I woke up this morning and the sun looked amazing. There was dew on the goldenrod outside my window, and it made it sparkle - dazzling! I got up and washed my face but Muto-san was nowhere to be found. I made breakfast, toast and salad. (I'm very...clumsy. I can't slice very thin or straight and when I push sliced vegetables into a dish from the cutting board using a knife...always, something falls! Try harder I guess...I think Muto-san is used to it by now...) He still wasn't back so I went to collect the eggs. So many today! Yesterday, I got 50 in the morning, I think 13 in the evening. The chickens are crazy. They crowd around the door so much that it is hard to open and I have to push them away with the buckets, but they start to eat out of it! It's fun though, they are my friends:) Every morning, "Ohaiogozaimasu!" and in the evening, "konbanwa!"
When I get back he was back and we ate breakfast before heading out. But when I got into the suit and boots, outside there was a van with people. Muto-san introduced me to Maiyu, she was really pretty and very hippie with a nice braid and many smaller braids and even a piece of hair wrapped in thread. I liked her shoes a lot and wonder where I could find ones like that. Then we went to the tree house deck and sat down to chat. There were three others, Mugi, Nabi and Shiori. They were all hippies I think to some extent and all musicians. They were in awe because of the walnuts that had fallen from the tree onto the deck, kurumi, and wondered what they were. When they found out what they were, they were quite excited and later Muto-san brought a hammer to crack them open, walnut! We chatted for a while, they knew a little English. Shiori said he was also half Japanese, "what a miracle it is that we happened to be here at the same time!" He said. Nabi, the other man, looked like a very "classic"Japanese. He had longer hair, the little mustache and light beard, like from Japanese art! Soon Muto-san had to go feed the Mama Pig so I was with them alone, but they brought a guitar from the van and first Nabi played the Beatles, Blackbird. It was very relaxing... it's a wonderful tune...I remember when Dad used to play the guitar a lot when we were younger, he used to play Blackbird. It was when we lived down the street on Elm street and Elijah and I were little...he had a great song book. He used to play all kinds of things! Funny that Nabi happened to play that song...many memories.
Then he played a song in Japanese, but it was a very great tune and Maiyu and Mugi harmonized and Shiori used the kurimi shells as percussion. Next Shiori made up a tune and Maiyu made up words to a song about what was happening at the moment. She started out in English, "Here we are at the peaceful farm, Yamaaimura...sitting in a room with no walls and no roof..." (something like that!). Soon her English ran out and she switched to Japanese, but I appreciated the effort! Muto-san came back, then, with the hammer and Nabi cracked them open while we enjoyed the nut inside. They gathered them together and had to leave because Shiori had to go to work. They were very happy and kind people, and Nabi gave Muto-san a CD that he made, all original songs. They said they would come again and I really hope they do!
I cleaned the eggs and then, already, it was lunch time. Muto-san made somen (cold...noodles, I think rice noodles, but i'm not sure) and I peeled nashi (pear) and kaki (persimmon) - my two favorites! And after that he said, we can go to the rice fields so that I can film Katsu and Hiro (the sons) harvesting since I didn't have my camera the time before. So we hopped into the van and rode the rice field. No one was there! But he knew where they were so we drove to Hitomi's parents' house. There is where the drying machine is kept and we found them, Hiro dumping the bags of rice into the machine, Hitomi and two grandchildren (two very playful boys, about 7) on the bed of the truck. After they had emptied all the bags, Muto-san said I should go with them to the rice field so I can film, so I joined them in the back of the truck while Hiro drove back to rice field. It was kind of nice just in the open air...in America, you hardly ever do that, and especially not with little kids! People here hardly wear seat belts...in the city the driver and passenger do but you don't have to if you are in the back seat.
We got to rice field and Hiro put the empty bags back onto the combine before hopping onto it and continuing on his way back across the field (small field). I filmed... and soon I was done. Luckily, Katsu came soon with his wife and baby girl (she is beautiful, so cute, curious and happy! Her name is Hana, which means flower). He showed me something to do so I wasn't standing awkwardly anymore... we moved bundles of cut rice stalks from the shade into the sun. Then we were done with that too and Hitomi and Muto-san's sister offered my a donut and a drink and to sit in the shade behind the truck. The women wear all kinds of clothing and hats to keep the sun away. They were pants, boots, a long sleeved shirt with arm covers, a scarf (sometimes) and a hat that has cloth around it to cover the sides of face and neck. I'm basically naked just wearing my jumpsuit and hairband to keep my bangs out of my eyes. After a moments rest I felt bad because I said no to working the combine again and so I was just chilling and Katsu had taken over for Hiro so I offered to finish (since there wasn't much left). However, I only know how to go straight, so every time I had to turn he had to come back and do it for me, so i don't know which was easier but he seemed to appreciate it, maybe next time I can learn to turn and straighten up... Soon it was done! Everywhere where the rice is cut when you walk crickets, grasshoppers, little frogs and lizards jump and zip out of the way. The frogs are still in the cute stage, so I didn't mind too much:)
After that, there were the stalks of rice that they had cut by hand lying in heaps around the edge of the field. We had to take those and insert them in to the combine by hand, so the rice went into the bag and someone collected the stalks. Hitomi collected the stalks from the back of the machine and then Muto-san's sister came and bundled and tied them together and set them up straight. She was collecting the rice stalks because somehow you use them to make nato, fermented soy beans (or as some people know it, the incredible stinky thing that looks like beans and...well...snot), and she makes it herself! Oishiii (so delicious)!
The two little boys were crazy! They had a 15 ft rope and the ran around together, tied together at the ankle, basically trying to make the other fall. It looked fun to me:) And Hana the baby girl was fascinated by the truck's licence plate.
When we were done and the combine was loaded into the "big" truck we were just relaxing a little. The little boys asked Hiro to use the rope and tie them up so they could break loose, a game. So I watched a little nervously as Hiro tied them up. So when he let go they stood there, unable to move really, and then they toppled over towards the edge of the hill. I jumped heroically to save them but they were fine (of course) and one of them had gotten their arm loose and was trying to untie the knot. (When Hiro was tying the knot one of the boys said, "make it really tight, because if the knot is loose, it is no fun!"). Then I got a lift from Katsu in the big truck back to the farm. His wife sent with him a can of Sparkling Cider for me, I drank it after I cleaned up, very refreshing:)
I collected the eggs and fed the chickens for the evening and showered. I learned to shower as soon as I could, because it gets chilly at night and in Japan to save water you are supposed to turn on and off the shower between rinsing and soap and shampoo etc...So when it is later in the night it's a little too cold for comfort.
It was fun being around the family. I got to talk to Hitomi a little which was nice, because I hadn't yet.
Overall A+ day, definitely. I think harvesting rice is also a social thing, but I don't know for sure... definitely great, though.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
day three is done, tomorrow is a new day!
I think I'm basically settled in. Wow, that was fast. I've decided I will try to stay a month, unless it will be more convenient for me to go back earlier to Hiroko and Keichan's house before Yuka's wedding. However, I think it will be fine...
Today was an eventful and feel-good day! I have an internal clock that seems to be working to wake me up a little before 8 in the morning. Last night though, I think I heard wild boar run by my window! I was a tad nervous at first, but I just fell asleep afterwards and was fine.
This morning, I finally finished my entire meal! Usually there is a part of the meal I can't finish, there is always so much food. And it isn't " light food" like normal Japanese meals...but thick slices of home made bread with garlic spread, melted cheese or eggs on it. Thick, strong country food! :) But I finished my entire breakfast and my entire dinner today! (Mom will be a little freaked if she reads this, but I'm eating around...3 or 4 eggs a day...oh no cholesterol!) So after breakfast I hurried into my work jumper and rubber boots. I got the bucket of chicken feed from the barn and the basket for eggs. Walked to the coup and tried not to crush any of the chickens as I came in, they are all so excited, breakfast! There were a lot of eggs today it seemed, maybe because a few of the cubbies had 6 or 7 eggs in them. There are actually two coups, one for the young chickens and one for the old gals. The poor roosters have a lot of their feathers on their chest pecked off...abuse.
I walked to the building where they store the eggs, some vegetables, milk formula and what not. There are two sinks inside, I wash all the eggs using a little scrubby- one by one- and an egg if it's really yucky can take me a few minutes. Then dried each one with a towel and set them in the crate with a slip paper that has the date on it. Tomorrow I'll count them, I have no idea right now how many there are. After that I finished weeding the half row of carrots I didn't get to yesterday then waited for Muto-san. I kind of helped (he basically did it all...) load the rice combine onto the Japanese "big" truck. Let's just say it is double the size of a normal truck here, and a normal truck is the size of the little trucks that the Oberlin College grounds crew uses (it might be the same exact thing). The combine is small too (in comparison to US combines you see in the fields, wow!) so it works out. Then we drove down the little mountain road, crossed the main road and back on to the mountain road (yama michi?). It was so windy and narrow and he was going so fast I wondered a few times how come we didn't tip over! There were a lot more little farms and gardens and also a nice bamboo grove surrounding a boulder littered stream that looked really beautiful...maybe I'll take a walk there on the weekend. But there were a lot of "kuri" trees (chestnut) and it looked like they had already shelled them and left the prickly outer coat in piles to burn. There were also other rice fields (tanbo) around. It is all mountainous so all of it is terraced and sectioned off into these patches of rice fields or other vegetables, and it almost looks like a gigantic quilt...finally we reached his rice field. Hiro (Muto-san's son), Hitomi (his wife) and his eldest sister and grandson were there already, waiting for us to come so they could go get lunch. They had already started cutting the rice down by hand, leaving it in nice little piles. It looks so beautiful and natural, it makes me feel peaceful seeing it... but we brought the combine in so that it would be faster. I had never really seen any combine work before, I assume they are all similar, but it is quite incredible how it cuts it then uses a conveyor belt thing to bring it up into somewhere I couldn't exactly see and BAM there are the grains- magic. It spit out the rice into large sacks that we had to carry away when they were full. He did the first few times around the rice field (it is not very large, maybe...20 meters by 15 or something? I'm horrible at estimating but you get the idea...). I watched, picked mini flowers and made mini bouquets, and brought the full bags to where I was sitting. Then eventually he let me try! The front of the combine has three points about 10 inches apart. You can cut down two rows of rice at a time, and the points go between the rows as a guide so you can stay straight. I guess it wasn't that hard, but I can see how it might be tiring. It was fun though and I couldn't help smiling a little. Now when I see the many farmers busy at their harvesting rice I can say, hey, I did that! Then Hiro, Hitomi, grandson and older sister came back from lunch and we went to ours. I wasn't hungry yet, just thirsty. Everyone thinks I drink so much water, but I feel dehydrated! :( I wonder how they manage!
Instead of making lunch we drove to a convenient store, bought obentos and went to sit by the river. It is the same river that runs through Kikuchi gorge and for a moment I grew sad thinking about how I had been there just before with Mom, Michael and Keichan...but I pushed it out of my mind and enjoyed the cold water and lunch. There was a family at the same spot enjoying a barbecue lunch themselves. The three children were wading in the water and laughing...
Last night there was a girl at the farm with her mom looking around. She was very cute and when I was trying to pet the goat she came up to me and asked what I was doing. I tried to tell her, but I ended up just saying my Japanese is very bad so I don't what I'm doing! She seemed amused by that and soon her mother came. I was holding two eggs, one I had cracked a little on accident and the other was a mini egg, without a yolk... Her mother knew a little English and apparently the little girl did as well and her mother said if you speak English with this American you can tell your teacher and she will be very proud! But she was too shy:) We talked a little bit more and then her mother saw I was holding eggs, "a! mi-te, tamago!" (oh, look, eggs!) I showed the girl the small one and said she could have it, explaining though that it had no yolk. Her mother said that's perfect because she doesn't like the yolk! I was happy then and glad she had come over to me and asked me what I was doing...I feel bad that I didn't even ask her name though...maybe she will come again.
During lunch Muto-san asked if there is bamboo in Ohio and we went on from there to talk about trees, though it was difficult since I don't know many tree names (though I should...!). Then he asked a question that I found quite amusing, are there any mountains in Ohio? Thinking of Oberlin, I said no, because it is very flat...very very flat. But I told him there were large hills in Southern Ohio.
I'm fortunate to have had the opportunities to travel to so many places...Netherlands, England, Italy, Scotland, Mexico, Japan...Muto-san watches the TV channel that has a show of visiting different areas around the world and has a DVD of different famous cities around the world. He says his dream is to travel all around the world. I hope he gets to do that someday, at least visit Spain, because he really wants to... I can't really imagine being in Ohio and not knowing what it is like anywhere else... I think that's really why he started being a WWOOF host, because it was a way to bring the rest of the world to him.
After lunch we came back to the farm and he asked me to weed some more. I thought...oh...no...
We walked up the terrace that had lettuce and at the end I could see asparagus. He was impressed I knew that is was asparagus (Thank you Locke's!!!!) and so I was happy but I wasn't happy after I got a good look at how many weeds there were. Totally overgrown. There were two rows, so between the rows it was weedy and the outside too. I had my cool little tool with me (I don't know what it is called and I haven't seen it in America but it is kind of like a mini hoe but the blade looks more like leaf and it is set perpendicular to the handle and then bent a little away...I will just take a photo and post it later...ha) so once I started I was on a mission and it felt great. It was actually a lot easier than the carrots because the weeds were bigger and they came out easier (minus the bamboo which I struggled with a little). And soon...I was done! I felt so accomplished (and hot and sweaty and covered in dirt and bits of plants...) and carrying the weeds to the weed pile and watching it grow I was very happy. Alright, I'm good...:) Then I looked at where the sun was behind the mountain (it had just disappeared behind the mountain) so I knew it was almost 5 so since I was done I went to feed the chickens again and collected about 10 more eggs. While I was washing them Hiro and Katsu (the two sons, Katsu is 30, Hiro must be a little younger) came back from somewhere with the big truck full of pigs, maybe seven. I asked where the pigs were going...though I kind of guessed...and I was right. Tomorrow they will die...
It must be a sad business, especially since this is free range and you can watch the pigs grow and feed them everyday and see them running around being happy and cute in the mud. Some are born here, so you can watch them grow since they day they are born and one day you know they are going to butcher and that's that...
There is a cat here, Katsu said her name is Miki. She is very cute but not exactly loving (not like Taka, Neko and Kitty...I miss my babies!). I was trying to get her to let me pet her by making those silly kissy noises and making my voice high and friendly so she will not feel threatened...but it didn't work. Hiro saw me struggling and I think he told me to move my finger in a circle towards her face (but I don't know if he knows my Japanese is not good because he said a bunch of stuff I didn't know and quickly too) I just did what his body language told me to do. For a moment it worked and Miki seemed to come closer than she realized I was truly a stranger and she would not be fooled!
After that Katsu was leaving and he said "thank you for working on the farm" and I was a little confused because they are giving me shelter and food and experience in return, all of which are very valuable and I said "Thank you for letting me live here!" I hope they don't look at me pitifully because I'm being "worked hard" or something. I'd much rather they just be comfortable with me being there and think of me as just another worker, not the poor foreigner... maybe when we get a chance to talk more they will change the idea a little. Everyntime I see Hiro he says "otsukaresamadesu!" which is like"thank you for your help" or "acknowledging someone's efforts" (I just looked it up...I'd heard mom say it but didn't know exactly what it meant...) but I'd rather he just say hi! That would be nice...
I wonder what I will do tomorrow!
Today was an eventful and feel-good day! I have an internal clock that seems to be working to wake me up a little before 8 in the morning. Last night though, I think I heard wild boar run by my window! I was a tad nervous at first, but I just fell asleep afterwards and was fine.
This morning, I finally finished my entire meal! Usually there is a part of the meal I can't finish, there is always so much food. And it isn't " light food" like normal Japanese meals...but thick slices of home made bread with garlic spread, melted cheese or eggs on it. Thick, strong country food! :) But I finished my entire breakfast and my entire dinner today! (Mom will be a little freaked if she reads this, but I'm eating around...3 or 4 eggs a day...oh no cholesterol!) So after breakfast I hurried into my work jumper and rubber boots. I got the bucket of chicken feed from the barn and the basket for eggs. Walked to the coup and tried not to crush any of the chickens as I came in, they are all so excited, breakfast! There were a lot of eggs today it seemed, maybe because a few of the cubbies had 6 or 7 eggs in them. There are actually two coups, one for the young chickens and one for the old gals. The poor roosters have a lot of their feathers on their chest pecked off...abuse.
I walked to the building where they store the eggs, some vegetables, milk formula and what not. There are two sinks inside, I wash all the eggs using a little scrubby- one by one- and an egg if it's really yucky can take me a few minutes. Then dried each one with a towel and set them in the crate with a slip paper that has the date on it. Tomorrow I'll count them, I have no idea right now how many there are. After that I finished weeding the half row of carrots I didn't get to yesterday then waited for Muto-san. I kind of helped (he basically did it all...) load the rice combine onto the Japanese "big" truck. Let's just say it is double the size of a normal truck here, and a normal truck is the size of the little trucks that the Oberlin College grounds crew uses (it might be the same exact thing). The combine is small too (in comparison to US combines you see in the fields, wow!) so it works out. Then we drove down the little mountain road, crossed the main road and back on to the mountain road (yama michi?). It was so windy and narrow and he was going so fast I wondered a few times how come we didn't tip over! There were a lot more little farms and gardens and also a nice bamboo grove surrounding a boulder littered stream that looked really beautiful...maybe I'll take a walk there on the weekend. But there were a lot of "kuri" trees (chestnut) and it looked like they had already shelled them and left the prickly outer coat in piles to burn. There were also other rice fields (tanbo) around. It is all mountainous so all of it is terraced and sectioned off into these patches of rice fields or other vegetables, and it almost looks like a gigantic quilt...finally we reached his rice field. Hiro (Muto-san's son), Hitomi (his wife) and his eldest sister and grandson were there already, waiting for us to come so they could go get lunch. They had already started cutting the rice down by hand, leaving it in nice little piles. It looks so beautiful and natural, it makes me feel peaceful seeing it... but we brought the combine in so that it would be faster. I had never really seen any combine work before, I assume they are all similar, but it is quite incredible how it cuts it then uses a conveyor belt thing to bring it up into somewhere I couldn't exactly see and BAM there are the grains- magic. It spit out the rice into large sacks that we had to carry away when they were full. He did the first few times around the rice field (it is not very large, maybe...20 meters by 15 or something? I'm horrible at estimating but you get the idea...). I watched, picked mini flowers and made mini bouquets, and brought the full bags to where I was sitting. Then eventually he let me try! The front of the combine has three points about 10 inches apart. You can cut down two rows of rice at a time, and the points go between the rows as a guide so you can stay straight. I guess it wasn't that hard, but I can see how it might be tiring. It was fun though and I couldn't help smiling a little. Now when I see the many farmers busy at their harvesting rice I can say, hey, I did that! Then Hiro, Hitomi, grandson and older sister came back from lunch and we went to ours. I wasn't hungry yet, just thirsty. Everyone thinks I drink so much water, but I feel dehydrated! :( I wonder how they manage!
Instead of making lunch we drove to a convenient store, bought obentos and went to sit by the river. It is the same river that runs through Kikuchi gorge and for a moment I grew sad thinking about how I had been there just before with Mom, Michael and Keichan...but I pushed it out of my mind and enjoyed the cold water and lunch. There was a family at the same spot enjoying a barbecue lunch themselves. The three children were wading in the water and laughing...
Last night there was a girl at the farm with her mom looking around. She was very cute and when I was trying to pet the goat she came up to me and asked what I was doing. I tried to tell her, but I ended up just saying my Japanese is very bad so I don't what I'm doing! She seemed amused by that and soon her mother came. I was holding two eggs, one I had cracked a little on accident and the other was a mini egg, without a yolk... Her mother knew a little English and apparently the little girl did as well and her mother said if you speak English with this American you can tell your teacher and she will be very proud! But she was too shy:) We talked a little bit more and then her mother saw I was holding eggs, "a! mi-te, tamago!" (oh, look, eggs!) I showed the girl the small one and said she could have it, explaining though that it had no yolk. Her mother said that's perfect because she doesn't like the yolk! I was happy then and glad she had come over to me and asked me what I was doing...I feel bad that I didn't even ask her name though...maybe she will come again.
During lunch Muto-san asked if there is bamboo in Ohio and we went on from there to talk about trees, though it was difficult since I don't know many tree names (though I should...!). Then he asked a question that I found quite amusing, are there any mountains in Ohio? Thinking of Oberlin, I said no, because it is very flat...very very flat. But I told him there were large hills in Southern Ohio.
I'm fortunate to have had the opportunities to travel to so many places...Netherlands, England, Italy, Scotland, Mexico, Japan...Muto-san watches the TV channel that has a show of visiting different areas around the world and has a DVD of different famous cities around the world. He says his dream is to travel all around the world. I hope he gets to do that someday, at least visit Spain, because he really wants to... I can't really imagine being in Ohio and not knowing what it is like anywhere else... I think that's really why he started being a WWOOF host, because it was a way to bring the rest of the world to him.
After lunch we came back to the farm and he asked me to weed some more. I thought...oh...no...
We walked up the terrace that had lettuce and at the end I could see asparagus. He was impressed I knew that is was asparagus (Thank you Locke's!!!!) and so I was happy but I wasn't happy after I got a good look at how many weeds there were. Totally overgrown. There were two rows, so between the rows it was weedy and the outside too. I had my cool little tool with me (I don't know what it is called and I haven't seen it in America but it is kind of like a mini hoe but the blade looks more like leaf and it is set perpendicular to the handle and then bent a little away...I will just take a photo and post it later...ha) so once I started I was on a mission and it felt great. It was actually a lot easier than the carrots because the weeds were bigger and they came out easier (minus the bamboo which I struggled with a little). And soon...I was done! I felt so accomplished (and hot and sweaty and covered in dirt and bits of plants...) and carrying the weeds to the weed pile and watching it grow I was very happy. Alright, I'm good...:) Then I looked at where the sun was behind the mountain (it had just disappeared behind the mountain) so I knew it was almost 5 so since I was done I went to feed the chickens again and collected about 10 more eggs. While I was washing them Hiro and Katsu (the two sons, Katsu is 30, Hiro must be a little younger) came back from somewhere with the big truck full of pigs, maybe seven. I asked where the pigs were going...though I kind of guessed...and I was right. Tomorrow they will die...
It must be a sad business, especially since this is free range and you can watch the pigs grow and feed them everyday and see them running around being happy and cute in the mud. Some are born here, so you can watch them grow since they day they are born and one day you know they are going to butcher and that's that...
There is a cat here, Katsu said her name is Miki. She is very cute but not exactly loving (not like Taka, Neko and Kitty...I miss my babies!). I was trying to get her to let me pet her by making those silly kissy noises and making my voice high and friendly so she will not feel threatened...but it didn't work. Hiro saw me struggling and I think he told me to move my finger in a circle towards her face (but I don't know if he knows my Japanese is not good because he said a bunch of stuff I didn't know and quickly too) I just did what his body language told me to do. For a moment it worked and Miki seemed to come closer than she realized I was truly a stranger and she would not be fooled!
After that Katsu was leaving and he said "thank you for working on the farm" and I was a little confused because they are giving me shelter and food and experience in return, all of which are very valuable and I said "Thank you for letting me live here!" I hope they don't look at me pitifully because I'm being "worked hard" or something. I'd much rather they just be comfortable with me being there and think of me as just another worker, not the poor foreigner... maybe when we get a chance to talk more they will change the idea a little. Everyntime I see Hiro he says "otsukaresamadesu!" which is like"thank you for your help" or "acknowledging someone's efforts" (I just looked it up...I'd heard mom say it but didn't know exactly what it meant...) but I'd rather he just say hi! That would be nice...
I wonder what I will do tomorrow!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Going to Kikuchi: wwoof farm
Today is the sixth of October.
I wonder what is happening in town. My friends are going to collegw, taking tests and studying and making other friends. My dad is working and taking care of the boys with an occasional meet up with friends. Elijah is going to school, studying, going to soccer...marching band is still going on maybe? I can't remember how high school works!
Today is a start to a very different chapter of my life.
We've spent time at Mom's friends house, Keichan and Hiroko-bachan. Shinchan their son lives there but their daughter Yuka moved to Fukuoka with her husband. They told me come back whenever, you are always welcome. Many people have said that and it is very kind of them, I feel fortunate that mom has such wondeful friends that will open their homes and hearts to me...
I am kind of in a daze. I am going to admit that it STILL hasn't completely sunk in that I am here for seven months. It's been two weeks! Something in my mind is too stubborn to make that connection of new place and long time.
This morning we went to the discount store called " Super Kids" near their house and got some last minute items for the farm. Mouth wash, tooth paste, muck boots (we called and they said that I would need them), chocolate:) and that sort of thing. We went back to their house and Keichan started filling a jar with Umeboshi. I said, no you don't need to! But they all know how much I love umeboshi (sour plum). He said you will go through this in a week and in soon we are going to get more. They drive to Amakusa where his parents live because his mother is the one who makes them. I took them gladly and thanked them.
Then we got into the car and we drove to Kikuchi, the area where the farm is, but we drove to the gorge that is there. It was stunningly beautiful. I couldn't get enough of it. I used to write stories when I was younger, that was my hobby since I didn't have many friends when I was younger, I'd write and when I could use the computer I would type them out. One time I lost one that was almont 200 pages long (at least that is what I remember it being)..I cried for a while.
But they were always but people who lived in the wild, eating berries and bathing in streams. Maybe run away children hiding out in the woods, whatever it was they always took place in the most beautiful places in my mind. Places where the stones were covered in moss and there were ferns and fallen trees. Where there were clear fresh water streams and caves for people to hide in. Well, that is basically all I saw today, but in real life. Gigantic boulders covered in mosses, different ferns and this grass like plant. The river was a clear blue, from the minerals in it apparently. And though we always draw it to be blue, it seldom ever actually is. The trees were tall and mossed covered, some dated back to the Edo period. The trail was fun because it was rocky and scattered, not a clean cut path. It was mystical with the river bank made of rock and the rock covered in a thick bladed grass that all lay the same way and peppered with pink flowers. The sunlight was also perfect and made everything glow. It was so peaceful and we sat in fron of a waterfall on a large boulder and enjoyed a picnic lunch of onigiri and pickles.
These are my last moments with my mom for almost seven months. These are my last moments with Michael for...almost a year since he leaves for the PCT before i return. This is it. I'm about to be alone for the first time, stranded with my pathetic Japanese. But still, seven months is just an imaginary length of time at this point.
Mom bought us grilled corn on a stick at the end of the trail and we knawed on it (so sweet and juicy) before climbing into the car and heading to Yamaimura, my WWOOF farm. When we got there we were surprised by it. We saw pigs, cows, a pony, chickens and goats here and there as we drove up to the house. Soon we met Muto-san, the owner of the farm. He told us he works with his two sons and his wife, one son lives with them and one commutes from Kikuchi. First we had tea in a tree house deck that had a table and even a kichenette. It does not have a cover but I think you can string up a tarp. He chatted with Mom, Keichan and Michael for a while. I wondered a little if since I came with wwoof he disapproved of me having many people drop me off, but he was nice enough and seemed to enjoy their company. Then I worried how boring I would be in contrast, be alone and with "amari jiyozujiyanai" (not very good) Japanese. Mom kept saying please do this and teach her this, I hope he doesn't think I'm a baby still.
We walked together around all the areas where he keeps his pigs. He keeps 15 pigs in each fenced off area and he has 130 pigs total. I've never seen a pig run as fast as I saw them run today! When we walked up to them they got a little frightened and scampered off, like a stampede! It was very impressive. The biggest ones weight 103 kg I think he said...that is crazy! The area is very pretty with all the mountains and flowers. Then we went to the chicken coup, and he said I would be collecting eggs and feeding the chickens, 100 chickens. Sounds good to me. Then he showed us my room, a large enough room for two people, with a carpet, two chairs, a table and sliding doors facing the "natural garden" (overgrown area). I am staying in the guest house, though i thought we would all be in a house together the family including his parents live a kilometer down the road he said. Then I had to say good bye. Mom cried and I really wanted to but knew I needed to stay strong and not frighten Muto-san or make mom worry. Somehow, I don't know how, maybe because I was in shock I managed not cry as I watched them drive away.
So, here I am. He showed me where the bedding was and I made my bed. He told me today I would relax and then he said he would come and get me when either A, dinner was ready or B, when they were done eating. I wasn't sure which one it was but I have some snacks if it was B. So I set up my futon and struggled with sheets a little. Hanging in my room is a work clothes jumpsuit type of thing. It's blue. When he saw me he said oh wow your big! but we have big clothes so that is ok. That must the jumpsuit...it looks huge! Hopefully I am not really that large...
I set out my things and went out to take pictures a moment before coming back to write this.
I washed some dishes that were in the sink, including the tea cups we used earlier...I hope he doesn't mind and I did it right.
Tomorrow he said I start work. I get to do the chickens then work with the vegetables with his wife. He said maybe I could feed the pigs with his sons.
This is going to be very interesting, I hope we get along and that they don't mind me. I really hope so.
10.8.11
Today was my first day at the farm where I had to work. First thing in the morning Keichin and I had breakfast. He is a good cook but he gives me a lot and it is quite rich. This morning was bacon with an egg on top of fresh baked bread along with another piece of garlic bread (and these slices of bread are not like American slices they are about the size of my hand when I stretch out my fingers, even larger!) with salad (that I had to make). I wished I had paid attention watching mom and her friends clice cabbage so it was in tiny little strips, cut so fine! Mine was chunky and so were my carrots that I sliced...bad cook me. I could only eat on the the slices and saved the next for lunch. Then he asked me try on the work clothes that were in my room. It is basically I jumpsuit. I tried it on and it was waaay to big, but eventually he gave me one that fit okay. My books are also a little big for when it gets cold I can put a lot of socks on and it will still fit. Then he took me to the chick coup and I fed them and collected their brown eggs. Some had none, some had one or two and than others had 5 or 6! Then he showed me how to wash them all and after I washed them I had to dry them and place them in a crate with the date taped onto it. After I did that, he showed me to the barn where they keep pregnant pigs and pigs with their babies still needing milk. One just had babies last night and there were so many! Some were already a good size while others were runts and tiny, just skin and bone and little fuzz. He put the smallest one in my hand and it fit in my palm...it made me feel sad though knowing it would soon die. After we set it back in its area with the mama pig it walked very unsurely over near the heatlamp and lay down. It wasn't even trying to eat...
Then there was a mother who was sick so Keishin had to make the milk formula and put it in a dish for the piglets to drink up. There were only 5 left, but they were so cute and excited, like puppies. Soon after that it was already lunch! I told him he didn't have to cook anything fancy, that I don't mind simple and often times at home I like to eat rice and umeboshi. He was surprised I think and we settled for ochazuke (tea rice). But we ate the umeboshi with it as well and of course, my leftover garlic bread. Then we watched tv (Japanese TV is the most crazy...you don't have to know Japanese to be in awe and to be interested). Then at two he showed me to where the carrots are and I did my favorite job ever! Chuck knows:) I weeded! I had a handy dandy little tool but three hours later my back was aching from squatting for so long. I kept thinking, Leah, stay strong and positive (that's what mom told me to be...positive), it's just the first day. This is someone's life, you can do this.
It worked a little but I was glad when he came to tell me I was done, just so I could stand up straight for a while. Tomorrow is a new day.
I am homesick now, though, and very suddenly and very horribly too. I think it is because, of course, Mom and Michael are gone now. And I am alone with people that I don't know so well in a very, very new and interesting place. I hope I can make friends with Keishin's sons and maybe some of the part timers here but everyone is so busy and since they don't live in this house I think it will be difficult. Though Keishin said one of the sons likes badminton, and that maybe sometime we can play. That would be nice I think.
Saturday he said is only a half day and Sunday is no work. I wonder what I will do then, maybe I can go to town and get my fix of being around more people... I don't know.
I'm a little sad but I knew this would happen: stay strong.
I wonder what is happening in town. My friends are going to collegw, taking tests and studying and making other friends. My dad is working and taking care of the boys with an occasional meet up with friends. Elijah is going to school, studying, going to soccer...marching band is still going on maybe? I can't remember how high school works!
Today is a start to a very different chapter of my life.
We've spent time at Mom's friends house, Keichan and Hiroko-bachan. Shinchan their son lives there but their daughter Yuka moved to Fukuoka with her husband. They told me come back whenever, you are always welcome. Many people have said that and it is very kind of them, I feel fortunate that mom has such wondeful friends that will open their homes and hearts to me...
I am kind of in a daze. I am going to admit that it STILL hasn't completely sunk in that I am here for seven months. It's been two weeks! Something in my mind is too stubborn to make that connection of new place and long time.
This morning we went to the discount store called " Super Kids" near their house and got some last minute items for the farm. Mouth wash, tooth paste, muck boots (we called and they said that I would need them), chocolate:) and that sort of thing. We went back to their house and Keichan started filling a jar with Umeboshi. I said, no you don't need to! But they all know how much I love umeboshi (sour plum). He said you will go through this in a week and in soon we are going to get more. They drive to Amakusa where his parents live because his mother is the one who makes them. I took them gladly and thanked them.
Then we got into the car and we drove to Kikuchi, the area where the farm is, but we drove to the gorge that is there. It was stunningly beautiful. I couldn't get enough of it. I used to write stories when I was younger, that was my hobby since I didn't have many friends when I was younger, I'd write and when I could use the computer I would type them out. One time I lost one that was almont 200 pages long (at least that is what I remember it being)..I cried for a while.
But they were always but people who lived in the wild, eating berries and bathing in streams. Maybe run away children hiding out in the woods, whatever it was they always took place in the most beautiful places in my mind. Places where the stones were covered in moss and there were ferns and fallen trees. Where there were clear fresh water streams and caves for people to hide in. Well, that is basically all I saw today, but in real life. Gigantic boulders covered in mosses, different ferns and this grass like plant. The river was a clear blue, from the minerals in it apparently. And though we always draw it to be blue, it seldom ever actually is. The trees were tall and mossed covered, some dated back to the Edo period. The trail was fun because it was rocky and scattered, not a clean cut path. It was mystical with the river bank made of rock and the rock covered in a thick bladed grass that all lay the same way and peppered with pink flowers. The sunlight was also perfect and made everything glow. It was so peaceful and we sat in fron of a waterfall on a large boulder and enjoyed a picnic lunch of onigiri and pickles.
These are my last moments with my mom for almost seven months. These are my last moments with Michael for...almost a year since he leaves for the PCT before i return. This is it. I'm about to be alone for the first time, stranded with my pathetic Japanese. But still, seven months is just an imaginary length of time at this point.
Mom bought us grilled corn on a stick at the end of the trail and we knawed on it (so sweet and juicy) before climbing into the car and heading to Yamaimura, my WWOOF farm. When we got there we were surprised by it. We saw pigs, cows, a pony, chickens and goats here and there as we drove up to the house. Soon we met Muto-san, the owner of the farm. He told us he works with his two sons and his wife, one son lives with them and one commutes from Kikuchi. First we had tea in a tree house deck that had a table and even a kichenette. It does not have a cover but I think you can string up a tarp. He chatted with Mom, Keichan and Michael for a while. I wondered a little if since I came with wwoof he disapproved of me having many people drop me off, but he was nice enough and seemed to enjoy their company. Then I worried how boring I would be in contrast, be alone and with "amari jiyozujiyanai" (not very good) Japanese. Mom kept saying please do this and teach her this, I hope he doesn't think I'm a baby still.
We walked together around all the areas where he keeps his pigs. He keeps 15 pigs in each fenced off area and he has 130 pigs total. I've never seen a pig run as fast as I saw them run today! When we walked up to them they got a little frightened and scampered off, like a stampede! It was very impressive. The biggest ones weight 103 kg I think he said...that is crazy! The area is very pretty with all the mountains and flowers. Then we went to the chicken coup, and he said I would be collecting eggs and feeding the chickens, 100 chickens. Sounds good to me. Then he showed us my room, a large enough room for two people, with a carpet, two chairs, a table and sliding doors facing the "natural garden" (overgrown area). I am staying in the guest house, though i thought we would all be in a house together the family including his parents live a kilometer down the road he said. Then I had to say good bye. Mom cried and I really wanted to but knew I needed to stay strong and not frighten Muto-san or make mom worry. Somehow, I don't know how, maybe because I was in shock I managed not cry as I watched them drive away.
So, here I am. He showed me where the bedding was and I made my bed. He told me today I would relax and then he said he would come and get me when either A, dinner was ready or B, when they were done eating. I wasn't sure which one it was but I have some snacks if it was B. So I set up my futon and struggled with sheets a little. Hanging in my room is a work clothes jumpsuit type of thing. It's blue. When he saw me he said oh wow your big! but we have big clothes so that is ok. That must the jumpsuit...it looks huge! Hopefully I am not really that large...
I set out my things and went out to take pictures a moment before coming back to write this.
I washed some dishes that were in the sink, including the tea cups we used earlier...I hope he doesn't mind and I did it right.
Tomorrow he said I start work. I get to do the chickens then work with the vegetables with his wife. He said maybe I could feed the pigs with his sons.
This is going to be very interesting, I hope we get along and that they don't mind me. I really hope so.
10.8.11
Today was my first day at the farm where I had to work. First thing in the morning Keichin and I had breakfast. He is a good cook but he gives me a lot and it is quite rich. This morning was bacon with an egg on top of fresh baked bread along with another piece of garlic bread (and these slices of bread are not like American slices they are about the size of my hand when I stretch out my fingers, even larger!) with salad (that I had to make). I wished I had paid attention watching mom and her friends clice cabbage so it was in tiny little strips, cut so fine! Mine was chunky and so were my carrots that I sliced...bad cook me. I could only eat on the the slices and saved the next for lunch. Then he asked me try on the work clothes that were in my room. It is basically I jumpsuit. I tried it on and it was waaay to big, but eventually he gave me one that fit okay. My books are also a little big for when it gets cold I can put a lot of socks on and it will still fit. Then he took me to the chick coup and I fed them and collected their brown eggs. Some had none, some had one or two and than others had 5 or 6! Then he showed me how to wash them all and after I washed them I had to dry them and place them in a crate with the date taped onto it. After I did that, he showed me to the barn where they keep pregnant pigs and pigs with their babies still needing milk. One just had babies last night and there were so many! Some were already a good size while others were runts and tiny, just skin and bone and little fuzz. He put the smallest one in my hand and it fit in my palm...it made me feel sad though knowing it would soon die. After we set it back in its area with the mama pig it walked very unsurely over near the heatlamp and lay down. It wasn't even trying to eat...
Then there was a mother who was sick so Keishin had to make the milk formula and put it in a dish for the piglets to drink up. There were only 5 left, but they were so cute and excited, like puppies. Soon after that it was already lunch! I told him he didn't have to cook anything fancy, that I don't mind simple and often times at home I like to eat rice and umeboshi. He was surprised I think and we settled for ochazuke (tea rice). But we ate the umeboshi with it as well and of course, my leftover garlic bread. Then we watched tv (Japanese TV is the most crazy...you don't have to know Japanese to be in awe and to be interested). Then at two he showed me to where the carrots are and I did my favorite job ever! Chuck knows:) I weeded! I had a handy dandy little tool but three hours later my back was aching from squatting for so long. I kept thinking, Leah, stay strong and positive (that's what mom told me to be...positive), it's just the first day. This is someone's life, you can do this.
It worked a little but I was glad when he came to tell me I was done, just so I could stand up straight for a while. Tomorrow is a new day.
I am homesick now, though, and very suddenly and very horribly too. I think it is because, of course, Mom and Michael are gone now. And I am alone with people that I don't know so well in a very, very new and interesting place. I hope I can make friends with Keishin's sons and maybe some of the part timers here but everyone is so busy and since they don't live in this house I think it will be difficult. Though Keishin said one of the sons likes badminton, and that maybe sometime we can play. That would be nice I think.
Saturday he said is only a half day and Sunday is no work. I wonder what I will do then, maybe I can go to town and get my fix of being around more people... I don't know.
I'm a little sad but I knew this would happen: stay strong.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
So much beauty!
We have been doing so much again. Tuesday night we went to Yuka, Hiroko and Keichan's daughters, cabin in Amakusa. It belonged to her husband's parents, but now it belongs to them. It was nestled in between two mountains near the water. We went fishing together to get fish for dinner, managing to get little guys called "aji" and slightly larger ones called "kuro". Then we went back and had a BBQ! We had the fish, peppers, cabbage, egg plant, mushrooms, ribs, beef and chicken! Then the men (Michael and Keichan) went night fishing while us girls (Mom, Hiroko, Yuka and I) stayed back at the cabin, chatted, stretched, listened to music while Mom tried to show us some yoga...not so good for me so I read my book, Sons, by Pearl Buck (the first book, The Good Earth, was GREAT I highly recommend them). I slept right through the men returning and again through them leaving for morning fishing. I don't have that kind of patience! Fishing? Smishing... :p (Though I did catch two things the afternoon before!)
Then in the morning we ate rice balls and anpan (sweet bread stuffed with chocolate and sweet beans). Then we went to see if we could ride in the glass bottom boat but since the weather was bad, the water was not clear. But we were allowed to go on the docked boat and look through the glass. We could see some fish but I actually liked to look at the side where you could see nothing but pure blue...so beautiful. It's just a whole different world down there...
Then we drove towards home (it's a three hour drive). But we stopped for lunch at a chyonpon restaurant, which is a seafood noodle soup. yum!
Then we stopped around dinner time for even more food at Hiroko's parent's house. I had not seen her in several years, the mother, but she was as happy and exciting as I remember:) She had made all kinds of food, and in total, Michael counted that we each had twelve different little dishes (since the Japanese have a different dish for everything...). It was incredible, there was even chestnut mash that she made from scratch!
Then today we had several adventures. The first for me was chatting with my friends online. We spent most of the time trying to set up video chat on google plus or something so we didn't as much time to "hang out" as I would have liked, but it was nice just to see their faces and hear their voices:) I talked to Dad last night and Elijah too! I miss everyone but not so badly yet that it hurts...but it has only been two weeks.
Then we drove out and visited a Cosmos Festival, and saw a beautiful, vast field of cosmos flowers, all pink and charming in the sunlight. What a sight! Then we drove to a natural spring that I had gone to before and wanted to go again, this spring is near Aso, the volcano, and pumps out 60 tons of water per minute, and it is stunning how clear it looks and how crisp and green it tastes. I collected it in my water bottle and got to enjoy it for the rest of the day. Soon after that we went to a crazy restaurant where there was a fire pit filled with ash in front of us with a border that we used as a table. Then they brought hot coals and stuck sticks of different foods into the ash so it would cook and also a grill so we could grill more food. But it was sad because there were two fish on sticks and they were still alive....and they moved less and less as they got cooked...I have mixed feelings about that...
However, all the food was great. Mom said she went there with Ojiichan about 25 years ago.
Then we went to Aso! We walked 2 miles to get there, it was beautiful with all the mountains surrounding us. And when we got to the crater I started taking video and pictures and suddenly I became sickly and my throat and chest hurt so I left the crater quickly. If the wind is toward us, it pushes poisonous gases towards the people, which it was doing. If you have health problems you are supposed to stay away but I didn't know...it scared me a little at first. But it was incredibly beautiful.
We had a great dinner and now I have to go take a bath! hurryhurry
Then in the morning we ate rice balls and anpan (sweet bread stuffed with chocolate and sweet beans). Then we went to see if we could ride in the glass bottom boat but since the weather was bad, the water was not clear. But we were allowed to go on the docked boat and look through the glass. We could see some fish but I actually liked to look at the side where you could see nothing but pure blue...so beautiful. It's just a whole different world down there...
Then we drove towards home (it's a three hour drive). But we stopped for lunch at a chyonpon restaurant, which is a seafood noodle soup. yum!
Then we stopped around dinner time for even more food at Hiroko's parent's house. I had not seen her in several years, the mother, but she was as happy and exciting as I remember:) She had made all kinds of food, and in total, Michael counted that we each had twelve different little dishes (since the Japanese have a different dish for everything...). It was incredible, there was even chestnut mash that she made from scratch!
Then today we had several adventures. The first for me was chatting with my friends online. We spent most of the time trying to set up video chat on google plus or something so we didn't as much time to "hang out" as I would have liked, but it was nice just to see their faces and hear their voices:) I talked to Dad last night and Elijah too! I miss everyone but not so badly yet that it hurts...but it has only been two weeks.
Then we drove out and visited a Cosmos Festival, and saw a beautiful, vast field of cosmos flowers, all pink and charming in the sunlight. What a sight! Then we drove to a natural spring that I had gone to before and wanted to go again, this spring is near Aso, the volcano, and pumps out 60 tons of water per minute, and it is stunning how clear it looks and how crisp and green it tastes. I collected it in my water bottle and got to enjoy it for the rest of the day. Soon after that we went to a crazy restaurant where there was a fire pit filled with ash in front of us with a border that we used as a table. Then they brought hot coals and stuck sticks of different foods into the ash so it would cook and also a grill so we could grill more food. But it was sad because there were two fish on sticks and they were still alive....and they moved less and less as they got cooked...I have mixed feelings about that...
However, all the food was great. Mom said she went there with Ojiichan about 25 years ago.
Then we went to Aso! We walked 2 miles to get there, it was beautiful with all the mountains surrounding us. And when we got to the crater I started taking video and pictures and suddenly I became sickly and my throat and chest hurt so I left the crater quickly. If the wind is toward us, it pushes poisonous gases towards the people, which it was doing. If you have health problems you are supposed to stay away but I didn't know...it scared me a little at first. But it was incredibly beautiful.
We had a great dinner and now I have to go take a bath! hurryhurry
Monday, October 3, 2011
Seeing Misaki, Miyako, Eiko and more!
10.2.11
Yesterday was a lot of fun. We went to dinner with Misaki, Misakimama (Tsugiye) and Misakipapa (Hiroyuki) at a small traditional restaurant, Izakaya, about a three minute walk from my aunt and uncle's house. It is very traditional. You have to take off your shoes at the entrance and sit on tatami mats as you eat. Misaki and her mother were already there when Misaki's dad came and got us and walked us there. There were appetizers of ceasar salad and edemame (blanched soy beans). Starting when we sat down, a steady stream of amazing dishes kept coming. Somehow it all managed to fit on the table! There was sashimi, sanma (a fish about a foot long with very strong flavor, it is called "autumn fish" because right before winter it has a lot of fat to stay warm and is more delicious), tofu salad, eggplant with miso sauce, shitake mushrooms, enoki and asparagus wrapped in bacon, konyaku with miso on a stick (konyaku looks like grey jell-o that is taro paste) and other things that were...interesting. I had never tried a few the dishes before, one was beef tongue and the other intestine. I was pretty uneasy about it and despite the good flavor of the tongue...it grossed me out a little and I had to push to finish it. The intestine was such a small amount that it was only one bite - flavorful - then it was gone. I ate raw horse the last time I was in Japan... all I could think of was a cute pony and those large, glassy eyes. I decided I wouldn't do that again. But the Japanese say, a cow is cute too and you eat beef! Which is true and I feel a little guilty about it, but I guess that is what I am used and that is what they are used to and neither are wrong. So...no more beef tongue and no more horse. That's okay. My mom's friends are impressed that I love nato (fermented soy beans that are stringy with a slimy texture and have a pretty awful smell...at least that's what people say!), kimchi (korean pickle, I think, of pickled cabbage in hot peppers) and umeboshi (pickled sour plum). I have always eaten them since we can purchase them all in America, but even some Japanese do not like to eat it. It was great seeing Misaki and her family again. They are really kind and joyful (totemo genki desu!). They asked me to come see them again and I think I will. Misaki's major at her high school is English, so I might go with her for one day. Plus it is right in Kumamoto, city school! I showed them pictures of Elijah and they said, oh what a man he has become! So handsome! I like to show him off, for he is quite handsome:) Even last time he was here Ema's friend thought he was handsome (and then, he was still a boy). I miss having Elijah around, I have never been to Japan without him... and now that I am at my aunt and uncle's house it seems empty because Kazu is in college, Elijah at home and right now Miyako is still in the hospital...however, she is coming home Tuesday and this house will be more full. Of course, there is Nonta, the little dog. I don't know a thing about dogs but I want to say he is a doxen? Or something? Like a hot dog dog with brown and black, very small. He is a fierce gaurd dog, he barks endlessly when I come in until Ema or Makito-jichan comes in and comforts him. He jumps up on them and he licks their faces in glee.
As a side note for vocabulary I might be using...
Obaachan is Grandma. Ojiichan is Grandpa. Ojichan is Uncle (notice one less"i" making it shorter) and Obachan is aunt. You change all of the ending "chan"s to "san" when you want to be more polite. Using chan is more cute and endearing, used for family or close friends. So when I say Uncle Makito I just say Makito-jichan (it might actually be Makito-ojichan, but when said fast, you drop the extra "o").
Aftr dinner last night Misakipapa said I will go get some ice cream and meet you all back at Makito's house (Makito and Misakipapa went high school together and are good friends, as are Ema and Misaki, but Ema went out with friends to celebrate the sports festival). So Michael, Mom, Misaki and her mom all went back to the house and chatted for a bit. When Misaki's dad came in, he had two full bags of all kinds of things (iro iro na tabemono!). Chips, popsicles, mochi ice cream, yogurt, cream bread, chocolate bread, jell-o, tomato juice, apple tea- like he just went around the store grabbing one each of whatever he thought would be good. I ate the strawberry mochi ice cream. It was a thin layer of mochi (pounded rice, it's sticky and soft) with ice cream in the middle. I had never tried it before, but since I love both of those things, I thought I would like it and I definitely did! It was a fun night and I promised to see them after I go to my first farm in Kikuchi (near here).
This morning we relaxed before going to visit Miyako at the hospital. I think Miyako is so beautiful, because she really is. Even wearing the hospital gown and after days of being in bed healing, she was still beautiful. Makito-jichan said right after the surgery she had looked so white and tired but everyday it got better. I thought she looked a lot better and she was smiling and laughing and chatting with mom. We showed he the pictures from Ema's sports festival, which I think she really appreciated since she couldn't be there.It was very nice to see her and is good to know she is doing well and she will be home in just a few days. I will come visit again later and she will be here too.
My cousin Kazu is in college but he will be graduating in the spring. Mikayo and Makito are very happy because he already has a job working on trucks. Working with vehicles is his passion, so I am happy for him. I just learned he is 20...I should have known seeing as I'm 18, but wow! 20?? Though it is only two years away it sounds like such a big number...stupid, I know, considering that 20 is still young. My uncle commented how Kazu has a little belly now that he is not biking anymore...he has always been skinny and I'm sure he is skinny now too. Having a "little belly" here in Japan is what I consider skinny in America...so...I guess it is just perspective!
Today after visiting Miyako we went to Suizenji Garden in Kumamoto. Very beautiful. The trees in Japanese gardens impress me, for they are pruned very precisely like how you can see the pine trees on Japanese scrolls and paintings, they really look like that!
We ate lunch there at a little restuarant. I got Dangojiro (dumpling soup, though the "dumplings" looked more like udon noodles for giants, for the noodle was about an inch wide and very long). Michael and Ema got oyakudonburi (i think thats what it is called, but it is egg and chicken over rice) and Mom and Makito got zenzai, sweet bean soup with mochi-delicious! I love it too, but wanted salty food for the meal. I have seven months, I can eat zenzai many other times.
That is an odd thought. Comprehending seven months at this point is...impossible. I have never come to Japan for so long, and I am used to being in this mode where I'm constantly wanting to find the best gifts and therefore buy a lot of things. But since if I buy things now I would have to carry it for the rest of the time...I am trying to resist buying much. I bought a little fabric today, though. It is blue with pink poka dots and a print of rabit heads wearing different hats, the rabits are white. It is pretty funky. Mom said she would take it home and make me a pillow out of it. The rest I can keep for patches or something. Seeing all the fabric and yarn makes me want to really learn to sew. I can sew a patch, but I can't do anything neatly...I learned to knit a long time ago and made a never ending scarf (I didn't know how to stop knitting, or finish the piece) but it was an ugly thing because the number of stiches whent up and down and there holes were I missed a stich and all kinds of bad things. I aslo have no patience...mom, on the other hand, is one of the most patient people I know so she doesn't quite understand me for that.
We went to clean Ojiichan and Obaachan's ohaka just now. It is a decorative above ground tomb that you place the urns inside. You have one for the family. It is made of beautiful stone, Obaachan and Ojiichan's has a cross made of stone carve into the top. There is a platform to pray on and a step up with vases for flowers and a plaque that has something written. On the side there is a a space that currently has two pieces of stone set in it, one with Obaachan's name and the lifetime and one for Ojiichan's name and lifetime. There is room for more...I assume one day Mom will be there too. Part of her with me, if I am in America, and part of her there. We cleaned it with wet cloths and swept it. Mom bought fresh flowers for the vases. It looks very shiny and decorative with the colorful flowers.
10.3.11
Last night was a lot of fun because we ate and made dinner together and we stayed up chatting for a little while. Mom made spaghetti made with a base of ketchup rather than our noraml tomato sauce. There were also buns, nashi (Japanese pear), kaki (persimon), gyoza (pot sticker) and this traditionally Kumamoto food that is fried lotus root stuffed with hot mustard (it was...okay). Then we talked about all sorts of things, but mostly Makito told us about his past. He is very interesting and I learned different things about him. He loves mountain bikes and motorcycles and he is very good impersonating the sounds of motorcycles. He said when he was younger (and there were few motorcycles) he could tell what it was by the sound. He also built little model motorcycles from paper. He showed us one and he said that this wasn't even the best one. But it was very detailed and exact and definitely impressive. He also makes stickers having to do with mountain biking because he is head of a group now for mountain biking but before he started several other groups. One he wanted to start was the "health angels" which is amusing because in Japanese when you say it, it sounds like "Hell's Angels" (the famous motorcycle gang). He also talked about how he had participated in many running races in college and had done very well in many of them. But he told us one time that he had fainted because he was dehydrated. He told us when he was in middle school the teachers told him you shouldn't drink before a race and no matter what, as long as you believe you can do something, you can. He said he learned that that wasn't the case this one time because he was very dehydrated and he lost conciousness and fell during the race. He said that was when he realized that what his teachers said was not very true. He had other stories like that, like when he got hit by a motorcycle when he was standing on the side of the road. One thing that I found very interesting is that when he was young he believed he was bad at sports because he always recieved a bad grade since he couldn't play ball sports such as baseball and the like. And it wasn't until he started and biking and running that he realized that he wasn't bad at it. He is still very strong and athletic. You just have to find your place in the world...
Soon we went to bed and when I got up Makitojichan had gone to teach at the university and Ema had left at 4:45 am to ride her bike to school...AH! We walked around the town after breakfast. I went to the book store while Mom and Michael went on a walk. I was observing the variety of things they had for office supplies. It's incredible! Everything is not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing. There were tape dispensers that looked like elephants and the binders were in all different sizes and colors and there were all different cute file folder holders. Just about everything was there! Pencil holders, picture frames, book ends...I have decided I'm going to go college shopping here, by another bag for check in for when I go home. I'm so excited to go shopping towards the end of my trip!!!:p
Then we went to a bridge that is covered in tiles that Mom's old ceramics teacher made. Very beautiful. There were the largest carp in the water below and Michael bought bread to feed them. After that we walked down the road to meet Mom's friend, Eiko. She came to America for Mom and Michael's wedding...years ago! But the restaurant was unlike anywhere I had gone in Japan, kind of a mix between Bead Paradise in Oberlin and a tradtional Japanese Restaurant. They sold different artsy products. There was a bag I really grew fond of, but decided I didn't need it :( It was good to see Eiko again, we usually only get to see her for a few hours for every trip. She knows some English because she used to teach English at a high school before she had children. I guess that place was very craftsy. The dishes used were mostly made by the woman who started the restaurant and I think the couple who do ceramics is where Keiko learned ceramics too. The room we were in was cozy with two high tables and a low one with cozy chairs and the walls were painted as if it were a Western place with pretty white and pink wall paper, flowers with vases and a window with a woman sitting at a table outside. There were curtains over the door and wooden bird cages hanging from the ceiling with ceramic birds inside. We ordered from a menu that had a pretty handmade cover in all different colors. They brought us hot tea with tiny little bowls with tiny little handmade cookies inside. Then we ordered the lunch special. Soon it came, amazing with many little dishes on a tray. Rice, tempura, daikon, miso and eggplant, chestnut, miso and pickles. It was delicious! For dessert there was a tiny little cheese cake (the width and length of my pointer and middle finger). They were playing all different kinds of music, first folky music, then traditional Japanese music (like the woman ...yodling? Maybe that is what it is called), then there was something that sounded European and then suddenly...Elvis! We think they played it for us since they knew we were Americans. It was fun, though, eating and chatting and listening to Elvis.
Afterwards we went back to Makito's house and I showed Eiko the photo album I brought with a couple pictures of graduation. She brought us Taiyaki ("Tai" is redsnapper), but it isn't fish. It is a sweet bread filled with sweet azuki bean paste in the shape of a redsnapper with details of scales and the eye. yum:)
Soon Makitojichan will take us to the station so we can take a train and then a trolly to near Hiroko and Keichan's house, for we will be there until Friday, when I go to my first farm in Kikuchi.
Yesterday was a lot of fun. We went to dinner with Misaki, Misakimama (Tsugiye) and Misakipapa (Hiroyuki) at a small traditional restaurant, Izakaya, about a three minute walk from my aunt and uncle's house. It is very traditional. You have to take off your shoes at the entrance and sit on tatami mats as you eat. Misaki and her mother were already there when Misaki's dad came and got us and walked us there. There were appetizers of ceasar salad and edemame (blanched soy beans). Starting when we sat down, a steady stream of amazing dishes kept coming. Somehow it all managed to fit on the table! There was sashimi, sanma (a fish about a foot long with very strong flavor, it is called "autumn fish" because right before winter it has a lot of fat to stay warm and is more delicious), tofu salad, eggplant with miso sauce, shitake mushrooms, enoki and asparagus wrapped in bacon, konyaku with miso on a stick (konyaku looks like grey jell-o that is taro paste) and other things that were...interesting. I had never tried a few the dishes before, one was beef tongue and the other intestine. I was pretty uneasy about it and despite the good flavor of the tongue...it grossed me out a little and I had to push to finish it. The intestine was such a small amount that it was only one bite - flavorful - then it was gone. I ate raw horse the last time I was in Japan... all I could think of was a cute pony and those large, glassy eyes. I decided I wouldn't do that again. But the Japanese say, a cow is cute too and you eat beef! Which is true and I feel a little guilty about it, but I guess that is what I am used and that is what they are used to and neither are wrong. So...no more beef tongue and no more horse. That's okay. My mom's friends are impressed that I love nato (fermented soy beans that are stringy with a slimy texture and have a pretty awful smell...at least that's what people say!), kimchi (korean pickle, I think, of pickled cabbage in hot peppers) and umeboshi (pickled sour plum). I have always eaten them since we can purchase them all in America, but even some Japanese do not like to eat it. It was great seeing Misaki and her family again. They are really kind and joyful (totemo genki desu!). They asked me to come see them again and I think I will. Misaki's major at her high school is English, so I might go with her for one day. Plus it is right in Kumamoto, city school! I showed them pictures of Elijah and they said, oh what a man he has become! So handsome! I like to show him off, for he is quite handsome:) Even last time he was here Ema's friend thought he was handsome (and then, he was still a boy). I miss having Elijah around, I have never been to Japan without him... and now that I am at my aunt and uncle's house it seems empty because Kazu is in college, Elijah at home and right now Miyako is still in the hospital...however, she is coming home Tuesday and this house will be more full. Of course, there is Nonta, the little dog. I don't know a thing about dogs but I want to say he is a doxen? Or something? Like a hot dog dog with brown and black, very small. He is a fierce gaurd dog, he barks endlessly when I come in until Ema or Makito-jichan comes in and comforts him. He jumps up on them and he licks their faces in glee.
As a side note for vocabulary I might be using...
Obaachan is Grandma. Ojiichan is Grandpa. Ojichan is Uncle (notice one less"i" making it shorter) and Obachan is aunt. You change all of the ending "chan"s to "san" when you want to be more polite. Using chan is more cute and endearing, used for family or close friends. So when I say Uncle Makito I just say Makito-jichan (it might actually be Makito-ojichan, but when said fast, you drop the extra "o").
Aftr dinner last night Misakipapa said I will go get some ice cream and meet you all back at Makito's house (Makito and Misakipapa went high school together and are good friends, as are Ema and Misaki, but Ema went out with friends to celebrate the sports festival). So Michael, Mom, Misaki and her mom all went back to the house and chatted for a bit. When Misaki's dad came in, he had two full bags of all kinds of things (iro iro na tabemono!). Chips, popsicles, mochi ice cream, yogurt, cream bread, chocolate bread, jell-o, tomato juice, apple tea- like he just went around the store grabbing one each of whatever he thought would be good. I ate the strawberry mochi ice cream. It was a thin layer of mochi (pounded rice, it's sticky and soft) with ice cream in the middle. I had never tried it before, but since I love both of those things, I thought I would like it and I definitely did! It was a fun night and I promised to see them after I go to my first farm in Kikuchi (near here).
This morning we relaxed before going to visit Miyako at the hospital. I think Miyako is so beautiful, because she really is. Even wearing the hospital gown and after days of being in bed healing, she was still beautiful. Makito-jichan said right after the surgery she had looked so white and tired but everyday it got better. I thought she looked a lot better and she was smiling and laughing and chatting with mom. We showed he the pictures from Ema's sports festival, which I think she really appreciated since she couldn't be there.It was very nice to see her and is good to know she is doing well and she will be home in just a few days. I will come visit again later and she will be here too.
My cousin Kazu is in college but he will be graduating in the spring. Mikayo and Makito are very happy because he already has a job working on trucks. Working with vehicles is his passion, so I am happy for him. I just learned he is 20...I should have known seeing as I'm 18, but wow! 20?? Though it is only two years away it sounds like such a big number...stupid, I know, considering that 20 is still young. My uncle commented how Kazu has a little belly now that he is not biking anymore...he has always been skinny and I'm sure he is skinny now too. Having a "little belly" here in Japan is what I consider skinny in America...so...I guess it is just perspective!
Today after visiting Miyako we went to Suizenji Garden in Kumamoto. Very beautiful. The trees in Japanese gardens impress me, for they are pruned very precisely like how you can see the pine trees on Japanese scrolls and paintings, they really look like that!
We ate lunch there at a little restuarant. I got Dangojiro (dumpling soup, though the "dumplings" looked more like udon noodles for giants, for the noodle was about an inch wide and very long). Michael and Ema got oyakudonburi (i think thats what it is called, but it is egg and chicken over rice) and Mom and Makito got zenzai, sweet bean soup with mochi-delicious! I love it too, but wanted salty food for the meal. I have seven months, I can eat zenzai many other times.
That is an odd thought. Comprehending seven months at this point is...impossible. I have never come to Japan for so long, and I am used to being in this mode where I'm constantly wanting to find the best gifts and therefore buy a lot of things. But since if I buy things now I would have to carry it for the rest of the time...I am trying to resist buying much. I bought a little fabric today, though. It is blue with pink poka dots and a print of rabit heads wearing different hats, the rabits are white. It is pretty funky. Mom said she would take it home and make me a pillow out of it. The rest I can keep for patches or something. Seeing all the fabric and yarn makes me want to really learn to sew. I can sew a patch, but I can't do anything neatly...I learned to knit a long time ago and made a never ending scarf (I didn't know how to stop knitting, or finish the piece) but it was an ugly thing because the number of stiches whent up and down and there holes were I missed a stich and all kinds of bad things. I aslo have no patience...mom, on the other hand, is one of the most patient people I know so she doesn't quite understand me for that.
We went to clean Ojiichan and Obaachan's ohaka just now. It is a decorative above ground tomb that you place the urns inside. You have one for the family. It is made of beautiful stone, Obaachan and Ojiichan's has a cross made of stone carve into the top. There is a platform to pray on and a step up with vases for flowers and a plaque that has something written. On the side there is a a space that currently has two pieces of stone set in it, one with Obaachan's name and the lifetime and one for Ojiichan's name and lifetime. There is room for more...I assume one day Mom will be there too. Part of her with me, if I am in America, and part of her there. We cleaned it with wet cloths and swept it. Mom bought fresh flowers for the vases. It looks very shiny and decorative with the colorful flowers.
10.3.11
Last night was a lot of fun because we ate and made dinner together and we stayed up chatting for a little while. Mom made spaghetti made with a base of ketchup rather than our noraml tomato sauce. There were also buns, nashi (Japanese pear), kaki (persimon), gyoza (pot sticker) and this traditionally Kumamoto food that is fried lotus root stuffed with hot mustard (it was...okay). Then we talked about all sorts of things, but mostly Makito told us about his past. He is very interesting and I learned different things about him. He loves mountain bikes and motorcycles and he is very good impersonating the sounds of motorcycles. He said when he was younger (and there were few motorcycles) he could tell what it was by the sound. He also built little model motorcycles from paper. He showed us one and he said that this wasn't even the best one. But it was very detailed and exact and definitely impressive. He also makes stickers having to do with mountain biking because he is head of a group now for mountain biking but before he started several other groups. One he wanted to start was the "health angels" which is amusing because in Japanese when you say it, it sounds like "Hell's Angels" (the famous motorcycle gang). He also talked about how he had participated in many running races in college and had done very well in many of them. But he told us one time that he had fainted because he was dehydrated. He told us when he was in middle school the teachers told him you shouldn't drink before a race and no matter what, as long as you believe you can do something, you can. He said he learned that that wasn't the case this one time because he was very dehydrated and he lost conciousness and fell during the race. He said that was when he realized that what his teachers said was not very true. He had other stories like that, like when he got hit by a motorcycle when he was standing on the side of the road. One thing that I found very interesting is that when he was young he believed he was bad at sports because he always recieved a bad grade since he couldn't play ball sports such as baseball and the like. And it wasn't until he started and biking and running that he realized that he wasn't bad at it. He is still very strong and athletic. You just have to find your place in the world...
Soon we went to bed and when I got up Makitojichan had gone to teach at the university and Ema had left at 4:45 am to ride her bike to school...AH! We walked around the town after breakfast. I went to the book store while Mom and Michael went on a walk. I was observing the variety of things they had for office supplies. It's incredible! Everything is not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing. There were tape dispensers that looked like elephants and the binders were in all different sizes and colors and there were all different cute file folder holders. Just about everything was there! Pencil holders, picture frames, book ends...I have decided I'm going to go college shopping here, by another bag for check in for when I go home. I'm so excited to go shopping towards the end of my trip!!!:p
Then we went to a bridge that is covered in tiles that Mom's old ceramics teacher made. Very beautiful. There were the largest carp in the water below and Michael bought bread to feed them. After that we walked down the road to meet Mom's friend, Eiko. She came to America for Mom and Michael's wedding...years ago! But the restaurant was unlike anywhere I had gone in Japan, kind of a mix between Bead Paradise in Oberlin and a tradtional Japanese Restaurant. They sold different artsy products. There was a bag I really grew fond of, but decided I didn't need it :( It was good to see Eiko again, we usually only get to see her for a few hours for every trip. She knows some English because she used to teach English at a high school before she had children. I guess that place was very craftsy. The dishes used were mostly made by the woman who started the restaurant and I think the couple who do ceramics is where Keiko learned ceramics too. The room we were in was cozy with two high tables and a low one with cozy chairs and the walls were painted as if it were a Western place with pretty white and pink wall paper, flowers with vases and a window with a woman sitting at a table outside. There were curtains over the door and wooden bird cages hanging from the ceiling with ceramic birds inside. We ordered from a menu that had a pretty handmade cover in all different colors. They brought us hot tea with tiny little bowls with tiny little handmade cookies inside. Then we ordered the lunch special. Soon it came, amazing with many little dishes on a tray. Rice, tempura, daikon, miso and eggplant, chestnut, miso and pickles. It was delicious! For dessert there was a tiny little cheese cake (the width and length of my pointer and middle finger). They were playing all different kinds of music, first folky music, then traditional Japanese music (like the woman ...yodling? Maybe that is what it is called), then there was something that sounded European and then suddenly...Elvis! We think they played it for us since they knew we were Americans. It was fun, though, eating and chatting and listening to Elvis.
Afterwards we went back to Makito's house and I showed Eiko the photo album I brought with a couple pictures of graduation. She brought us Taiyaki ("Tai" is redsnapper), but it isn't fish. It is a sweet bread filled with sweet azuki bean paste in the shape of a redsnapper with details of scales and the eye. yum:)
Soon Makitojichan will take us to the station so we can take a train and then a trolly to near Hiroko and Keichan's house, for we will be there until Friday, when I go to my first farm in Kikuchi.
Catching up!
We went to many different places in so little time, it seems as if my mind might explode with all the beauty and awe. But first, I think I might write a little of the small details of Japan that I truly enjoy.
First is that the rice is a brilliant golden green color, and it is accented by a certain bright red lillie, Higanbana. They are planted along the road and they border many rice fields. They are goreous and delicate.
Then there are the bamboo forrests. Their tops look different in a mass, so the mountains covered in trees have a ripply look. When the wind blows it looks more like sea waves than anything else. Today it was rainy and so the mountains were clouded and the mountain tops faded in and out of view through the silver.
The tradtional farm houses are beautiful. And even the traditonal houses in the city are attractive with blue, green, red and grey roofs. The ones in the city have tiny little gardens, usually garnished with cute ceramic statues of badgers, cats, mushrooms and frogs. There are many ginko trees and some grow larger than any Ginko i have seen before. The cicados here make a raspier more rattling sound with more tones...that's not a very good description, but if you have ever seen a miyazaki film (and i'm thinking totoro would be the best example) then you should know the sound.
The streets are terribly narrow, and like in some other places there are mirrors to make it possible to see around bends and corners. But the cars are tiny to, easily half the size. Some could probably even fit in the bed of a good size pickup in America. Even the trucks, cement trucks, delivery vans- everything is smaller. There are delivery three wheal scooters that people ride. Scooters are more popular here than in the US because they can fit in narrow spaces and move through traffic. Bikes are also everywhere.
So are children in their school uniforms. Everyday that we visited a popular site or spent time in a large city, we were able to see hundreds of children varying in age. But the smallest have little blue shorts and skirts and white blouses and little yellow caps.They are the cutest. I think it is their voices. Japanese is such a cute langauge, with words like "pekopeko", "zaazaa", "bechabecha" or "mechakucha" and with their shrill voices and polite manners, it is undeniably adorable. Today we went somewhere and one young boy was taking a photo of another in front of the attraction. The posing boy made the peace sign and Michael, who was walking by, came in behind the boy and also made a peace sign for the picture. The boy who took the photo showed the other boy the photo with much excitement and ran away to their friends calling out "we got a foreigner in the photo!" It was adorable.
Yesterday we went to Miyajima Island to see the floating Torii. This was the start of our list of lucky moments. The island has more free roaming deer. The antlers are cut so they can rub on the trees, and there are so many people feeding them crackers, they don't really eat the greenery. I think they like ice cream though, because we were eating it and one came over and head butted her! We walked to the Shinto Shrine which is in a little cove behind the torii. The lucky thing number one was, the tide was higher than normal and had actually flooded the areas where we could have walked. It was mystical though, the bright red paint of the shrine and the water all over the wood floors. Like a city of water, all empty except for a few men in white robes standing in a shallow area to wait out the tide.Just the red paint, the white robes and shiny rippling water. After the water had gone down and before they let us walk through the shrine though, we saw the tail end of a traditional shinto wedding photo session. The bride was in a traditional Japanese kimono, thick, red and decoartive. With the tradtional wig, perfect and rounded with delicate ornaments. Her face was white and she kept her eyes down, she was so beautiful. Later on we got to see her again, this time in the white kimono and a veil. The husband was wearing a tradtional black kimono himself, and then man that was pulling their rickshaw wore a tradtional Japanese hairdo, pulled back and tied up. It was like a little step back in time. As they were pulled down the street people called out OMEDETOU! Meaning, congratulations. Soon we left, but I felt more peaceful to be in the presence of such beauty on the island.
We took a train back to Hiroshima station, then the shinkansen to Kumamoto where Mom's friend Hiroko's husband, Kei-chan (at least that's what we call him) picked us up. We went to his house on the outer edge of Kumamoto in somewhat of a country house. They have close neighbors but also room for a garden, so nothing like the crammed living style of the city where a lot of room is a three foot width around the house, if that. They let me stay in their daughter's old room, her names is Yuka. She is getting married in November. I am very excited that I was invited. Clara told me about her sister's wedding in India, and though I know it will be very different, I know it will be amazing too. Like in India ( at least from my understanding) people spend tens of thousands of dollars. Renting a kimono for the marriage photos alone cost a few thousand... but she is beautiful in normal clothes, I cannot wait to see what she will look like in the different wedding dresses and kimonos. She speaks english along with her brother Shin (pronounced sheen). The last time I saw him he was younger and had longer crazier hair and interesting clothes, but now since he has a teaching job, teaching english part time, his hair is shorter and he looks older. It's interesting what a hair cut can do! Today Keichan took us to a famous Aquaduct about an hour away. Here is lucky thing number three. They used to open the aquaduct often, but soon it became so famous that they realized it would be beat up too quickly, so now they only open it for people who pay (usually large tour groups). We went there, not expecting to see the amazing sight (it is a large stone bridge the makes a perfect half circle over the river. On either side of it are bamboo forrest and directly in front and behind are terraced rice fields. So the yellow of the rice, red of the lillies, the grand sight of the bridge, the silver sky, waving bamboo forrest-it is truly an amazing sight. We asked if they were going to open it today, because there were three or four groups of elementary children walking around chittering in their little uniforms and holding their different colored umbrellas and jumping in their yellow rubber boots since it was windy and rainy. The said they would be opening it at 11:30, which was only an hour away! I had wanted to go there since the time before my grandfather was in the hospital, he took Elijah, mom and me there. It was still beautiful. We walked around on various paths around it to pass the time. There is a large waterfall that the rivers run into, and the time before we were allowed to go down and be right by it...but now it is blocked, probably dangerous. I was sad, but there is still a suspension brdige that runs right in front of it so we could still get a good view. Then we went back tot he bridge and waited with all the little school children to open the gates so the water would come rushing out.It would come out perpendicular to the side of the bridge and spout out into the river below, but it was a famous view. When the man came and unplugged the holes, the water came spewing out forcefully. So impressive. I got shots from on the brdige and below. Michael filmed it and the audio, as soon as the water comes out, turns into children screaming in excitement. We were very lucky to see that...without paying about $100. After that wwe went to Kumamoto castle. I have gone a few times in my life and everytime is it impressive and beautiful.
Later in the evening, Keichan drove us to my Mom's brother's house in Uto. He was still teaching in the jyuku, but Ema, my cousin, was here and she showed us in. Soon Makito-jichan (mom's brother) came and we chatted. But I was so tired I had to come to the back room in the old part of the house (like where mom grew up!!) to relax. Miyako, my aunt, is in the hospital since she just had surgery...we will see her Sunday. I was glad to hear she is recovering well. Kazu, my other cousin, is off at college. Maybe I will be able to see him later when I know more Japanese. That would be nice.
For now I'm tired...
10.1.11
Today was a great day and it is only 3:30 pm! It didn't start out so well, though, only because it started at 6 am...And i know that 6 am isn't really that early...just for me since I became lazy over the summer:p
Then we went to Ema's high school high in the mountains, about an hour drive. Ema, though, rides her bike to school most days and it is 35 kilometers (21 miles!) and almost all up and hill and windy roads. Going there takes her 2.5 hours, she says, and she has to leave at 4:30am. But she said going home is fine because it is nearly all down hill. But...what??? 2.5 hour up hill before school at 4:30 am?? She is very strong and yet so small! Kazu, who is in college, went to the same high school and did the same thing. My uncle, their father, Makito is a serious mountain biker. He actually teaches mountain biking at their school, which brings me to the topic of their incredible school.
It is not like a normal high school and it is considered very unique. It is called "green life" and has three grades and a total of about 70 students, so it is very small. It is kind of an adventure and crafts school. They offer classes in sewing, cooking, wood craft, mountain biking, survival, forrestry, kayaking and other things of that sort. The school has a place for many kayaks and mnay mountain bikes, a green house, a place to grow fish, kitchen, gym, field, rock climbing wall and a stream that runs behind the school. Ema is taking mostly sewing and cooking. But what an interesting school! So every school has a sports festival around this time. Parents and people of the town come to watch and cheer on the students. Usually the festival has mostly different track events. However, since it is an outdoors school there are a few special events. So today we got to witness some very amazing things!
The festival opened with the three grades presenting themselves by marching in a circle with their respective flag. Green for 3rd years, red for 2nd years (Ema is second year, go red!) and white for the 1st years. There were a few speakers, then the flag of Japan and the school's flag were raised. Then the events began. The first was...a log cutting race! There three teams (for each grade) and each team had about 5 students and two guests, which can be members of the audience or teachers (basically everyone event had that). So Michael said he would participate for Red Team. The saw was about a foot or so long and the log about 5 inches in diameter. You had to run about 30 ft, saw a small chunk of the log off, and run back with chunk and drop it in a crate so the next person could go. At first, red team was not doing so well...but the more people that went, the fast they seemed to be! People were introduced as they were sawing, and Michael was introduced as "Mikerusan (MY KE RU SAN) from America!" The audience went OOOh! Everyone loves a strong foreigner (especially in a log sawing race). Michael became a Festival celebrity after that, I'm sure everyone was surprised to have an American come to this small school way in the country for the High School Sports Festival! The sports continued. Ema participated in several. One is the Three Legged Race, where the two people bind themselves to eachother and run. You have to be coordinated yourself and with the other personal. It was a little painful to watch some students struggle along and near tripping...however, Ema and her friend Fuukachan (foo-ka chan) were really good and minus a little trip in the beginning went fast and clean all the way to the end (the track was about 100 meters around, since they don't have much land, they cannot have a full sized track). She also was in a balancing event. Where about ten student from each group had to balancing on round platform about 2.5 feet in diameter. Maybe just 2 even...They all had different strategies to do this. Ema's group looked like they all held hands in the middle (or something) and balanced eachother our that way because some people only had one foot on the platform and others two. I saw another group had a few people on their shoulders to conserve space down below. I think they all made it (they had to stay balanced for 10 seconds).
She also participated in this one race which I will call the Fun Run. There were a series of obstacles and I think this one was the most amusing and hilarious. First your had to duck under a bar. Then someone gave you a slip of paper to tell you which costume you needed to put on. There were three boxes with different costumes (winnie the pooh, elementary school girl outfit, chinese dress, chinese"Shame" outfit with a pink wig and others). Then you had to run to a station where there were bowls of water. You had to get your face wet then walk to a table that had a shallow tubs on it. These tubs were filled with flour and had some kind of candy dispersed inside. You had to put your wet face in the floor and get a candy in your mouth. People's faces were white and they came over to the next station coughing and laughing, covered in floor and wearing hilarious costumes. Next you had to get a peice of paper that had a description of someone such as "Someone who thinks they are handsome" or "my most favorite person" or " a strong person". Then someone would have to come from either the students or the audience and the two had to run together to the next station where there was an umbrella. They had to open it and both run under it to the finish line. Ema won her section:) There was also a dance for everyone, which she did very well with. But since there are way more boys than girls at this school, there was a group of mothers who dressed up in their old high school uniforms (Miyako, my aunt, actually started that tradition a few years ago when Kazu was in school). It was all very fun and happy. Then there was a relay race for all the students. Ema ran and she is so fast! Apparently she is famous for being faster than many of the boys:p (maybe if they rode their bikes 21 miles everday to school, up hill, they would be fast too!)
Oh!I nearly forgot! There was one that was pretty incredible. There was a...maybe ten foot wall supported on a frame on the other side of the wall, about 3ft down, there was a platform where you could stand. The obejective was to run and jump and get one person to get over the wall and stand on the platform so they could pull others over. So a group of about 8 (several students, a teacher and an audience member) all had to get over the wall. It was impressive to see the kids pull themselves up and others, quite intense! Then after they all got over, they had to hold hands and run to the finish line. There were other events too, like tug of war and jump rope and one for all the mothers. It was called fishing, and people got poles with hooks and students set out different gift bags, so with the pole you fished for those items. It was fun to see all the mothers excited about it:) And I just remembered...there was another very interesting race. Each grade had to set up a tent, then make a flame using flint, enough so they could set off a large sparkler. Then one person on their team had to get on a mountain bike and ride it around the track, but half way there was a line about head hight with a small goody bag. They had ot grab it only using their mouth then cross the finish line...but it wasn't over! As soon as the biker crossed the finish line, they had to take down the tent and put NEATLY into the bag, only then were they done! The first years had a hard time making a fire, but it was definitely amusing. But the way they put up and took down the tents, they put our senior class to shame! For our "senior prank" we camped out in front of the school and we had about 10 tents...it took us quite a while to put them up. These kids could have done it in 10 minutes!
In the middle there was a lunch break and Michael pointed out that it was a lot simplar than in America. In America you have to set up tables and chairs and many trash cans and offer food even. Here, people all brought their own Obentos (lunch boxes) and blankets or mats for the floor in the gym. Everyone cleaned up after themselves and took away their trash- hassle free! Also, it was amusing to see about 50 people's shoes all set at the door of the gym, because in Japan you take off your shoes even when you go to school. The students have their own slippers but guests can just wear their socks. There are special bathroom slippers so that what is in the bathroom stays there. No wonder things can stay so clean! Plus I think that they don't have janitors, because the students clean the school, including the restrooms. It's pretty impressive, how dutiful the students are. The prepared tents for the audience to watch the festival and even shoveled sand and brought it to the places where it was wet to make it less so.
I wonder what it is that makes these students so behaved and obedient. I suppose it is the culture...or maybe that the schools cost money and you have to take entrance examinations to get into different high schools. This is also a tiny school, perhaps at larger schools you see more..."normal" high school behavior. I don't know. Parents are strict though too, probably more strict than the majority of parents in America.
There was an adorable baby girl who I was watching. She had a full head of loose curls and was in a little red outfit. She was very quiet and observant. During lunch she had a fan club and a father of a student said,"My daughter used to be cute like that too, those were the days." I feel that there are many comments like this in Japan, but maybe the direct translation to English makes it more harsh than it is in Japanese...
The sports festival was great, the time flew while watching it and it was amazing to see all the different events and talents of the students.
Tonight we are seeing Misaki and her parents who we call Misaki-mama and Misaki-papa:) Misaki and Ema came to America I think two summers ago, some of you might remember them. Misaki is attending a high school in Kumamoto, its focus is English. It will be good to see them!
Also, to Emily and Isabel if you read this...do you remember how we were talking about Man Man Pizza? I didn't find a Man Man Pizza specifically, but I did find a shop called Manman, it was written in hiragana and is technically pronounced "MahnMahn". I was in a bus so I couldn't read what it was for...but that's okay! I found a Man Man!:p
First is that the rice is a brilliant golden green color, and it is accented by a certain bright red lillie, Higanbana. They are planted along the road and they border many rice fields. They are goreous and delicate.
Then there are the bamboo forrests. Their tops look different in a mass, so the mountains covered in trees have a ripply look. When the wind blows it looks more like sea waves than anything else. Today it was rainy and so the mountains were clouded and the mountain tops faded in and out of view through the silver.
The tradtional farm houses are beautiful. And even the traditonal houses in the city are attractive with blue, green, red and grey roofs. The ones in the city have tiny little gardens, usually garnished with cute ceramic statues of badgers, cats, mushrooms and frogs. There are many ginko trees and some grow larger than any Ginko i have seen before. The cicados here make a raspier more rattling sound with more tones...that's not a very good description, but if you have ever seen a miyazaki film (and i'm thinking totoro would be the best example) then you should know the sound.
The streets are terribly narrow, and like in some other places there are mirrors to make it possible to see around bends and corners. But the cars are tiny to, easily half the size. Some could probably even fit in the bed of a good size pickup in America. Even the trucks, cement trucks, delivery vans- everything is smaller. There are delivery three wheal scooters that people ride. Scooters are more popular here than in the US because they can fit in narrow spaces and move through traffic. Bikes are also everywhere.
So are children in their school uniforms. Everyday that we visited a popular site or spent time in a large city, we were able to see hundreds of children varying in age. But the smallest have little blue shorts and skirts and white blouses and little yellow caps.They are the cutest. I think it is their voices. Japanese is such a cute langauge, with words like "pekopeko", "zaazaa", "bechabecha" or "mechakucha" and with their shrill voices and polite manners, it is undeniably adorable. Today we went somewhere and one young boy was taking a photo of another in front of the attraction. The posing boy made the peace sign and Michael, who was walking by, came in behind the boy and also made a peace sign for the picture. The boy who took the photo showed the other boy the photo with much excitement and ran away to their friends calling out "we got a foreigner in the photo!" It was adorable.
Yesterday we went to Miyajima Island to see the floating Torii. This was the start of our list of lucky moments. The island has more free roaming deer. The antlers are cut so they can rub on the trees, and there are so many people feeding them crackers, they don't really eat the greenery. I think they like ice cream though, because we were eating it and one came over and head butted her! We walked to the Shinto Shrine which is in a little cove behind the torii. The lucky thing number one was, the tide was higher than normal and had actually flooded the areas where we could have walked. It was mystical though, the bright red paint of the shrine and the water all over the wood floors. Like a city of water, all empty except for a few men in white robes standing in a shallow area to wait out the tide.Just the red paint, the white robes and shiny rippling water. After the water had gone down and before they let us walk through the shrine though, we saw the tail end of a traditional shinto wedding photo session. The bride was in a traditional Japanese kimono, thick, red and decoartive. With the tradtional wig, perfect and rounded with delicate ornaments. Her face was white and she kept her eyes down, she was so beautiful. Later on we got to see her again, this time in the white kimono and a veil. The husband was wearing a tradtional black kimono himself, and then man that was pulling their rickshaw wore a tradtional Japanese hairdo, pulled back and tied up. It was like a little step back in time. As they were pulled down the street people called out OMEDETOU! Meaning, congratulations. Soon we left, but I felt more peaceful to be in the presence of such beauty on the island.
We took a train back to Hiroshima station, then the shinkansen to Kumamoto where Mom's friend Hiroko's husband, Kei-chan (at least that's what we call him) picked us up. We went to his house on the outer edge of Kumamoto in somewhat of a country house. They have close neighbors but also room for a garden, so nothing like the crammed living style of the city where a lot of room is a three foot width around the house, if that. They let me stay in their daughter's old room, her names is Yuka. She is getting married in November. I am very excited that I was invited. Clara told me about her sister's wedding in India, and though I know it will be very different, I know it will be amazing too. Like in India ( at least from my understanding) people spend tens of thousands of dollars. Renting a kimono for the marriage photos alone cost a few thousand... but she is beautiful in normal clothes, I cannot wait to see what she will look like in the different wedding dresses and kimonos. She speaks english along with her brother Shin (pronounced sheen). The last time I saw him he was younger and had longer crazier hair and interesting clothes, but now since he has a teaching job, teaching english part time, his hair is shorter and he looks older. It's interesting what a hair cut can do! Today Keichan took us to a famous Aquaduct about an hour away. Here is lucky thing number three. They used to open the aquaduct often, but soon it became so famous that they realized it would be beat up too quickly, so now they only open it for people who pay (usually large tour groups). We went there, not expecting to see the amazing sight (it is a large stone bridge the makes a perfect half circle over the river. On either side of it are bamboo forrest and directly in front and behind are terraced rice fields. So the yellow of the rice, red of the lillies, the grand sight of the bridge, the silver sky, waving bamboo forrest-it is truly an amazing sight. We asked if they were going to open it today, because there were three or four groups of elementary children walking around chittering in their little uniforms and holding their different colored umbrellas and jumping in their yellow rubber boots since it was windy and rainy. The said they would be opening it at 11:30, which was only an hour away! I had wanted to go there since the time before my grandfather was in the hospital, he took Elijah, mom and me there. It was still beautiful. We walked around on various paths around it to pass the time. There is a large waterfall that the rivers run into, and the time before we were allowed to go down and be right by it...but now it is blocked, probably dangerous. I was sad, but there is still a suspension brdige that runs right in front of it so we could still get a good view. Then we went back tot he bridge and waited with all the little school children to open the gates so the water would come rushing out.It would come out perpendicular to the side of the bridge and spout out into the river below, but it was a famous view. When the man came and unplugged the holes, the water came spewing out forcefully. So impressive. I got shots from on the brdige and below. Michael filmed it and the audio, as soon as the water comes out, turns into children screaming in excitement. We were very lucky to see that...without paying about $100. After that wwe went to Kumamoto castle. I have gone a few times in my life and everytime is it impressive and beautiful.
Later in the evening, Keichan drove us to my Mom's brother's house in Uto. He was still teaching in the jyuku, but Ema, my cousin, was here and she showed us in. Soon Makito-jichan (mom's brother) came and we chatted. But I was so tired I had to come to the back room in the old part of the house (like where mom grew up!!) to relax. Miyako, my aunt, is in the hospital since she just had surgery...we will see her Sunday. I was glad to hear she is recovering well. Kazu, my other cousin, is off at college. Maybe I will be able to see him later when I know more Japanese. That would be nice.
For now I'm tired...
10.1.11
Today was a great day and it is only 3:30 pm! It didn't start out so well, though, only because it started at 6 am...And i know that 6 am isn't really that early...just for me since I became lazy over the summer:p
Then we went to Ema's high school high in the mountains, about an hour drive. Ema, though, rides her bike to school most days and it is 35 kilometers (21 miles!) and almost all up and hill and windy roads. Going there takes her 2.5 hours, she says, and she has to leave at 4:30am. But she said going home is fine because it is nearly all down hill. But...what??? 2.5 hour up hill before school at 4:30 am?? She is very strong and yet so small! Kazu, who is in college, went to the same high school and did the same thing. My uncle, their father, Makito is a serious mountain biker. He actually teaches mountain biking at their school, which brings me to the topic of their incredible school.
It is not like a normal high school and it is considered very unique. It is called "green life" and has three grades and a total of about 70 students, so it is very small. It is kind of an adventure and crafts school. They offer classes in sewing, cooking, wood craft, mountain biking, survival, forrestry, kayaking and other things of that sort. The school has a place for many kayaks and mnay mountain bikes, a green house, a place to grow fish, kitchen, gym, field, rock climbing wall and a stream that runs behind the school. Ema is taking mostly sewing and cooking. But what an interesting school! So every school has a sports festival around this time. Parents and people of the town come to watch and cheer on the students. Usually the festival has mostly different track events. However, since it is an outdoors school there are a few special events. So today we got to witness some very amazing things!
The festival opened with the three grades presenting themselves by marching in a circle with their respective flag. Green for 3rd years, red for 2nd years (Ema is second year, go red!) and white for the 1st years. There were a few speakers, then the flag of Japan and the school's flag were raised. Then the events began. The first was...a log cutting race! There three teams (for each grade) and each team had about 5 students and two guests, which can be members of the audience or teachers (basically everyone event had that). So Michael said he would participate for Red Team. The saw was about a foot or so long and the log about 5 inches in diameter. You had to run about 30 ft, saw a small chunk of the log off, and run back with chunk and drop it in a crate so the next person could go. At first, red team was not doing so well...but the more people that went, the fast they seemed to be! People were introduced as they were sawing, and Michael was introduced as "Mikerusan (MY KE RU SAN) from America!" The audience went OOOh! Everyone loves a strong foreigner (especially in a log sawing race). Michael became a Festival celebrity after that, I'm sure everyone was surprised to have an American come to this small school way in the country for the High School Sports Festival! The sports continued. Ema participated in several. One is the Three Legged Race, where the two people bind themselves to eachother and run. You have to be coordinated yourself and with the other personal. It was a little painful to watch some students struggle along and near tripping...however, Ema and her friend Fuukachan (foo-ka chan) were really good and minus a little trip in the beginning went fast and clean all the way to the end (the track was about 100 meters around, since they don't have much land, they cannot have a full sized track). She also was in a balancing event. Where about ten student from each group had to balancing on round platform about 2.5 feet in diameter. Maybe just 2 even...They all had different strategies to do this. Ema's group looked like they all held hands in the middle (or something) and balanced eachother our that way because some people only had one foot on the platform and others two. I saw another group had a few people on their shoulders to conserve space down below. I think they all made it (they had to stay balanced for 10 seconds).
She also participated in this one race which I will call the Fun Run. There were a series of obstacles and I think this one was the most amusing and hilarious. First your had to duck under a bar. Then someone gave you a slip of paper to tell you which costume you needed to put on. There were three boxes with different costumes (winnie the pooh, elementary school girl outfit, chinese dress, chinese"Shame" outfit with a pink wig and others). Then you had to run to a station where there were bowls of water. You had to get your face wet then walk to a table that had a shallow tubs on it. These tubs were filled with flour and had some kind of candy dispersed inside. You had to put your wet face in the floor and get a candy in your mouth. People's faces were white and they came over to the next station coughing and laughing, covered in floor and wearing hilarious costumes. Next you had to get a peice of paper that had a description of someone such as "Someone who thinks they are handsome" or "my most favorite person" or " a strong person". Then someone would have to come from either the students or the audience and the two had to run together to the next station where there was an umbrella. They had to open it and both run under it to the finish line. Ema won her section:) There was also a dance for everyone, which she did very well with. But since there are way more boys than girls at this school, there was a group of mothers who dressed up in their old high school uniforms (Miyako, my aunt, actually started that tradition a few years ago when Kazu was in school). It was all very fun and happy. Then there was a relay race for all the students. Ema ran and she is so fast! Apparently she is famous for being faster than many of the boys:p (maybe if they rode their bikes 21 miles everday to school, up hill, they would be fast too!)
Oh!I nearly forgot! There was one that was pretty incredible. There was a...maybe ten foot wall supported on a frame on the other side of the wall, about 3ft down, there was a platform where you could stand. The obejective was to run and jump and get one person to get over the wall and stand on the platform so they could pull others over. So a group of about 8 (several students, a teacher and an audience member) all had to get over the wall. It was impressive to see the kids pull themselves up and others, quite intense! Then after they all got over, they had to hold hands and run to the finish line. There were other events too, like tug of war and jump rope and one for all the mothers. It was called fishing, and people got poles with hooks and students set out different gift bags, so with the pole you fished for those items. It was fun to see all the mothers excited about it:) And I just remembered...there was another very interesting race. Each grade had to set up a tent, then make a flame using flint, enough so they could set off a large sparkler. Then one person on their team had to get on a mountain bike and ride it around the track, but half way there was a line about head hight with a small goody bag. They had ot grab it only using their mouth then cross the finish line...but it wasn't over! As soon as the biker crossed the finish line, they had to take down the tent and put NEATLY into the bag, only then were they done! The first years had a hard time making a fire, but it was definitely amusing. But the way they put up and took down the tents, they put our senior class to shame! For our "senior prank" we camped out in front of the school and we had about 10 tents...it took us quite a while to put them up. These kids could have done it in 10 minutes!
In the middle there was a lunch break and Michael pointed out that it was a lot simplar than in America. In America you have to set up tables and chairs and many trash cans and offer food even. Here, people all brought their own Obentos (lunch boxes) and blankets or mats for the floor in the gym. Everyone cleaned up after themselves and took away their trash- hassle free! Also, it was amusing to see about 50 people's shoes all set at the door of the gym, because in Japan you take off your shoes even when you go to school. The students have their own slippers but guests can just wear their socks. There are special bathroom slippers so that what is in the bathroom stays there. No wonder things can stay so clean! Plus I think that they don't have janitors, because the students clean the school, including the restrooms. It's pretty impressive, how dutiful the students are. The prepared tents for the audience to watch the festival and even shoveled sand and brought it to the places where it was wet to make it less so.
I wonder what it is that makes these students so behaved and obedient. I suppose it is the culture...or maybe that the schools cost money and you have to take entrance examinations to get into different high schools. This is also a tiny school, perhaps at larger schools you see more..."normal" high school behavior. I don't know. Parents are strict though too, probably more strict than the majority of parents in America.
There was an adorable baby girl who I was watching. She had a full head of loose curls and was in a little red outfit. She was very quiet and observant. During lunch she had a fan club and a father of a student said,"My daughter used to be cute like that too, those were the days." I feel that there are many comments like this in Japan, but maybe the direct translation to English makes it more harsh than it is in Japanese...
The sports festival was great, the time flew while watching it and it was amazing to see all the different events and talents of the students.
Tonight we are seeing Misaki and her parents who we call Misaki-mama and Misaki-papa:) Misaki and Ema came to America I think two summers ago, some of you might remember them. Misaki is attending a high school in Kumamoto, its focus is English. It will be good to see them!
Also, to Emily and Isabel if you read this...do you remember how we were talking about Man Man Pizza? I didn't find a Man Man Pizza specifically, but I did find a shop called Manman, it was written in hiragana and is technically pronounced "MahnMahn". I was in a bus so I couldn't read what it was for...but that's okay! I found a Man Man!:p
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