Back to Tokyo
Me: Um, Katsura, could I talk to you for a minute? (thinking we'd go in another room or something. We didn't.)
Her: Yes? (with a huge smile on her face)
Me: Well, you know how I'm supposed to leave on Saturday and come back on Sunday?
Her: Yes? (still with a huge smile on her face)
Me: Well, I was thinking maybe I wouldn't come back on Sunday if that was ok with you.
Her: Yes? (I thought the smile might end there, but it didn't)
Me: So that's ok with you? It just seems really busy here and I'm not really able to be all that helpful because of the language barrier.
Her: Yes, that's ok. Sorry it is too busy here. Thank you for your work!
Wow. So I was right, she wasn't heartbroken. My last day at the farm was good cause I knew it was my last day. I seeded like I had ever seeded before. I got to wear a different flannel shirt too. It was red and was too big instead of blue and too small, so that was cool too.
The girl who showed up when I was writing the last blog ended up being really nice and tried to talk about music with me while we were seeding which almost made me think I shouldn't be so quick to leave. She likes `Ben Happa` and `Fyna Appol`. Turns out she's from Western Japan and in Western Japan they are known for being like Koreans and talking a lot and loudly. Eastern Japan is known for not being quiet or just not talking. Michiyo told me that (`You should go to Western Japan. It's much livelier. They talk more. Yukiko is from the west. Did you notice she talks a lot?`) I did! So Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, here I come. Well after hanging out with Errol for a couple days.
Errol lives in Niigata (NI-ga-ta, not ni-GA-ta, how I foolishly pronounced it). Whenever I mentioned I was going there people but their arms around their bodies and said, `It cold there!` I think I'm ok with that. It'll be more rural Japan but with a friend/interpreter. I'm excited. That'll be Thursday or Friday.
As for today, I got on a train at 8:22, got to Tokyo at 9:34, walked around for a long time. Got food (chicken sandwhich, goodbye vegetarianism!) and made my way to possibly my favorite place in Tokyo, Tower Records in Shibuya.
It has 6 floors of music each with a ton of listening stations and then the 7th floor has English books and magazines!!!!!!!! I walked around for a very long time. They started playing Surfer Rosa as I was walking in. I knew it was the exact place I was supposed to be.
I bought Lonely Planet Japan (finally, I should have done that in the States), and On The Road cause I've been told more than once that I should have read that by now. I also got some book written by an American who has been living in Japan since 1984. Chapter titles include The Super Bowl and War Crime Trials, The Japanese TV Police: PBS With Teeth!, Confessions of a Profesisonal Pro Wrestling Announcer, The Trashman Commeth, Kung Fu Masters for Beginners and Dumb Foreigners and Gift-Giving in Japan just to name a few. It looks good.
After leaving Tower Records I went to a tiny CD store and asked the guy behind the counter where I could find a compilation with Japanese rock bands. He showed me the area and when I asked if he had a favorite he pulled out a Rolling Stones tribute album done by all Japanese rocks bands. I had been meaning to buy a Rolling Stone album for the last couple of months so this seemed to kill two birds with one stone. Nevermind the fact that I don't have a CD player with me. There's always February.
So right now I'm sitting in the nicest internet cafe I've ever seen. It's a full on private cubicle with a nice, fast Dell with huge headphones and a gigantic leather recliner. I think the guy next to me is sleeping which is probably no good as I think these are pretty expensive. I haven't paid yet.
I just booked a bed at a hostel tonight and they have internet there so I'll figure the rest out later. I think since I now I have free time/rail pass I may go to the Earth Embassy (the place that never emailed me back about WWOOFing) and check out Mt. Fuji before going to Niigata. Or maybe start heading north, stopping at Nikko which has Michiyo's favorite hot springs (onsens I think they're called). We'll see.
Oh and to answer Barbara's question... I definitely not against WWOOFing again, I just know what to look for and ask next time I search for a host. I didn't mind the farmwork at all, I just didn't like that the Japanese people would get like a 10 minute mini-lecture on what was going on and then I would get a 5 second summary like, `he said put the seeds 15 centimeters apart, about a centimeter deep.` I think I would just look for a place where I could get more attention. Like a place with fewer WWOOFers, more international WWOOFers (some hosts specify that they're only looking for internationals), maybe couples without kids (as they tend to eat up a lot of potential one-on-one time with the hosts) and make sure ahead of time that they would actually talk to me in English. I also know to ask about housing if it says you stay in a WWOOF house and not in the family's house and what kind of free time I can expect. There are a lot of olders hosts who offered to teach Japanese which (stupidly) hadn't interested me when I was first looking, but now I'm really interested in. So there are a bunch of ways that things could go better than they did. I don't think I'll get to it with the time remaining in Japan because I've gotten so excited about the Japan Rail Pass and talking with Michiyo, but I still have the whole month of January where I have nothing planned and my visitor's visa in Japan is good until February 1st.
Phew. That's all for now....
-Besu (my name in Japanese. No `th` and the necessary vowel following a consonant. I'm not completely sure how `u` was picked, but that's how things go apparently.)
P.S. Pictures coming soon. My backpack (with my camera USB cord) is currently in an overpriced locker at Tokyo station. I've got pictures of the farm, Katsura, Michiyo, Haru (the 5 year old girl who didn't like me much cause I couldn't pronounce her name right), Yuto, the family's Previa (with a sunroof!), my super sexy farm work outfits (complete with rubber boots!), my laundry hanging achievements, and the WWOOFer house.
Her: Yes? (with a huge smile on her face)
Me: Well, you know how I'm supposed to leave on Saturday and come back on Sunday?
Her: Yes? (still with a huge smile on her face)
Me: Well, I was thinking maybe I wouldn't come back on Sunday if that was ok with you.
Her: Yes? (I thought the smile might end there, but it didn't)
Me: So that's ok with you? It just seems really busy here and I'm not really able to be all that helpful because of the language barrier.
Her: Yes, that's ok. Sorry it is too busy here. Thank you for your work!
Wow. So I was right, she wasn't heartbroken. My last day at the farm was good cause I knew it was my last day. I seeded like I had ever seeded before. I got to wear a different flannel shirt too. It was red and was too big instead of blue and too small, so that was cool too.
The girl who showed up when I was writing the last blog ended up being really nice and tried to talk about music with me while we were seeding which almost made me think I shouldn't be so quick to leave. She likes `Ben Happa` and `Fyna Appol`. Turns out she's from Western Japan and in Western Japan they are known for being like Koreans and talking a lot and loudly. Eastern Japan is known for not being quiet or just not talking. Michiyo told me that (`You should go to Western Japan. It's much livelier. They talk more. Yukiko is from the west. Did you notice she talks a lot?`) I did! So Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, here I come. Well after hanging out with Errol for a couple days.
Errol lives in Niigata (NI-ga-ta, not ni-GA-ta, how I foolishly pronounced it). Whenever I mentioned I was going there people but their arms around their bodies and said, `It cold there!` I think I'm ok with that. It'll be more rural Japan but with a friend/interpreter. I'm excited. That'll be Thursday or Friday.
As for today, I got on a train at 8:22, got to Tokyo at 9:34, walked around for a long time. Got food (chicken sandwhich, goodbye vegetarianism!) and made my way to possibly my favorite place in Tokyo, Tower Records in Shibuya.
It has 6 floors of music each with a ton of listening stations and then the 7th floor has English books and magazines!!!!!!!! I walked around for a very long time. They started playing Surfer Rosa as I was walking in. I knew it was the exact place I was supposed to be.
I bought Lonely Planet Japan (finally, I should have done that in the States), and On The Road cause I've been told more than once that I should have read that by now. I also got some book written by an American who has been living in Japan since 1984. Chapter titles include The Super Bowl and War Crime Trials, The Japanese TV Police: PBS With Teeth!, Confessions of a Profesisonal Pro Wrestling Announcer, The Trashman Commeth, Kung Fu Masters for Beginners and Dumb Foreigners and Gift-Giving in Japan just to name a few. It looks good.
After leaving Tower Records I went to a tiny CD store and asked the guy behind the counter where I could find a compilation with Japanese rock bands. He showed me the area and when I asked if he had a favorite he pulled out a Rolling Stones tribute album done by all Japanese rocks bands. I had been meaning to buy a Rolling Stone album for the last couple of months so this seemed to kill two birds with one stone. Nevermind the fact that I don't have a CD player with me. There's always February.
So right now I'm sitting in the nicest internet cafe I've ever seen. It's a full on private cubicle with a nice, fast Dell with huge headphones and a gigantic leather recliner. I think the guy next to me is sleeping which is probably no good as I think these are pretty expensive. I haven't paid yet.
I just booked a bed at a hostel tonight and they have internet there so I'll figure the rest out later. I think since I now I have free time/rail pass I may go to the Earth Embassy (the place that never emailed me back about WWOOFing) and check out Mt. Fuji before going to Niigata. Or maybe start heading north, stopping at Nikko which has Michiyo's favorite hot springs (onsens I think they're called). We'll see.
Oh and to answer Barbara's question... I definitely not against WWOOFing again, I just know what to look for and ask next time I search for a host. I didn't mind the farmwork at all, I just didn't like that the Japanese people would get like a 10 minute mini-lecture on what was going on and then I would get a 5 second summary like, `he said put the seeds 15 centimeters apart, about a centimeter deep.` I think I would just look for a place where I could get more attention. Like a place with fewer WWOOFers, more international WWOOFers (some hosts specify that they're only looking for internationals), maybe couples without kids (as they tend to eat up a lot of potential one-on-one time with the hosts) and make sure ahead of time that they would actually talk to me in English. I also know to ask about housing if it says you stay in a WWOOF house and not in the family's house and what kind of free time I can expect. There are a lot of olders hosts who offered to teach Japanese which (stupidly) hadn't interested me when I was first looking, but now I'm really interested in. So there are a bunch of ways that things could go better than they did. I don't think I'll get to it with the time remaining in Japan because I've gotten so excited about the Japan Rail Pass and talking with Michiyo, but I still have the whole month of January where I have nothing planned and my visitor's visa in Japan is good until February 1st.
Phew. That's all for now....
-Besu (my name in Japanese. No `th` and the necessary vowel following a consonant. I'm not completely sure how `u` was picked, but that's how things go apparently.)
P.S. Pictures coming soon. My backpack (with my camera USB cord) is currently in an overpriced locker at Tokyo station. I've got pictures of the farm, Katsura, Michiyo, Haru (the 5 year old girl who didn't like me much cause I couldn't pronounce her name right), Yuto, the family's Previa (with a sunroof!), my super sexy farm work outfits (complete with rubber boots!), my laundry hanging achievements, and the WWOOFer house.
posted by beth at 2:32 PM
2 Comments:
Hey Beth!
Nice blog...can I interest you in some crappy bat traquilizers?.. haha just kidding. Anyway, I'm glad to know you. You're a blast! We definately have to hit up some karaoke before you leave Japan. Oh and I just so happen to be going to Nikko over Christmas. I'm excited about onsen. I heard that there is one frequented by monkeys! I like monkeys but I hear they're pretty vicious. Maybe I'll start a band called "Vicious Monkey" Anyway, I digress. I'll check back here in the future and see what you're up to.
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