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Jennie Rothenberg Gritz

Jennie Rothenberg Gritz - Jennie Rothenberg Gritz is an Atlantic senior editor. More

Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, an Atlantic senior editor, began her association with the magazine in 2002, shortly after graduating from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. An early highlight of her Atlantic career was a visit with Harold Bloom, during which the renowned literary critic addressed her as "my little bear."

In January 2006, Jennie joined the Atlantic staff full time. She currently oversees a number of different areas -- producing the online edition of the magazine and its special features, editing TheAtlantic.com's National channel, and creating original videos for the website.

Before coming to The Atlantic, Jennie was senior editor of Moment, a national magazine founded by Elie Wiesel, where she remains a contributing editor. Her writing has also appeared in The Chicago Tribune and in the book The Kindness of Strangers, a Lonely Planet travel writing anthology.

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Eternal Spring

By Jennie Rothenberg Gritz

Oct 14 2008, 5:08 PM ET Comment

Music: "Onsen" by Vector LoversThe Gangster in My Tub by Charles C. Mann
The Atlantic, November 2008

"The Japanese are great at inventing complex systems of rules, and not so great at explaining those rules to foreign visitors. ... Cleaning and soaking are two distinct activities, and baths are emphatically not for cleaning. Instead, you first go to an area outside the bath, where you sit on a little stool and wash yourself with fanatic thoroughness. ... The goal is to be so meticulously clean before climbing into the bath that you will not share any dirt with the other participants. If you fail to clean off, as I did the first time I went to an onsen, you will be rewarded by an unusual sight: half a dozen annoyed, naked people simultaneously exiting the water."


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