Almost a month to the day since my first and last blog entry, which is a really poor showing and a far cry from the high hopes I started out with. Recently I've even been lax about my journal entries, a shame really, as I had been doing so well with them. I would like to stress that it's a journal I've been keeping and not a diary, as a diary is something that little girls write in (though I've been accused of little girly qualities in the past - high-pitched voice, long showers and a low threshold for alcohol - I have to draw the line somewhere).
The last time you heard from me I was in a hostel in Beppu, in the south of Japan, recuperating after my two weeks of slave labour in the rice paddies. Since then I have made my way back up the country, through Tokyo and am now outside Hirosaki, in the northern reaches of Honshu, the main island. I am once again WWOOFing on a farm, but the almost total contrast between my current hosts and the last place I stayed has made me laugh on more than one occasion. Since I haven't told you anything about my WWOOFing experiences I may as well briefly give you the shortest of comparisons, just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:
The Accommodation:
In Oita (the last place), I was shown to what was to be my home for the next two weeks - a semi-converted garage across the yard from the house, but adjoining the storehouse. Occasionally the machine cleaning the wheat would be running, making a good bit of noise (which didn't really bother me) and filling my room with fumes (which bothered me somewhat as I wasn't sure how harmful they were). My co-lodgers generally scurried out of sight when the lights came on, except for the odd time when they got stuck in the sink, giving me the opportunity to catch them and fling them outside.
Here, on my arrival, I was lead to my quarters - upstairs in a guest house room - by Johan, another WWOOFer from Germany who is also my room-mate. He does not respond as favourably to the cup and paper trick, and in fact I have given up trying to throw him out the window altogether. I'm still waiting for the day I find him trapped in the sink, though.
The Food:
On my first day in Oita my hosts asked if there was anything I didn't eat and I gave a short run down of my main food allergies - namely: wheat and dairy. I, perhaps naively, assumed that they were asking so that they could avoid including these items in the daily meals, whereas I later came to the conclusion that they were, in fact, intending to conduct an experiment to see how allergic I really was, as we had bread for the brekkie every day as well as various other delights, which, although delicious, left my skin in bits.
The portions were also quite small, and I had to compete with the three kids who were very quick to snatch the majority of food from the middle of the table (which is how it's served normally). I did get better myself though and by the end of my stay it was usually them that were looking hungrily at the empty plate while I was finishing up the last of my second or third helping.
The allergy question was posed the first day here too, and, having been once bitten, I was somewhat tentative about coming forth with the information. However, they showed genuine concern, asked a lot of questions about what I usually eat at home, and the following day as well as the bread and wheaty cereal and milk that they usually have there was also a packet of cornflakes and a carton of soy-milk. There are times when noodles pop up on the menu for lunch, but they usually apologise and give me an extra portion of rice.
Meals are always generous, in fact I often find I'm eating even though I'm no longer hungry, both because it's so good, and perhaps as a result of my travelling lifestyle and eating habits leading up to now (Don't-Know-When-I'll-Be-Eating-Again syndrome).
The Work:
The hours in Oita were long, often working about eight hours a day. Now, my host worked many more hours than that, and I don't think he took a day off while I was there, so I didn't feel like I was getting conned into working while he sat on his bum at home, but it was still a long and hard slog with a one-two hour break in the afternoon and one day off to look forward to per week. I'm going to wait until a later post to actually detail the work that goes into the rice fields (although I'll try to make it sooner this time).
The hours vary here, but it is rare that we're working over six hours. In fact, it's even rarer that we work for any more than an hour or two at any one time without a break. These breaks can be anything from five minutes to a couple of hours, and can be frustrating when you're just getting into the swing of the work, or about to finish doing something.
Two days ago a girl from a nearby city came here on an internship, yesterday two Chinese girls arrived (also WWOOFing), and apparently two more Japanese girls will be coming in a few days, so there are loads of us here! Three of us are going to a kind of a camping trip for the weekend with about twenty 9-12 year old kids, which is going to be...interesting. Apparently we're to keep an eye on the kids to make sure that they don't do anything unsafe, but apart from that it's a bit like a holiday.
Right, in other news, since Beppu, I spent about twenty days travelling up the country, stopping off along the way in Kochi, where I couchsurfed chez Kathleen, who was super laid back and basically let me have the run of her house and the use of her bike for my sightseeing needs for the two days I spent there.
Next stop was Osaka, where I met up with Christine, an Irish girl I befriended on one of the Lonelyplanet travel forums for Japan. Stayed in her hostel for one night and on the second I decided to bite the bullet and sleep in the park. Got a few hours sleep, undisturbed, got up early and hitched on out of there.
After Osaka I stopped off at Mt. Fuji, where I hiked the 20km from Fuji-Yoshida to the summit and back over the course of two days. Day one was a bit of a wash out, I started late, it poured rain two hours in and my 100yen (1€) waterproof leggings split after 20 minutes of heavy weather, which meant by the end of the five hour hike to the fifth station (the first mountain hut which provides accommodation) I was like a drowned rat. Stayed the night there and continued up the mountain at dawn the following day, which was glorious despite the forecast. Made it up in three hours, knocking two hours off the time that the guy running the lodge said it would take. Boom.
Had to get a bus from Fuji-Yoshida to Tokyo as it was exceedingly difficult to hitch out, and I had told Fil - a friend I made in a hostel during my first week, now living in the centre of the city - that I'd be arriving that night. Originally intended on staying two or three nights, but in the end I was there for a full week. Had a great time, we went splits on ingredients daily and cooked up all sorts of mad Japanese style food, occasionally with a western twist. I also found a plum tree laden with fruit on one of my rambles, which we raided, coming home with two shopping bags of plums. Considering the price of fruit here, it was a pretty decent find, as we're talking about .90€ per plum when you get them in the shop.
In terms of hitch-hiking stories, I'll hit you with three:
1) When I was leaving Kochi, I got picked up by a guy who, when he picked me up, said he'd bring me to the next town. When I asked him where he was going he told me that he was actually just going to the local music shop to buy CDs. Five hours later I got out of his car after being driven all the way around the coast, calling in to have a look at two beaches, and dropping me off at the bridge leading off the island.
2) After a conversation with Fil, a few days prior to leaving Tokyo, about how I felt that hitch hikers who received money from people who gave them lifts must drop hints on my way up North a guy handed me 10,000yen - about 100€. I had it in my hand before I'd realised what was happening, and he wouldn't take it back. I bought him a coffee. It was only as he was driving away that I thought that I should have got his address to send him a thank you letter or something.
3) Got picked up by a family going to Matsushima, a well known scenic beach that I was hoping to get to on my way up to Hirosaki. Not only did they bring me to the beach, I was also invited to join their barbecue, and spent the day between the food and the sea. I then went fishing with guys (they leant me a rod) and was the only one to catch a fish. They then brought me back to the motorway and offered to put me up for the night if I couldn't get a lift. Overall an unreal day, the only downside being that my so-called "Tough" Olympus camera broke in the water so I'm now cameraless.
That's all for now, sorry it was so long and monotonous. Goodnight!
