Naked

     That's how traveling alone can feel sometimes. You feel out of place. You feel exposed. You feel unprotected. You feel vulnerable.
     Even with these feelings, you wonder sometimes whether or not you are getting a truly authentic cultural experience. There are a few questions you can ask to to discern how representative your experience really is:
     Are there locals here?
     Are the locals here speaking primarily in their native language?
     Do they express surprise that I am here with them?
     Am I the only foreigner here?
   
     An experience I had at a Japanese Onsen drove this point home succinctly. I knew my cultural experience was off to a good start when the receptionist didn't speak a word of English. I further knew that I was getting an authentic experience because the brochure she handed me to explain what couldn't be verbalized was also fully in Japanese. Through a series of pantomimes and pointing at pictures we were able to communicate to one another well enough.
     I took the bag she had given me with the towel and pajamas into the locker room. I tried several lockers wondering at how many of them were being used until I realized the wrist strap she gave me had a key tucked into it with a number on it. I found the corresponding locker and opened it right up. I put on the pajamas and started to make my way into the mineral pool area.
     "Where am I supposed to put these clothes and my towel when I am in the mineral pool?" I thought to myself.
     My answer revealed itself abruptly. As I walked in, everyone was staring at me. Some looked at me disapprovingly while others looked at me with pity, but all eyes were on me when I entered the room. I was the only man with any clothes on at all.
     "So this is how it's done," I realized.
     I walked back to the locker room and put the pajamas back into the locker. Taking only my towel with me this time, I returned to the mineral pools. I drew a few looks this time when entering the area, but they quickly turned away. Nothing strange was occurring.
     "Ok," I thought.
     I went back and forth between the scalding hot mineral pools, the frigid cold water pool, the blistering dry sauna, and the cleansing wet sauna for a couple of hours. During this time I began to notice certain courtesies that were used even in this most vulnerable environment.
     Men covered themselves with their towels until they were actually getting into the pools.
     Although the pools were generally large and could easily fit several people, most men would give each other a pool to themselves unless there were no other pools available.
     When sitting in a pool and noticing someone is waiting, a man would be considerate about not taking too much time before allowing the other man to have the pool after him.
     The towels were placed upon one's head while in a pool, so that it does not lie around outside in someone else's way.

     As I noticed these courtesies I also tried to implement them in my own behavior. Not only did I get less of a feeling that I was an outsider, but I even got a few bows of gratitude as I gave up a pool to someone new. I returned them in kind.
     It was an interesting experience that demonstrates that even at our most vulnerable we can make connections with one another. It is when we are stripped of all of the ways that we thought defined us that we are free to discover how we relate to one another.
     We can learn without being taught.
     We can express ourselves without words.
     We can demonstrate our personality without relying on appearance.
     We can adapt without being forced to.

     Perhaps it is at our most vulnerable that we are truly free to connect with one another.