Good news, I've gone almost a whole day without hitting my head on a door frame. The day is not over yet, but the odds are good I'm going to have no new lumps today.
I'm now into my second week here at leaf plant farm. I've made a new friend, the Tanaka Powermate. We cut down plants together. Today I helped clean up a bamboo grove, I didn't know bamboo groves needed cleaning up but they do. Dead bamboo builds up and makes it hard to move around and harvest what you need.
Today I went in to town to try to get registered as an alien. I'm looking forwards to it, being an alien is almost as cool as being a ninja. Plus, if you pay extra you can get yourself neutered and microchipped. I went to the wrong office at first and talked to a woman who only spoke Japanese, which was pretty challenging given that I don't know the word for "alien registration" or anything related to it. However, communication took place and I was directed to the department of immigration across town, which was closed. This registration business is a major hassle.
In the morning I helped with the community recycling. There is a spot where everyone drops off their recyclable rubbish. Community members take turns sorting it and doing some processing (removing labels, etc). It seems like it's mostly old people that do it. I'm not certain what happens to you if it's your turn and you don't show up, it all seemed pretty informal.
On Saturday I met a guy called James. He is a Filipino. It turns out he was in Basilan (in the Philippines) when those Australians got kidnapped a few years ago. He would have been taken too but he hid in the grass and they missed him. He says in the Philippines they are used to gunfire and conflict, there has been a lot of it in the last 20 years.
Here are some photos. This is where I'm staying. My host family consists of the parents Dorothy (Masako) and Hiroshi, the children Shoogo, Yumina and Natsumi, and the grandmother who I know only as Obachan. She didn't like me at first but she warmed to me after I cleaned up the backyard and now we get along well.
I'm now into my second week here at leaf plant farm. I've made a new friend, the Tanaka Powermate. We cut down plants together. Today I helped clean up a bamboo grove, I didn't know bamboo groves needed cleaning up but they do. Dead bamboo builds up and makes it hard to move around and harvest what you need.
Today I went in to town to try to get registered as an alien. I'm looking forwards to it, being an alien is almost as cool as being a ninja. Plus, if you pay extra you can get yourself neutered and microchipped. I went to the wrong office at first and talked to a woman who only spoke Japanese, which was pretty challenging given that I don't know the word for "alien registration" or anything related to it. However, communication took place and I was directed to the department of immigration across town, which was closed. This registration business is a major hassle.
In the morning I helped with the community recycling. There is a spot where everyone drops off their recyclable rubbish. Community members take turns sorting it and doing some processing (removing labels, etc). It seems like it's mostly old people that do it. I'm not certain what happens to you if it's your turn and you don't show up, it all seemed pretty informal.
On Saturday I met a guy called James. He is a Filipino. It turns out he was in Basilan (in the Philippines) when those Australians got kidnapped a few years ago. He would have been taken too but he hid in the grass and they missed him. He says in the Philippines they are used to gunfire and conflict, there has been a lot of it in the last 20 years.
Here are some photos. This is where I'm staying. My host family consists of the parents Dorothy (Masako) and Hiroshi, the children Shoogo, Yumina and Natsumi, and the grandmother who I know only as Obachan. She didn't like me at first but she warmed to me after I cleaned up the backyard and now we get along well.
This is the pile of rubble where the house used to be, in front of the shed. It's been cleared away now and they are preparing to build a new house. Unfortunately the council hit them with a new zoning regulation, and their block is going to get smaller so that the road is big enough for a fire truck to fit down.
This is the neighbour's house.
Another satisfied customer of the Dodgy Brothers' Tomato Staking Service. No job too dodgy!
A Shinto shrine. We visited it so that Dorothy could pray for the spirit of her father.
A statue of Mito Koumon. Mito is a big city quite near to the farm. Mito Koumon is a grandson of Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first of the Tokugawa shoguns. Mito Koumon is greatly revered in these parts. His greatest achievement was writing one of the first books on Japanese history. Mito was a strategically placed city and important in the defence of the Shogunate against the enemies of the Tokugawa family.
A road near Kairakuen park.
Kobuntei cottage, built by a later Tokugawa in the mid 19th century. It's in Kairakuen park which is apparently one of the three most beautiful parks in Japan. The cottage was mainly built to hold concerts which were banned from the castle ("frugality legislation").
I think these were the original plans for the cottage.
This tree is apparently several hundred years old.
An old mine on the edge of Kairakuen park.
A view of Mito from Kairakuen park.
Sports day at Natsumi's school. Reminded me of my high school days. The girl in the foreground at the left is Hitomi, a uni student from Saitama who stayed at the farm for a week. Hi Hitomi!
The kids are about to start a race pushing those balls across the field, looping round the witches hats in the middle. The events were mostly either running or these kind of activities, there were none of the athletics events we have in Australia.
A tug of war. I'm in this photo, bonus points if you can actually spot me.
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