Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas Time!

12.25

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Today is THE DAY we have all been waitin' for!

Obviously, yesterday was Christmas Eve. I only went to Sanga to work on the farm till 12 because Ema and I were planning to go shopping in the afternoon after she got back from her English class in the morning.
I've been going most everyday since last Monday to work on the farm. Two days I went a little later in the morning so that I could skype Mom and Dad and on the 23rd I didn't go because Kazuma, my other cousin, was coming back from college.

It was really wonderful to see everyone's faces on skype! I even got to see the christmas trees at each house:)
It had been a while since we'd skyped, so I think everyone was happy to have the opportunity!

Afterwards I went to the farm. Most last week I spent clipping leaves either so that the sunlight could better reach the tomatoes or so that a disease that had attacked some leaves, would not spread further. Also there was cucumber harvesting and sorting happening and a tiny bit of cleaning the barn. I also got to help Obaachan in the kitchen before lunch a little bit. Both days I helped by peeling Yama-imo, which looks kind of like...hmm...a more dirty, larger chunk of ginger. When you peel it, it is white and also slimy so it was difficult to hold onto. Then I had to grate it, however it doesn't really grate but turns into a frothy slimy white mass in the bowl. If you know what Nato is, it is kind of like Nato in the slimy foods scale, but more thick...very hard to explain because we don't eat that kind of food in America - too freaky! Obaachan remembered that I love zenzai, sweet bean soup with dumplings, and so she made it one day. She said, please taste the flavor for me so i was expecting like a spoonful but she went ahead and filled the bowl up with soup and beans and two dumplings! I said I will wait for everyone and put most of it back and tasted the broth - aaaaaah! LOVE. She made a lot of food, tamago yaki (fried egg but made in a special way so it slowly rolled up), grilled sweet potatoes, potato stew, sausage, grilled eggplant, fried rice, curry, pickles (she makes her own umeboshi!)...you get the idea. So much food! And she urges me to eat everything through the whole meal, "tabete, tabete!".  You can imagine how full I must get after eating all that good food!
But it's fun to be around them.

Obaachan tells me short little stories of how my grandmother (her sister) often came to this house and help make mochi every year, or collect vegetables when there was a lot here. Ojichan, my uncle, told me how they used to recieve the tomatoes and cucumbers and that his mom would then make mayo, cucumber and tomato sandwiches.
Obachan, my aunt, tells me how my grandmother really love grilled sweet potatoes and how she was a nurse and stories like that. Slowly slowly I'm able to piece together this abstract and very puzzly image of my grandmother.
I remember her only faintly, I think in memories mostly triggered from seeing photos. Like when she came to the US and we went and collected crab apples and little sticks and leaves... but I was happy when I heard she liked grilled sweet potatoes, because I do too. And I was happy when I heard she used to make mayo, cucumber and tomato sandwiches for her children, because my mom does too!
And so I can't help thinking when I got to my great Aunt's house, here is where she once was! And this Great Aunt of mine grew up with my Grandmother, who is my mother's mother, and was the world to my mother as my mother is to me. It's a big cycle. Always has been and always will be.

I've come to really enjoy the small farm work. I know I don't do the really tough stuff but I'm going to say that I'm not exactly doing "fun" work. I guess in some way I like the repetative work. Especially the trimming leaves to give the tomatoes more sunlight - that was the greatest! Because I had to think about where to cut so that I could cut the least amount and get the most sunlight and also it made me happy because I knew that the tomatoes would be grateful and turn beautiful and delicious because of it. I sound a little crazy...
Plus the radio is on in the green house usually so I can sit there and be lost in my thoughts while kind of half listening to the radio that I can understand a little more each day. Makes my heart say, YEAH!

Friday Kazu came home! He grew up  a lot, I was so surprised! His hair was longer and his clothes more fashionable and he seemed more open and happy than I remembered. I guess college has been good for him! He loves cars and is going to start work as a mechanic in the spring after his graduation. He has always loved cars, probably due to the fact that our grandfather and his father also loves cars. He brought me a little trinket from Takayama where his college is. It is a monkey baby and it is pink, which basically means "good luck in love". Which I need! haha...don't we all:) Other colors mean different things.
He turned 20 this year so early in January there is a big celebration for everyone who turned 20 in the area. It is a big deal to turn 20 here, rather than 18. Next April he will be 21! Goodness...time flies.

Kazu took Ema and I to the train station yesterday so we could catch the train to Ogawa, another town, where there is a big shopping center. So we spent the afternoon shopping! Great fun, as always! Too many cute things in Japan. However, I often think it is too cute for me, so yesterday after buying the essentials (socks and undies and a tank top) I bought a baggy, chill-ax red sweater at Uniqlo. I have a red sweater at home kind of like this but with a hood and zipper of th front, but it is getting old...so, now I have this one!
After clothes shopping Ema and I bought doughnuts and Mister Donut's for the family. And then before heading back to the train station, we had fun doing Pirikura! The photo booth type of thing. In Japan they are WAY better, though. You can do all kinds of things, of course you pose, but afterwards you can draw on the photos and design them the way you want them to be. However, one thing I didn't realize before is that it automatically makes your eyes HUGE and doll like. So basically, you can't look ugly...because it makes you look like a perfect doll! I think that's kind of crazy...but, hey, I could see how I'd look if I really tried to look nice and cared about makeup and skin...haha.
Then we walked back to the station and took the train home to Uto where Obachan picked us up and then...TOOK US TO GET PIZZA! YEAH! I love pizza:) We got takeout but the three of us each ordered a medium for ourselves (which is a little bit bigger than a small in the US). I got tomato and veggie pizza and ATE THE WHOLE THING.
It was really good and I thought, this is my Christmas Eve dinner where usually I stuff myself with good food at Nana's and Grandpas! So I didn't feel too guilty eating the whole thing...haha. Afterwards we ate the doughnuts as well:) I ate one that was strawberry and one that was I think soy bean based, but it was delicious!
Gena sent me a present and I got it yesterday. I opened part of it last night and part of it this morning as my own personal mini Christmas celebration. This morning while I was checking my email and doing computer stuff, I kept thinking of how everyone was at Nana's and Grandpa's for the Christmas Eve dinner, probably eating and as the morning wore on, I imagined them eating dessert and opening presents and laughing and playing with the beautiful ribbons and bows that always are at Nana's. And now it is 4:30 AM in Ohio, 6:30 PM on the day of Christmas in Japan. In four hours at Mom's everyone will begin Christmas day with a giant breakfast probably with eggs and all kinds of breads and fruits after opening the stockings hanging on the half wall... Neko and Taka will probably be afraid of all the wrapping paper, but maybe they will be playing with the ribbons and bows on the floor! Who knows! And then probably around 12, Elijah will go to Dad's to join Dad and Qun and there will be more delicious food and more gifts. The Evergleam Christmas tree spinning and the mini steam engine going in circles, fritos and dip and some movie watching perhaps? Maybe this year they will change it up and I've got it all wrong! I can't wait to see photos:)
I just hope everyone has a great time:)

OH I nearly forgot! We had a "white Christmas" here in Uto! There was snow for about 10 minutes this morning, but only a little tiny bit and not nearly enough to stick. But it was pretty and it made me really happy, it is rare but I got to see it! In the afternoon I went to the farm, the wind was so strong that I thought about turning back and staying in the warm house. But soon I'd gotten half way and I hadn't given up yet so I decided to just go for it, but the riding was slow and cold and I thought, a but annoyed, that I should just walk the bike, but I kept riding and after what seemed like a long time, I arrived at the house.
For a 3 o'clock snack Chizuko-san brought me mochi with sweet bean paste inside as well as a strawberry! The strawberry was wrapped in the bean paste which was wrapped in the soft mochi - so yummy. She gave me the rest of the pack to take home to the family. When it was 4 I went back to the house and Obaachan was there and she made me take home puffed rice treats and homemade pickles that she'd just made. They are so generous! Always giving me stuff to take back to the Uto house. Chizuko-san said that Obaachan finds her happiness in giving, so that's what she does:) I appreciate it!

Tonight we are eating Tomato and Cheese Nabe! Which is basically a vat of broth with tons of vegetables and meat inside that you pick out of. I'm excited and also really hungry right now so it sounds amazing! Ema is helping her friend with a christmas party so she wont be here for dinner. Kazu is now studying and working on this huge packet of questions he was given to complete over break. Oh....school....

Well, that was very long...

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!
Please enjoy the rest of this year:)

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

tomatoes and cucumbers!

I'm getting a little lazy about my blog...
and, I have been somewhat busy the past couple days! Surprise!

So I will make this brief but hopefully informative.
On Sunday I went with Ema, Miyako and Makito to a running race in the northern part of Kumamoto that my uncle helped to organize. Ema was participating in it with members from her high school, similar to the MTB race the week before. The race was on a mountain where a large hotel was and the trail wound all around the woods around the hotel. It was beautiful! It was early in the morning when we arrived and from the starting point you could see far off mountains and still low clouds wispy in the valley.
The race started and I walked around the Miyako-obachan with Ema's coach's son, who had just turned 2. He was adorable! Rather serious but in love with pin wheels, or, Kurukuru:)
The race was a relay and Ema the third to run. We were on the trail when she came running down a little hill through a tunnel or trees, reds and yellows and the sunlight shining perfectly - it could have been some kind of advertisement for shoes!
After the race we got to soak in the onsen at the hotel and eat a giant Italian buffet lunch! It was yummy.
The event was very fun, though we were pretty tired since we had gotten up early that morning and stayed up fairly late the night before.

On Monday I went to the town next Uto where my great aunt and uncle live. The family name is Shigemoto but I will refer to my great aunt and uncle as Ojiichan and Obaachan. I think I might have said this before but in Japan you don't use names all the time, but for a young woman you will say Oneisan, and for a young man Oneesan (meaning older sister and older brother) and for a middle aged people you will call them Aunt and Uncle and so on a so forth.
I was going to help them with their farm. They have four large green houses, two for tomatoes and two for cucumbers. When I first came, Mom's cousin's wife was outside the green house and she invited me to help harvest tomatoes. Mom's cousin's name is Yoshifumi-san, his wife is Chizuko-san. They have three children, he oldest son is Fumio, then another son Makoto and the youngest daughter Masumi. Fumio is the only of the children that works on the farm, the other two have seperate jobs. It was really nice to meet them and visit with these people who are my family. In Japan, my family is vast! My grandmother had 6 sister and I think my grandfather had about that many siblings as well. I think Yoshifumi-san said there were 22 cousins in their generation, what??? That's crazy!
But big families are fun...and I finally get to meet some of mine!
After tomato harvesting I chatted with Ojiichan and Obaachan a little while eating mikan and drinking milk coffee. They have an incredibly heavy Kumamoto-ben (dialect) so, truthfully, I probably only understand half of what they say. If that. Chizuko and Yoshifumi speak to me in more normal Japanese and understand that I don't always understand so it is a little easier. However, I am happy to say that I can feel my Japanese getting better, and it makes me so happy...!
I made boxes for the tomatoes and Chizuko put the tomatoes in the boxes. I tried, but it was too hard. The tomatoes have to be all of similar size and then when set in, they cannot move around, so it was like a puzzle and let's just say that puzzles are not my forte. So instead I went back to the tomato house and cut the leaves away from the tomatoes so that sunlight could reach them. That was fun, I enjoyed that very much. But earlier I got to go with Yoshifumi-san to another town where there was an Ichiba, basically a food distribution center. Smaller local farms bring their fruits, veggies, meat and fish there in the evenigns and in the morning it is auctioned off to all different stores. That is where they take most of their produce, but we just went to buy new flattened boxes for packaging. It must be incredible in the morning when it is full with boxes and boxes of food!

Obaachan gets her happiness from being generous, so when I went home she sent me with two bags full of vegetables that she made in her garden. Beautiful, fat turnips, carrots, tomatoes and cucumbers. Today she sent me home with mikan and two other oranges, one called Sweet Springs and the other called Deko-pon. She promised tomorrow she was going to make zenzai (sweet bean soup with mochi) because she remembered from a couple years ago that I really like it:)

Today I harvested cucumbers with Chizuko-san and cut leaves of the tomato plants. It took me three hours to do...I think, 2.5 rows. Ah! But I hope those tomatoes will be happy with lots of sunlight now!
It's been really fun, though. Today I got really sleepy, mostly I think because of the heat inside the green house, it's like 70 degrees or something in there...and also because I did a lot of talking and listening and that is very tiring because I have no English outlet like I do with Makito and Miyako - only Japanese. tsukareta (tired!)
I'm very grateful they are letting me help. Always new experiences...and with this family I never really knew!



This is completely off topic but recently I found out that that convention I went to with Muto-san in Aso was not called Green to Rhythm. It is Green Tourism. I felt like a total idiot when I found that out, because it is pretty obvious once you think about it, but it never occurred to me. The katakana makes it sound like this:
gu-ree-n tsu-ri-zu-mu.
Somehow, I got it locked in my head that tsurizumu was To Rhythm, not tourism...but it's obvious now! So, I apologize!

That's all for now...tired.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

u t o !


I'm quite behind right now...
On Firday the 9th, Makito-ojichan came to pick me up at noon from the farm. The day before was fairly eventful. In the morning a friend of Muto-san's came and we all chatted in the tatami room next to the guest house. In the afternoon I took pictures as Katsu, Hiro and Albert took the young pigs and moved them from the pig house into the little pens where they will be kept until they are large enough to be moved into the field. I was startled by how they had to catch the pigs. Hiro was in the pig house and caught the pigs and handed them to Albert who handed them to Katsu who carried them to the pens. The pigs were pretty good sized, I guess...like 2 months old. Yamaai Mura is very kind to their pigs, I have no doubt about that. But just like we handle cats by the scruff of their neck, they pigs were lifted by their ear and tail then over the shoulder or like a baby. The squeals and the thought of being picked up by my ear and a tail (if I had one) kind of made me ill...but they have a good happy life here running around and having good owners who really care about them. 


After that Albert, Hitomi, Hiro and I sorted rice again because they got another order. I didn't realize it at the time, but that evening was good bye till February. I was happy that we at least got to sort rice together though, we chatted and drank tea and it was fun. 


When Ojichan (Uncle in Japanese) came at 12 he came in and we all talked for quite a while. Then Muto-san offered we stay for lunch, so we ate pancakes, sausage and fruit salad together. Muto-san and Ojichan got along really well and I was happy for that, but soon we had to start for Uto because it takes an hour and a half and Ojichan had to work in the evening. Muto-san gave me a big hug and told me I have to come home soon, February isn't soon enough! It makes me happy that I have found such a great place there in Kikuchi. Out of all the WWOOFer profiles, it was chance that I picked his. And really, the one reason was the his was the only profile with exclamation points and emoticons! I know that is a dumb reason to choose, perhaps, but it worked out this time. 
Albert bought me a box of chocolate covered almonds before I left:) Love chocolate! The three of us love music and chocolate...so we got along:)


The ride to Uto was fun. Ojichan and I talked about all kinds of things. He teaches English and has lived in America so his English is really good and with my so-so Japanese we can talk about just about anything without too much of a struggle. He did have to stop and explain a lot of words and I told him that I was very sorry in advance because I cannot remember it all now. The way I have been trying to expand my vocab is through repition and usage. I think that's pretty normal, but I don't feel very confidant but I try to forget that sometimes. If I say something outrageous I think everyone will laugh and then they will correct me! That's not scary at all! But there are words I hear so often like"tatoeba", "betsuni" ,"ya-pari", "kanari", "jitsuwa" and I get their meanings all mixed up because they mean things like "for example", "fairly", "truthfully" and "nevertheless". So they are used very often and to me, they all just are the same in my mind for some reason. It's pretty annoying...so basically everytime I hear it I have to double check what the meaning is...I guess that's practice...one day I'll get it. 


We got to the house and I settled down in the room I always stay in. At this house there are two parts; the new part and the old part. The new part is two stories, the second level being Ojichan's classroom for his Jyuku and the bottom story being the house they live in mainly. It has their bedrooms, kitchen/central living space, toilet and bathroom. A hallway connects the new part to the old house which is all tatami mat rooms divided by sliding doors next to a long wide hallway that runs the length of the house. There is a bathroom and kitchen still in the old part of the house. It is where my grandfather stayed when he still alive. The old part of the house is made entirely of cypress would, so it smells wonderful. When I heard that I decided that that is what I identify as "The smell of Japan". It makes sense, because there are times when I get a wiff even in the States...
I stay in the room that has a little cove where my grandfather's bible lays open and there are photos of us grandchildren, my grandparent's and their parents. Close to the ceiling looking down are my grandparent's portraits. Hanging the portraits in that way is a Japanese tradition that is slowly fading away. 


Miyako-obachan soon came home and she hugged me. When i had seen her in the beginning of my trip she was still in the hospital recovering from surgery, but now she is well again - I was very glad to see that. She said she had to go pick up Ema, who had rode most of the way home, and asked if I wanted to go along so I did! It was good to see Ema. I can't believe she rides her bike like that...it's incredible, it truly is.  (I think i've written it already before, but Ema rides her bike on mountain roads to her high school nearly everyday. It is about 40 km. She leaves at 5 AM to get there in time. Such determination...amazing!).


On Saturday afternoon we went shopping at a big mall in the next town. It was really shiny and new. We first went to a Pet Store to get their dog, Nonta, his vitamins. But there were all kinds of things! Santa outfits for dogs, dog beer and wine, dog obentos, even dog UDON! I was kind of in disblief. The dog could basically live like a human, go shopping for clothes and food, vitamins, desserts and alcohol! Very interesting. 


Then we went people shopping and got a few more Christmas gifts...
For dinner I had my first McDonalds sandwhich in a very, very, very long time. I can't remember the last time I've eaten food there that wasn't a dessert item...I've stolen fried from others at times, I admit it, OH and I forgot I ate a couple chicken nuggest at the Fukuda's house. I got the chicken sandwhich this time. Basically, I haven't eaten so much McDonalds since I was a kid! They have a Japan-only burger that is called something like "Gura-ke", a mix between Gratton and Koro-ke. Basically a fried patty of creamy potato stuff. 


On Sunday I got up at 6 because we had to leave by 7 for Fukuoka. There, Ojichan and Ema were participating in a MTB Enduro Competition with Ema's high school MTB club. There were people from all over Kyushu, though, also participating. It started at 10:30 and went till 1:30. You could choose teams or do solo. Ema was on a team with her friend Fuka-chan. Ojichan was going solo for the whole 3 hours. It was pretty impressive to see how many people were there and all the bikes and outfits and how they just kept going and going and going. I grew a little tired jsut standing in the cold...can't imagine biking for 3 hours! The course wound around in a little grove of trees before going up and over a hill and the using a switchback down to a road and then back into the woods. Very fast. 
Miyako-obachan's sister, her husband and 10 yr old son and he parents also came to the race. I was with them most of the time. Also, Fuka-chan's little sister, Manaka-chan was there again. I remembered her and she remembered me from Ema's sports festival two months ago. She is a very friendly girl so she held my hand and pulled me around sometimes. She even gave me a little piece of candy!


We went on a walk during the race, Miyako, Miyako's sister and her husband and son. There was a playground that we walk to. It was so cool! I wish I were young again:p If it wasn't so cold I might have clambered all over everywhere...but I'm also scared of heights a little...and I'd rather take photos sometimes. 


I believe Makito-ojichan got 12th in the race! Ema and Fuka-chans record was a little messed up because they accidentally entered in the mens catergory...which, seeing as they were then competing against full grown men, changed the outcome dramatically. But everyone did very well, or in Japanese, みんな本当にがんばったです。


Yesterday everyone went to work really early so when I got up the house was empty except for Nonta. He doesn't bark as much when I'm around now, which I'm thankful for. I even have pet him a couple times now...:D
After breakfast I finished my Christmas shopping for good. Ojichan showed me a bike that I could ride around, he gave me a choice between a seriously nice bike and a cute little townbeater. I decided that it would be very silly of me to ride the intense bike, because I didn't really need it. Plus the town beater reminds me of my beautiful blue baby bike back home! (Yeah for alliteration!) In the afternoon I went in search of the spring that I remembered from the time I came to Japan in 5th grade. I rode there with Mom, Ema, Elijah and Kazu. It was warm so we were wading in the pool that the spring poors into and we were squatting under the spouts and drinking right from there. We also sat on the stone steps nearby and enjoyed ice cream...I have a few photos left from that trip, and I have been wanting to go back and see it again. I only remembered a few things from that time on how to get there. I remembered going left out of the driveway and then left again towards the mountains. I remembered riding across a field and I remembered a park near the spring. That was it. So I rode towards the mountains and figured if I stay on the roads nearest the base of the mountains I should come to it eventually. After winding around a lot and turning around a couple times I finally saw the park and just beyond that, the spring. I was so happy! I drank a little of the water and took some photos. Then I saw there was pointing up the road that went past the spring. I couldn't read anything but "700 m" on the sign. So I went up there and found myself climbing moss covered stairs up to the top of a little mountain where there were what seemed like graves of some sort or religious statues. It was very quiet and peaceful and the lighting was spectacular. The afternoons are beautiful since it is dark by 5:30. 
I was really happy to have time to just explore. I have also come to appreciate being alone more than I ever did. 
I keep thinking to when I'll be in Hokkaido, where I'll be staying in an apartment by myself through the Couch Surfing program (Thanks Patrick!!!). A couple live in Sapporo and they said I could stay in what is technically the woman's English classroom but also an apartment. So I will be alone for those three days. I can do what I want, eat what I want, sleep when I want, see what I want, go where I want...you get the picture, aha! Freedom! But then...really, I have 7 months of freedom! And after college, basically a life of freedom in which I choose my own barriers. Maybe in Hokkaido I will dedicate one of the days to eating Katsudon at all different restaurants and finding the best! Haha...it's going to be fun.


I found my way back easily and was soon at the house. Today I went to post office in the morning with Ojichan and then relaxed until around 2 watching a Dinosaur show on the Discovery channel as well as my favorite show that I always watch...but hardly understand because it used Osaka dialect.


After that I went on another bike ride. To nowhere in particular. But Ivisited two shrines a park with the coolest slide! After a while I started to get hungry so I went back, but stopped at the spring and filled my bottle up with spring water and stopped at a vending machine to buy sweet bean soup in a can - yum! I'd been looking for a vending machine with that and I was very glad I found it:)


So I enjoyed that along with a peanut butter banana and more TV! This time the show was one different area's special tradition. One prefecture made a certain dish with peanuts that the rest of Japan does without peanuts. And with TV shows in Japan, they use comedians with everything, so it made it very interesting even when you don't understand! Basically our TV shows on cooking are horribly boring...when you throw in a few comedians and go more into the origin of the food, wow! Anyhow, the next prefecture said "going to the bathroom" very strangely. Instead of using the verb "to go" they used the verb "to bounce". So that was very interesting. Japanese seems easy at first, but when you come to Japan, you realize that they hardly use the Japanese you learned! But very abbreviated and changed versions of the Japanese you learned. For example in Kumamoto "demo" which means "but" is "bu-ten" in Japanese. And basically everything end in "an". Instead of "shiranai" or "Ikanai" it become "shiran" and "Ikan" and "dakara" become "daken" and mixed with using "ore" and "are" instead of "watashi" (meaning "I") a lot of times I'm lost until I get the hang of it a little more. The worst part is that in Osaka, everything is different AGAIN from here in Kumamoto and in Sapporo will be different yet AGAIN. So...in the end...I feel that when I go back to America I will have not really improved my Japanese, just learned little bits and pieces of different dialects. My reading is getting better, though. Since they subtitle a lot of TV in Japanese it's good because I can read and hear and recognize the kanji...maybe kanji isn't a lost cause afterall!


We just went to pick up Ema who was somewhere in the mountains riding her bike in the pitch black of night. I wonder how far she had already ridden...ah!


Tonight I think we are having fish. Tomorrow Ojichan is taking me to my mom's aunt and uncle's house in Sanga, a town nearby. There I hope to help on their farm. There is some cucumber work now, though the melon season is over. I'm looking forward to it though I'm nervous because I know their Kumamoto Dialect is going to be INCREDIBLY strong since they are part of the older generation...ganba-te!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Back at the farm

I have been back at Yamaai Mura farm since the 3rd, I leave in two days for Uto.
I am sad to leave here but I'm looking forward to seeing the family and Mom just sent me an email saying that I will get to help my great aunt on their farm and even learn how to cook New Year's dishes! I'm very happy about that. I can't cook to save my life, so I know Mom is very happy as well :p

It's been great here. Peaceful. Sunny...except for today and the first day I was here again...
I was a little down yesterday but today was super! Busy with work, which I love. Pumpkin harvest, rice shelling and cleaning up the chicken coup in the morning. In the afternoon rice sorting and I finished my mural.
There is a new WWOOFer here from Holland. His name is Albert. He speaks some Japanese but mostly we have been communicating in English which has been nice, suddenly I can really truly express myself again! I guess that is what goes along with using your native language.

After Pumpkin harvest we decided we wanted to carve jack-o-lanterns. Though it is already December, I never got to carve mine at Halloween, so it can't be too late!

Yesterday in the morning we got to learn a little Kyudo at a Kyudo club right outside Kikuchi town. Albert is in love with Kyudo and really wanted to try and Muto-san made it happen! I got to try it too. I was awful but it was an unique and rare experience. I liked watching the people who were good do it first:) Everything but it is so perfect and structured. It is more about the process of doing than the doing...very interesting.

However my arm was sore from the day before. Albert made and we ate hamburgers on Monday before Hiro took us to badminton. Eriguchi-san, who is the organizer of the Open Badminton has helped me out the last few times. He keeps saying I'm getting better...honto-ni? sojanai, da-to-omou...
But after practicing with him a little Albert and I hit for like 40 minutes. Then Eriguchi-san said I could play in a real game! They played nice to me, but I was so happy and thankful that I could play in a real game! I'm not as bad as I was in the beginning, but I knew I wasn't game-worthy. Still, so fun!

It has been so cold at night. I sleep with electric blanket now and I can see my breath in my room when I wake up. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Today after work Muto-san and Albert prepared the pizza oven outside and a campfire. We made pizzas from scratch and while the dough was being mixed I carved my pumpkin! Muto-san had only ever seen it on TV, I'm glad I was able to show him something:) We put toppings on the pizza, tomato, onion, garlic, sausage, pepper, shitake and...cheese of course! I didn't realize it but the pizzas only had to go in the pizza oven for like 1 or 2 minutes, because suddenly, they were done! I couldn't believe it! So then we three sat down outside in the night air and enjoyed homemade, pizza oven cooked pizza:) Then we also baked chicken a little fish in the oven while it was still hot...EVERYTHING WAS SO YUMMY! Then in the campfire we roasted sweet potatoes as well while we lit out jack-o-lanterns. I made on traditional face and a piggy face. Albert made a traditional face as well and we set them next to the door of the house. My Halloween!

I am very content right now:) Muto-san is sleeping on the couch after battling flies with fly swatter and Albert finished watching jujitsu movie from his students in Holland.

Soon it is off to bed with me. I'm listening to Miyuki Nagajima? (forgot last name,here's the kanji...中島みゆき) Mom, everyone says you will know her, she's from "your time" :p

Good night to everyone!!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Fukuda Fun!

I am back at Yamaai Mura for one more week before going to Uto and the family.
However, I really enjoyed my stay with the Fukudas. Keiichan, Hiroko-obachan and Shinchan were all very fun to be with. On Wednesday Keiichan took me to the Zoo/Botanical Garden/ Kids Amusement park in Kumamoto. It wasn't busy at all, we were nearly the only ones there. Probably because it was a cloudy day that was supposed to be rainy and a week day afternoon...But I got to see all kinds of animals, love! I got to see Zaboomafoo (lemur!) and this unique Chinese monkey that was given to the zoo by Kumamoto's sister city in China. Apparently when they monkeys first came to the Zoo, people from all over Japan came to see it. It had a beautiful little face that seemed almost blue and a lot of light brown fur...very interesting.
Of course I got to see elephants and giraffes and even a black swan! It was a chilly day but since we were walking around it felt wonderful...the changing colors of the trees was so beautiful. We also got to see a whole bunch of confused cherry blossom trees! Spring blossoms and autumn colors...awesome.

On Thursday Shinchan took me to Uniqlo to get a shirt Elijah wanted and then we went to the history museum next to the Kumamoto castle and after that to another museum called Wakuwakuza. It had a lot of fun hands on things- I think it was targeted mostly at kids, but we enjoyed it! We got to try on kimonos, sit on a horse and play with one of those new projectors that when you walk on the light on the ground the image changes where you step. I haven't seen one since we were coming back from Italy with OHS orchestra at an airport. The image originally shows the current Kumamoto city but where you walk it shoes a drawn map of how it used to be several hundred years ago. Yes! I think it was Shinchans first time seeing anything like that, pretty awesome. We had to rush at the end because we were supposed to be back at the house by 6 but right outside the museum there are many new shops in traditional style Japanese building. So it kind of has the feel of being old, but looks very Japanese - Nippon-poi (I think).  We went into one store and bought koro-ke, basically breaded and fried creamed and slightly sweet potato- so delicious. Mine had a little sea urchin in it:)

Shinchan knows English very well so we can talk about differences and interesting parts of the languages (and a lot more things since now we have two languages to work with!). But I was telling him about how cute Japanese sounds, they have words like "pa-pa " and "sa-sa" which means basically "quickly". Or "fua-fua" that means "puffy". I guess that Japanese uses a lot of repetition which ends up just sounding really adorable! The four of us then went out to Conveyor Belt Sushi before Keiichan dropped me off at Yamaai Mura. When ever I'm at a Conveyor Belt Sushi restaurant, I can't stop smiling. I don't know what it is! But I feel like such an idiot that I'm brought to such gaiety because of conveyor belt sushi! I think it's partly because of how hilarious it is to see the little sushi going around and around...and I'm terrible at eating sushi. Basically you are supposed to stick one whole nigiri (piece) into your mouth, but it's really hard for me to do that and chew and not burst out laughing...it's really horrible! But I love the sushi. I always get chawamushi as well. Hiroko-obachan and I are alike in that we love food:) But Shinchan and Keiichan poke fun at her all the time basically for not being able to resist anything. After sushi she wanted to order a bowl of udon and she kept saying "But I can't eat it all by myself" but Keiichan retorted "Of course you can". I guess it's funnier in Japanese, but that banter kept up a little until Shinchan just ordered it for his mother and he ended up eating a little bit of it as well - so it all worked out! They are so hilarious, I was laughing throughout the whole dinner. But Shinchan asked me "Did you stuff yourself?" And of course I started laughing because I was laughing at everything but it was funny to hear that, because in America you don't say that - you ask "Are you full?" or "Did you get enough to eat?" . But you never hear "Did you stuff yourself?" You only say that about yourself, "OH, I'm STUFFED." I was absolutely delighted by the end of the dinner, full of green tea, eel, squid, tuna, salmon, shrimp, rice, chawamushi and caramelized sweet potato fries!
I said good bye and thank you and was sad to leave but they invited me to come again while I'm at Uto so i will see them again soon.

It seems like wherever I am, that place becomes my home...
When I got to Yamaai Mura Muto-san gave me a hug and said he was happy I was home:) Keiichan stayed for tea and Muto-san said after I left it was lonely here and Keiichan said that now, it will be lonely in Mashiki as well! I feel bad that I can't be more than one person and be everywhere everyone wants me to be at once...but, I guess that's something I'll just have to live with. It's good to be back here in Kikuchi too:) Tomorrow I WWOOFer from Holland is coming, pretty cool. And tonight we ate dangojiru, my favorite!

In my heart I feel a little warm and fuzzy knowing how I am loved by those around me here and how I love them too.

Despite all this love though...I'm starting to feel a tad achy for my family. I keep saying to myself soon enough I will be home...soon enough...I still have a lot ahead of me that I'm excited for.
For starters, tomorrow is supposed to be a gorgeous day here in Kikuchi. Today was dreary as ever and I was sad but I can feel the warmth of the sunlight already!
Come on beautiful day, blue skies and sun shine - I need you.