Goodbye Japan, Hello Hawaii!

Hawaiian Beach (Casey's Beach)

Sunday was the beach and Monday was my flight back home. I spent the morning weeding and then the afternoon relaxing and finishing my packing. Emily went back to work at 4 while I waited for a ride to the station at 5. Mariko helped me get my stuff into the car and I was torn between sadness and excitement to come home, which makes a weird cocktail in your stomach. Emily came with to the station and I hugged them goodbye, hoping to see Mariko again in the future when I return to Japan (hopefully with my little brother in tow) and Emily hopefully as a travel buddy! For the last time I used the train ticket machines and went down to catch my train.

It was a two and a half hour ride to Kansai airport and at my transfer at Osaka, the train was in English and Japanese, that was a first. It was nice to read on the train and not worry about straining to hear in Japanese whether my stop was next, a nice British lady would say so over the loudspeaker. At the airport I had to eat something since my flight was at 10:35 pm, otherwise I would be dangerously cranky. I was still in Japanese mode when I ordered strawberry cheesecake frozen yogurt at an ice cream kiosk and I think I made the cashier laugh. He knew English well but it was hard to override two months of Japanese responses.

On the flight I sat next to a 15 year old girl who was moving to Hawaii for 5 years with her family and she was also surprised at my speaking abilities. She was cute. :) After the plane dinner I popped a sleeping assistant and groggily slept the next 8 hours to Hawaii. We landed 15 minutes early and I was pumped, it was 11:45 am and my next flight was at 5:15. I was going to spring out of that plane, through customs, and to the beach like a bullet. But actually, I had to get my luggage, transfer my luggage, check in for my flight and by that time I began to doubt I would be able to make it to the beach and back. However, luckily for me, the Honolulu airport had an exit by the check in where most folks get picked up or take a taxi elsewhere. I asked a lady working if that bus station over there went to Waikiki beach, and she responded, "Sure! Buses come every 10 minutes!" "Do I have enough time?" "I think so." "I'm THERE!" And took off for the station across the street. It cost me $3 since I didn't have change, but hey, better than the $25 dollar taxi.

I knew Waikiki was an mile and a half away, so I figured it wouldn't be that long on a bus, but as the clock ticked away, I realized there was no beach in sight. I borrowed the map from the gentleman next to me and realized oh no, we are very far away due to traffic. I panicked. And then on my right I noticed a beach! Was it private? No! Oh wait! We passed that stop! Pull for the next and book it! So I did.

I backtracked trying to find where the bus stop would be for the way back because that was more important than the beach just yet, and so was my growling tummy. I stopped into Petals and Beans to ask where the bus stop was--all this was in a line of hotels and fancy places I wasn't sure I could just walk into. But the Hawaiian man working said it was right outside at the stoplight so hooray! Then I noticed in the coffee/flower shop that behind the glass display case was a beautiful slice of New York Mocha cheesecake, so I had to eat it. It was the best ever, for lack of better words, accompanied by a handmade and one of a kind chai tea. After the cool down, it was time to beach-book-it. I raced across the street and the grass trying to find where I could change into my suit. Once that was accomplished, I put my stuff between two parties of two and was amazed how 1, this beach was gorgeous and 2, this was not crowded at all. Then, I burst into the ocean.

It was more than amazing, it was perfection at it's best. Warm but cool and refreshing water, bright blue water with that tinge of aquamarine and white sand. I couldn't believe I was walking on it! My time was short and I had to leave soon after plunging into the beautiful blue to catch a bus back to Honolulu Airport, but it was worth it. Hawaii, I hope to see you again. :)

A Taste of the Ocean

I love water. I think that has always been true since I can remember. For instance, I can remember stomping and swimming by the dock of my cabin with my Grandma watching me not an arm's length away, while today I stomped my feet in the ocean for the first time. Hello Grandma!!

Me looking for sea shells!

The plan was to go to the beach if the weather would allow us, which was possibly asking for a lot when it's the rainy season. This morning it poured itself out and eventually warmed up to a nice, humid day. I was practically tapping my foot waiting for the signal to go and when Mihoko came to say "yes! we will leave at one!" I instantly changed moods. There was some talk of not going because it wasn't "warm enough" and I thought that was crazy, how much nicer did it have to be? Anyway, it worked out and I joined Atsushi, Mihoko, kids, and their friends. We went to a private beach so there were fewer people than the famous Suma beach. It was a bit of a drive but I like riding in cars in Japan. :)

Me finding shells!

I was yet again, the only blond, non-Japanese in sight and that got more stares. But once we had lathered up in sunblock the kids wanted to race into the water. Mihoko apologized because the water was dirty with sticks and natural debris from the storms recently, and a few pieces of garbage... she said they can always see the bottom here and this is unusual but oh well, ocean is ocean and I was happy to be there. It was a lot warmer than I expected and a lot saltier too!

After some playing we got flavored ice and enjoyed more swimming. My favorite part was floating on the surface in the low waves. It's the best feeling ever to be weightless and suspended between the air and water, just drifting! It was my first time at the ocean and I will never forget it.

Pottery Day 2

I heard we were doing more pottery yesterday since there were two new wwoofers who needed to get their hands in clay! Although the new French wwoofer Xavier passed on making something, Emily said of course.

 At first we tried to fire up a kiln outside but we got rained out and had to run for it to the garage. From there we made camp again with the pottery teacher and Emily started over.

 Meanwhile, I was crossing my fingers that my owl would be cooked enough to survive a plane ride but it would take two hours to find out. So we spent most of the morning and part of the afternoon with clay and stoking a fire, but after that was over the pottery teacher pulled out bread mix! 

We rolled out the dough into long pieces and wrapped them around barbecue sticks, roasting them like marshmellows! 

It was very tasty :) 

In the afternoon since the rain stopped we went and weeded for a while, showing Xavier a few of the tricks of how to really pull some grass. For dinner everyone had curry followed by splurging in the French wine Xavier brought! Here's Mihoko approving of the first taste.

 I had some OJ with my banana bread (the dessert) and it was an evening filled with a lot of laughter--but that's a sound I could never get tired of. I am trying to soak up all I still can before I leave on Tuesday, but I can already tell this place has left me with a desire to visit Japan again one day. I feel very blessed to be taken such good care of here and finding a lot of happiness in daily things, even for instance watching TV on Emily's computer as we sit on the edge of our elbows ready to laugh and scream at the suspense of our scary show, or being able to teach others about my life, culture, and language. I think at the same time though I have a little voice that finally can peep loud enough, "There's no place like home" and I have never fully appreciated that until I left home 8,000 miles away. 

Girls Just Want To Have Fun

Emily and I tried to take full advantage of our break today! So from about 1 to 4 we have time off and go back to work at 4-7 when it's not scorching heat. After a cool lunch of somen, Mariko gave us a ride to the cute cafe I went to the other day, and we indulged our sweet tooth : ) 

I picked a mango cake and iced coffee while Emily picked the chocolate parfait.

That was kind of interesting since it came with frosted flakes in the bottom of the glass! It's sort of a Japanese thing... but all tasty! We laughed in the cafe, stopped at a convenience store for candy and then walked home watching Kusonoki get bigger on the horizon. Home sweet home (for 4 more days! Ah!) and now I am relishing in the air conditioning. It's kind of cute when farmers here stop and ask where we are from. Sometimes they have an idea where Minnesota or Missouri is, and sometimes, they just assume Minnesota means Michigan and that I know Detroit. Grr! Oh well! I think it's funny when cars slow down to see two foreign ladies plucking grass from the main road. Haha... : ) I guess I can't blame them, we are pretty cute. 

Enjoying anko popcicles! "mi-ru-ku" (milk) outside, red beans inside?! Wha?!

Tea and Okashi

The ladies I met last week returned for another fun time! Oyama-san and Fuyaso came to visit Emily and I, with sweets in tow. We opened the cafe/store and visited for two hours! Again a mix of English but it was a very nice time and we had some good laughs (for instance, attractive male celebrities was an interesting topic). 

They brought some matcha and anko (red sweet bean paste) goodies inside clear "jerri" or jello, and then some matcha sweet squares. I don't know if I will ever get used to matcha as a sweet flavor like chocolate, but then again, nothing can compete with chocolate.  I hope we can communicate in the future (swapped some emails!) because like they said, 'One meeting, one chance.' 

Ichigo Ichie

The days are just flying by. I spend 6 hours a day working in the garden, which mainly is weeding since everything has been planted already. The rainy season was very late this year so of course every day says "rain" but that's not always the case. So far I got to meet two Canadian Wwoofers and we made signs out of tree branches from Kusunoki, the giant tree the farm is named after. Mariko really liked them and wants to use them for her next event. It took a little bit of teamwork, but it was fun.

Also, Emily, from my last host has arrived! It's been nice to talk to someone while we work and sometimes there is a lot of laughing going on. We plan on going to the beach this weekend but if it rains, then we will go to down town Kobe. I'm secretly hoping for the beach though. 

One experience I don't want to forget was on the day I was making signs with the two wwoofers (who have since left) and during this time, Mariko had gardeners in the garage for a planting event. One of the customers came with a friend and when she found out I was from America, asked if she could take me out for a chat. Of course! So we went to a cafe just as the rain cleared up, and it was also a ridiculously charming place. Oyama-san is a tiny little lady who must be past her fifties but is learning English and her friend Fuyaso, is an English teacher to foreigners. The main topic they were curious about was how I studied Japanese and how I became so good. Hopefully, she wanted to use that to help her students learn. We had a wonderful conversation and a lot of smiles and laughs. It was about 50/50 in English and Japanese but that's because all of us want to practice something different. : ) I learned a saying at the cafe that I really like from them, "ichi go, iche" (i-chi-go-i-chi-eh) which at first I thought, "strawberry?" Since 'ichigo' is strawberry in Japanese, but 'ichi go' is different, go figure. It means "one meeting one chance" so possibly similar to "one chance to make a first impression" or something along those lines. Fuyaso explained it as "one in a million" and I agree. It was a wonderful meeting I won't forget. Today they are coming back for another visit and we will use the store/classroom outside. Oyama-san is bringing a homemade cake, and part of learning a new culture is trying new food so I suppose I must try a piece!

Otherwise, my days are visiting with billions of tiny frogs, toads, and tree frogs while I pluck grass out of the ground, saying hello to their gardeners, then followed by wonderful dinners with the family. It's a nice way to close each day, not to mention falling asleep in the quiet air conditioning after sweating through two sets of clothes while gardening. Now insert a good, loud Minnesotan "OOHFDA". 

View from a Cafe

On Thursday I asked if I could come with Mariko to her calligraphy class that she teaches at a retirement day center. I was excited to sit in on a class and maybe try writing kanji, but after we arrived at the day service center, we met with the director instead to discuss further plans there. Mariko's friend was also there, and she does calligraphy too. To be honest, I was a tad bored since it wasn't concerning me, but they served us drinks as is a typical custom, and I had absolutely delicious peach juice. It was worth it for that alone. 

Afterwards we drove to a cafe called Flip Flop, and was filled with cute nature crafts (a bit expensive though!) But it had a breathtaking view of rice fields. I ate a funky but yummy sandwhich with iced coffee. It was the perfect size for me and when I finished, Mariko noticed I was reading the menu from out table. I asked what something was and she said, "Chiffon Cake, have you tried?" Which, to my knowledge, no I hadn't. Mariko smiled and called to the cafe workers that we would like one piece. She shares my affinity for sweets, and we joke that is why the mosquitos love us, but me more since I must be new and exotic. I definitely approve of Chiffon cake : ) She visited with her friend a very long time so I had time to read a sad, but surprise happy ending children's book about a cat, and some magazines, as well as linger over buying a pretty copper necklace. Eventually I could hear my mother's voice going "It's okay, you are in JAPAN!" So I gave in : ) I figured I had only 11 days left so hey, if I want it, I should just go for it. It was a very nice way to relax. I am glad we went. 

After the cafe, Mariko took me to the family grocery store and where she teaches calligraphy to children. I was waiting to try and had a seat and everything, but soon Ayako came to get me and bring me to Mihoko, the daughter in law's, English school. I love any teaching I get to do here but I was a little caught off guard when she said, "please! Be the teacher today!" But it was very basic and we just worked on two new questions with 2 classes, aged 5-11. It was a lot of fun and I am glad, since it helps me know that yes! I want to be a teacher! Whew, good feeling to have right? It was a long day and everyone has a very busy schedule, so dinner is around 8:00 and perhaps a little late, but the food is wonderful! Mariko laughed and warned that many Wwoofers gain weight, and she doesn't know why! But it must be the good food, which is okay by me : )

Jung St

My first work day was by myself and included weeding a path in the garden. Mariko told me a month ago another wwoofer weeded this same path but the weeds have grown back, and this will be "John St" when I am finished. So for three hours I sat on styrofoam chunk and hacked up the grass. My back was pretty sore for break time, and I thought I made good progress on it. However, when I came back to work on it around 5, Mariko was on the other side and eventually we worked our way to each other. For being just grass, it was a lot of work and I started to wonder why are we calling this John St? I pulled up all of these weeds. And who is John anyway?

Mariko is a talker, which is nice, and eventually she started to tell me the story of the Korean Wwoofer who did this path. Even on his last day, Jung was weeding this path. Then it began to rain, and she told him come back inside, it's okay not to work. Jung refused and said he must finish what he started, he wanted to. But then it began to rain harder, and Jung was still weeding. She insisted he come in, it was his last day! But Jung stayed until the whole path was finished, so in his honor, she wants to name it after him. There were bricks spread in the path that I moved as I needed, then aligned neatly like stepping stones. However, Mariko went ahead and picked them all up and rearranged them. At first I didn't know what she was doing until she wrote out  J U N G  S T. 

I admire his hard work, and after weeding path, I can understand the time Jung also put in. I think I will look back and remember his selflessness, and hopefully apply that to my life at times I may forget. And just maybe after I leave I can have the honor of something called after me, it's not everyday that someone can be remembered so fondly. Whether or not that happens, I don't mind, but as long as I can leave such kind memories, I would be happy. 

Hoot Hoot.

My first adventure in Kobe turned out to be with pottery! Surprise! I woke up to a giant storm so right away figured no work today... And again after a nice breakfast with Mariko, she told me her pottery teacher was coming today but she was going to practice calligraphy so now would be my chance to make one of the owls I was admiring when I first arrived and met her in the shop they have. So... with the help of the teacher, I did!

Step one. Mold around a jar of coffee.

Round it!

Make a face! Draw some feathers (there was a cute hard brush I dragged along the back, I thought it looked neat). I wanted to make the owl like a pumpkin, so I cut out parts of the wings and of course the eyes are holes. We checked it with a light and it should be a darling little guy when it dries. However, after bending over for two hours and perfecting my baby, I asked how long it would take to dry because I wanted to give it to my mom (owls are good luck for gardeners) the teacher said it would take a month, but maybe if I hair dried it every day it would be *okay* to take, but still breakable. Or I could leave money to ship it home. I don't know what to do, so I guess we'll see where he ends up. It was a fun way to pass a rainy day. 

Kobe!

Yesterday I arrived in Kobe to be pleasantly surprised. The trains were fine, (MIRACLE) and when Ayako picked me up, it was just a 3 minute drive to the house. This is more like a 'farm' I would say. They have small plots that get rented out to gardeners and then the others we take care of. When I arrived she showed me my room and invited me to Harry Potter, but I declined since I'd already seen it. I get to sleep in the air conditioning! Which I will never take for granted again (a hard lesson to learn in Nara) after waking up so many nights just sweating with nothing you can do to change it. And the room is my own bed, with more than 4 feet of room until the door above a very deep staircase. YAY! 

I almost cried I was so happy. Then we had a nice dinner with beef and chicken (not the famous Kobe Beef, but I have eaten beef IN Kobe now!?) Then I got to brag about Minnesota to the family a little bit, since no other Wwoofers have been from there. : ) 

Today though I had a nice breakfast with the mom, Miriko, who runs the farm's shop and gardens. She's an energetic lady and fun to talk to. Also, her English is pretty decent so we talk a mixture of "Japlish" when I don't understand. There is also the daughter, a son and his wife and two kids, and the father. It sounds like a lot of people but the house is nice and big, so really, it just feels right to have a big family here. 

After touring the mall for an hour, Miriko picked me up for lunch with her calligraphy friends. It was a very authentic Japanese restaurant with the fish in the center of the restaurant that the chefs would catch when someone ordered them! I saw a shark! But we stuck to other dishes. I ordered sushi and was glad I did so. When the other fish orders came one was still trying to breathe even though it was filleted. 

I discovered today if it has a face, I can't eat it. Not while it looks at me! But it was a lot of fun to visit with all the ladies! Tomorrow is a work day so it will be a nice new experience learning how they run things. I think of my family a lot since it looks like they could do this too, there's cute garden stuff everywhere! It's like my front yard but gone wild. 

Last Days in Nara

Looking back

I have been busy and not at the same time. The last week was a lot of fun since I got a new friend. I didn't realize I was so lonely! A girl from Missouri came named Emily, and I we clicked really well. Her Japanese is very good but I try to take advantage of it, so if I don't understand I ask for a better translation. We did a lot of adventures every day. For instance, I had to see the new Harry Potter so I bought my ticket online. Luckily it was on a Wednesday so that meant... Ladies' Day! Only $10! We snuck in ice cream and snacks, and watched the English version. We also took daily trips to the local bakery for a new little treat almost everyday. That was fun too :) 

During my last night, we had a big dinner of Sukiyaki, however, I didn't do all of it. You crack an egg into a bowl and then dip all the food into it, like beef, mushrooms, and other vegetables and tofu. Me and Emily both passed on that... Then afterwards everyone piled into the car to go to the mall for ice cream. This was actually just a sneaky tactic to develop photos and buy me a going away present, but I didn't know it at the time. I got expensive ice cream at a Japanese Coldstone basically, because I was dying for strawberry cheesecake--the bakery didn't have it! Everyone else just bought some at Jusco, the grocery. While we were eating on some couch seats in the mall, I peaked over and saw Tak-chan putting photos in a pink and brown album, so I spoiled it and turned away. When he finished, I turned around and he gave me the album with the photos from the Kyoto trips! I love it! It's super cute : ) And a really nice thought. I didn't discover it until later but the last photo hiding in the back was from the dinner we had just eaten so that just added to it. 

Sunday I had my stuff all packed and I felt ready to move on. Except it really hit me that I'm going to a new place, that means I will be home in two weeks almost! It was crazy getting all my things into my suitcase again and I wish I would have brought less but I didn't know what I would need so I guess that's alright. It got bigger with all the things I have boughten. Surprisingly, I made it on the trains without any problems and said goodbye to Ogawa and Hiroko. They gave me a nice pair of chopsticks that are really beautiful, so I put two and two together from the mall, Hiroko was leaving a store and I was wondering what she bought... It was a nice gesture and I'll for sure use them, however I don't know how often at school. I can't really cook in my room...

And actually, it was sometimes really difficult to stay at my first host, even though they are exceptionally kind people. I was very humbled in the process, so I find that to be the reason why I was there so long. They were far from the cleanest people I've met, and so it was a big wake up call. I think I could be happy living almost anyway after my Nara experience, but that's a lesson that not everyone can learn. Plus, looking with the perspective of my faith, I should be accepting of everyone, even if it is difficult. It was good practice and I'm sure I'll only remember the good days. I learned more about my own culture by living someone else's and I do not regret that at all. : ) 

Return to Kyoto 7/11

Since last weekend Tak-chan took me sightseeing in Kyoto but we didn't get to see any Geishas, we had to go back again to get the full experience. We started out with a famous temple that is associated with foxes. Apparently this temple is for the arts and so the fox is a guardian of it. It was very unique and I was surprised--it wasn't like the other temples at all. 

There was a thousand of these set up in a path, and even one course that went around the mountain, but that was an hour walk so we decided to pass. Next to the exit of my chosen temple path were two stones. If you could lift ths stone and it felt light your wish would be recognized soon. Well, it was pretty darn heavy so Tak-chan said I have to wait a long time. Darn. But maybe it will be worth it. 

After a hunt to find a non-Japanese bathroom (all the female toilets are built into the ground, and it's realllly awkward), we drove back to downtown Kyoto by the Gion district to try some Geisha hunting. It started to look like we would have no luck, it was busy so maybe they didn't want to come outside and be bothered by a lot of people. But then as we were walking, a door opened on my left and a Geisha in blue flies out, totally catching me off guard. I didn't know what to do and two college girls stormed after her taking pictures, and I felt bad doing that, so I told Tak-chan as she ran off "I don't need a picture, it's okay..." But after seeing one more brief glimpse of a second one, two geishas were walking down another street together and he said to get my camera out. That time, I got it without being a crazy tourist : ) How fun. 

Tak-chan then took me shopping around Kyoto and it was exciting seeing how lively Kyoto was. I bought a few things and we stopped for coffee. I wanted an iced mocha but Tak-chan ordered an iced chocolate milk by mistake, or maybe the coffee dude messed up, I don't know. I was just super sad I ended up drinking this large, what tasted like melted chocolate ice cream (realllly creamy milk, gag). We laughed a little and Tak-chan pointed out I seem to have bad luck. Thanks for acknowledging what I've known my whole life. Yeah, I do. I expect bad things so when they don't happen, I'm happy, and when they do, I'm not surprised. It was more of a sad, funny moment. 

Later we walked back to the car along the banks of the river and it was a great way to say goodbye to Kyoto. We ended the night by picking up Ogawa in Nara and stopping at a restaurant for dinner. I wasn't hungry but I was freezing, so I ordered a roast beef appetizer, which when it showed up, was cold. I almost banged my head on the table and they both laughed, called the waitress back and ordered me the soup that was my second choice. I felt bad but Tak-chan brought up again, "bad luck eh?" Yeah, usually ROAST means HOT I said, in America. Oh well, just another thing to laugh about later.

Universal Studios Japan 7/10

My internet has been less than cooperative but today I dragged my computer to the school to get uninterrupted connection on my own computer! So I am behind with my travels. And that is not okay!

Friday was a surprise, since Thursday night Ogawa said, "I think we should go to Universal Studios Japan (USJ) tomorrow!" So I got up and put on my suit and clothes, then I had to go to the bank and get money, which was more than a nightmare. First I didn't have my passport, I figured I wouldn't since I was just exchanging money. But then the bank thought I needed a Foreigner Identification Card (which I DON'T) so an HOUR later they let me leave to get my passport when they figured out what I told them was true, no I didn't have one, no I never received one. If you are in Japan less than 90 days, your traveler's visa is fine, which is stamped in my passport. Jeeze. So an hour and twenty minutes later, and a hundred and twenty American dollars later, I was in the van to go to USJ. As we go closer I realized it was raining, but Ogawa bought rain coats at the dollar store which saved me from freezing to death. Rain was okay, I had an umbrella but the wind was cold. This rain factor also made pictures difficult for a while but during the dry parts I managed a few. 

First we went on the roller roaster and Ogawa is a kid at heart, so of course he rode it with me. In the rain. AH! Then we went on the Jaws ride, which was super fun. I have never been to a park like that before so all of it was a blast, even in a rain coat and damp. Eventually I made it onto the spiderman 3-d ride, Back to the Future, Jurassic park, Terminator, and even a showing of "Toto and Friends" which was pretty darn cute with all the animal tricks. I also saw Waterworld and THAT was an AMAZING performance. Flipping actors, jet skis, fire, explosions, yep, super. The guy just punched the bad guy over the railing!

After all the fun, Ogawa and I got ice cream after Hiroko, Sugi and A-san went home. We were staying for the full everything, including the Magical Nightparade. I shopped around and loved the Hello Kitty store. : ) Then when dark finally fell, Ogawa took me to a special corner of USJ and said this is the best seat. I realized why because the parade route crosses the corner twice! AH! So I did get the best seat in the house. He has a year round pass so he knows the park. Good thing too. And of course, every blond character was me, according to him (Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella in this parade).