Snarkattack

The one most pertinent for our purposes here: that of onsen – the Japanese bath. When a bath is filled, an entire family can bathe, using that water. Odd? Well, not when you consider that their baths are deeper and made of marble or denser material. The water stays hot for much longer than our baths.

But what about the filth, ugh! you’re probably asking. They’ve got that worked out too. The bathroom is all tiled and has adequate drainage because you are expected to wash your hair and body thoroughly before actually settling to soak. Sheer genius, and no scum marks on the tub either!

I incorporated this pre-bath scrub-up into my decadent once-a-week bath, generally taken on Sunday evenings. The day before the working week, and right after a long music rehearsal. If I wanted to really spoil myself, I could apply a face mask, a hair mask, and use an exfoliating body scrub to make my skin all smooth, and also improve circulation.

I’ll be honest with you: at first, I was bored shitless in the bath. It was far too quiet. There was nothing to do (duh, that was the whole point, of course). Twenty minutes of this was enough for me. I kept with it, and refused to bring reading material with me. Besides, soggy books aren’t fun.

Then, something happened after about two months. The boredom just disappeared. I actually enjoyed the calm, the stillness. I took them really late at night when everyone was already in bed. I didn’t want to read, just wanted to sit in the warm, scented water and let my mind empty itself. Just another reason to look forward to the end of the week.