japan. They are not very difficult to come by: if you aren't on the coast, then you're in the mountains. With
such an ample selection of rural locales to choose from, why did we pick this one you may ask? Well, while I was off working at my cheap-college-student Japanese-style inn (旅館) during February, another student was working at a very lovely inn in Minakami, and because of the connections he made we were able to stay there fairly affordably .

To make a more easily relatable comparison of the quality of this inn: I worked at a Motel 6, and this guy worked at the Waldorf Astoria.

Where we stayed was easily the nicest traditional-style ANYTHING that I have experience since coming to Japan. Upon arrival, we first had about an hour long session of small group reflections about our experiences thus far, and how things are reshaping in light of our approaching return to the US. Afterward, we all picked out individual yukata (浴衣), and were led to our rooms by the astoundingly polite, kimono-clad hotel staff. After getting settled into our simple yet sophisticated tatami rooms, the time for dinner had come.

Prior to this experience, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the veritable gamut of "traditional" Japanese foods. After all, I've been here for 8 months, I got this right?

The original table setting of what eventually became a 4-course hodgepodge of
unidentifiable Japanese cuisine.

Wrong.

Of the roughly 20 plates that passed through my place at the table that evening, I could probably tell you 4 of the things that I ate. Upon first entering the dining hall, all of us sat bewildered at our place settings, trying to figure out any way of describing food beyond "that tofu-y lookin' thing" and "the squishy one with the little yellow doodads". This was indeed a top-quality inn, and that evening we ate traditional Japanese delicacies at their finest (I think, like I said, absolutely no clue what I ate).

After completely stuffing ourselves with who-knows-what, we spent the remainder of the evening relaxing around the inn. It had an absolutely wonderful natural spring bath (温泉), a separate stream of hot water for soaking your feet, and a couple of different lounge areas for general socializing. That evening was a great chance to get to spend time with the other people on my program, as well as take a break from the general chaos of life in Tokyo.

The next day we awoke to an equally...interesting, breakfast. Having filled up on another big meal of what I'm sure was something edible, we then checked out of the inn and headed out for our next
destination: Dole Land Minakami. It was basically a big fruit farm where you can pick whatever kind of fruit you like when it's in season. Right now, however, there was literally not a single fruit in season on the farm, so we spent the day strolling through fruitless-tree orchards and just generally passing some time in a more natural setting. After we got our fill of walking through rows of trees, we rounded out our trip with a Japanese-style BBQ, and a quick stop by a crafts area of Minkami before returning to Tokyo.

Overall I felt that the retreat accomplished most everything it was intended too. I was able to bond with my fellow study abroad students in new ways, heard some interesting opinions about our time in Japan slowly drawing to a close, and got a nice breath of fresh air outside of the bustling atmosphere of Tokyo.

A picture taken at the fruit farm, in which I some other group members flying through the air with my immense strength.

Our entire group (as well as a couple guests who were with us) outside of the inn.