Japancakes2

Sayonara, Tokushima...Harro, Japan!

If my sister, the fearless world traveler, could see me now, I’m sure she would be proud. It’s midnight here in my kitchen in Tokushima; the room heater’s gas has long run out and my carton of milk tea quaffed many hours before. My Lonely Planet has been highlighted, dog-eared, and tabbed; a whole notepad of my hosts’ has been abducted, with maps, times, rates, and interesting places filling each page. It’s so hard to believe that I’ll wake up tomorrow and milk the goats—MY goats—for the last time; that this time tomorrow night I’ll be half-way to Tokyo; that by this time in a week, I’ll (if my plans all somehow manage to fit together) be prancing with snow monkeys and soaking in hot springs in Nagano and Gifu.

I can’t really even begin to describe how wonderful this experience has been. As recollected in my prior post, it’s really changed my outlook on Japanese people, and made me realize, in a positive way, mistakes I made while on my exchange two years ago. The life here has just been so wonderful; so full of wonderful conversations, laughter, cake, puppies, and fascinating things. I don’t know where to begin in describing how cool everything has been. I’ve fallen in love with the puppy I named a few days after I first arrived and we sleep together (against Sensei’s will) under my big fluffy futon every night; I know how to take care of 11 goats; I can make a mean (and well decorated!) bowl of ramen and I’ve learned at least the basics of Japanese waitressing. Seeing pilgrims on the side of the road, learning crazy shikoku dialect, playing with frogs and drinking mountain spring water…getting to be a part of this ever-changing family has been more than I could have ever hoped for. Who ever thought, when I first read my host’s description on the WWOOF host site, that it would actually be so great?

I’m sad I wasn’t able to post more because I always have things to say about being in Japan; however, in a way, I am SO thankful that my computer access was limited. It really allowed me to get a good re-grasp on my Japanese, and made me truly enjoy the communication I was able to have. It was just how I wanted it to be!

Like always I feel as though I have so much more to say, but it’s almost one (slightly bad when you’ve gotta get up at 6:30) and I still have so much to do before I can take a long soak in the bath and snuggle under my futon for the last time.

I can’t wait to get to post pictures of my travels! I don’t quite have the time or the energy (I’m so pooped!) to write about my travel plans in detail, but I’ll make a festive post about it in a few days when I stay in Tokyo. On the itinerary thus far is a pilgrimage to the grave of the Ultraman creator’s grave, a wild monkey park, one of Japan’s three Great Castles, and a UNESCO world heritage site…with dreams of conbini lunches, ramen dinners, and milk tea desserts, I’ll leave you goodnight!

Lucy’s WWOOF Adventure, from October 3 to December 4: SUCCESS!

Game on, travel!!!

On cool things and re-evaluated opinions

Written late October:

ANIMALS!

Along the goats, there’s a crazy cat (as in, sounds like a motor when she purrs and will randomly jump across the dinner table while we’re eating), a dog and her two OHMYGODSOCUTE puppies (one of which I got to name!), and in the surrounding area, an array of beautiful birds, wild boars, snakes, and—wait for it—monkeys.

MONKEYS.

Monkeys, as in, they live next door to me and apparently come down from the forest to steal laundry left out and food scraps. Apparently everyone fears and hates them—I have been told that, “if you throw rocks into the forest, they will come,” and that their call is, “like a strange bird in the night.” It is needless to say that I am currently planning a grandiose monkey-expedition.

Being here feels like it’s such a good thing for me. Not only do I feel like I’m proving myself (to myself!), I’m learning a lot about so many things. One interesting thing that I’ve come to think about often is the balance between self-esteem and humility. I think it’s fair to say that in the world, one will always be out-ranked by someone somehow smarter, brighter, or stronger than ones self. I was in my room a few days ago, listening to the Kanye West song “Stronger,” and thinking about how good and confident I felt about how things were going, and how I was working. I worked hard! I reached my goal! And then I went out and talked with Bibi, the Malaysian girl (27 years old) who’s working through a Japanese government-funded program called OISCA. She’s been away from her family for two years with almost no contact; she works unbelievable hours with almost no pay; if she’s not working here with Ueda-sensei learning the bread and candy trade (getting up at 4:30am and finishing the final chores at 8pm) she’d be getting up at 5 to work at the OISCA center, where she would be cleaning, cooking, and working at farms for 10 hours a day. And when she goes back to Malaysia, she’ll be working probably twice as much, volunteering and teaching along with working on her family’s farm. What am I to her? An American girl who doesn’t eat all the food on her plate and who has already filled her room with Japanese toys and empty cartons of milk tea. Sure, anyone could say that it’s not comparable, since she’s been doing farming her whole life. But that’s the easy way out and I look in awe at the hardships people around the world must face. Milking and cleaning up after 10 goats every day for two months is pretty much laughable.

BUT! I don’t want it to sound like I’m down on myself, or anything of the sort! I’ve never felt so genki, and I’m living the dream.

Also, this trip is so important for another very, very big reason. I really want to be a Japanese teacher/scholar/authority of some sort; I really think I want to study the language and the culture for the rest of my life. Ironically, even after my wonderful exchange when I was 16, I definitely felt a sort of odd mistrust-slash-uneasiness about Japanese people. A dislike could have even been harbored. Why? I did what I now always renounce; I did, without thinking, what I chastise my friends and family for unsympathetically. I took the very few, very skewed, and oftentimes misunderstood “bad” experiences, and applied it to the whole—this time, to an entire race and society.

In many ways, I think my pre-Japan studies were to blame for this. I’ve read more books on “theories of Japaneseness” (nihonjinron) than the average 18-year-old, that’s for sure. So many of these books are either all love or all hate, and the ones I have become most accustomed to (namely Alex Kerr’s articles and books) weigh far more on the negative aspects of Japanese culture than the good. I went to Japan weary, and every experience my biased mind could skew toward being negative, it did, and with a vengeance.

The truth? I did have some uncomfortable moments with Japanese people. For one, I did not connect, ever, with any of my schoolmates. I absolutely feel as though I tried my best; even outside of school, I just did not jibe with anyone from my school. However, I did connect fantastically with other Japanese exchange students, especially those who had been to foreign countries already; I also developed fabulous relationships with all of my host families, especially my two grandmothers and grandfathers. To be honest, if you looked at my exchange basing its “success” solely on my social status and popularity at school, it would have been a total bust. Luckily, no one could possibly judge an exchange on that, and so we are left with a simple fact. I didn’t have a great time at my Japanese school, simply looking at my long-term relationships with schoolmates.

Let’s, however, look at the whole. Was I fully, completely, and unabashedly accepted by all of the three families I lived with? Yes. Did I have an incredible experience getting to know many older Japanese people, even those unaffiliated with Rotary? Yes. Was I respected? Yes. My entire exchange, people did nothing my compliment my Japanese ability and encourage the growth of interest in their country. Innumerous hours upon hours were spent on me, solely to please my curiosity or whimsy—whether it was my counselor taking me skiing, my first grandmother taking me to Hokkaido, my second host-mom taking me to Kabuki in Tokyo, or my third host-dad just driving me to the nearest convenience store.

Okay, during my exchange when I would be walking home from school, did the primary school kids all run to the fence surrounding the school playground and yell, “HEY, FOREIGNER!”? Yes. Did they do it in a mean, taunting, or rude voice? No! They said “good afternoon!” and “good morning!” right along with the foreigner part. A huge portion of any book about Japan is devoted to the whole “gaijin” subject. And this is where I currently stand:

I don’t know if it’s a big of a deal as I have always felt it to be. “Gaijin,” transliterated from the two kanji characters it is written in, means “outside person,” shorted from the more polite term, “gaikokujin,” meaning “outside country person.” Is the word used as “outside” particularly rude or short? No; it’s the same word used for the term “outside” or in the sentence, “I’m going out of the house.” But does Japan really deserve all of the negative feedback for this word? I don’t think so. If you look at it literally, the word does feel cloistering; it immediately sets up a barrier between you, the gaijin, and the Japanese population. However, do we not use the word “alien” without thought in English--the same word for a foreign immigrant as an unknown being from outer space? If you look at it like that, I’d rather be an “outside country person” in Japanese than a martian in English.

Japan is ethnically homogenous by most standards. However, from what I can see, this homogeneity is not paraded about, or touted as a major accomplishment. Doesn’t it make sense that there’s a word simply meaning anyone not Japanese? Americans embrace America because it’s the melting pot of the world; not all countries have the history that we do. Should we jump on the Japanese just because in their word for foreigner, the kanji doesn’t stand for “magical world person” or something of the sort? While I am absolutely no voice of authority, I would like to say that the word gaijin has never, ever been directed at me negatively by a Japanese person (and I’ve met some pretty outspoken, crazy Japanese people); if anything, it’s the foreigners themselves in Japan who use it more readily and far more negatively than anyone else.

So, in short, I’d like to issue a public apology. Japanese people, I’m sorry for being a hypocrite—I’m sorry for taking the few misunderstood, negative experiences and applying them to all of you. In the short time I’ve been in Shikoku I have been met with only interest, positive curiosity, and kindness, and I promise to do my best in trying to understand objectively the things I hear and experience in Japan from now on. You guys have got to be one of the most anal, festive, and fascinating peoples on the planet. Thanks for everything.

Herro, World 2

Written sometime mid-October

The normal day at Ueda’s, described in short, interrogative statements:

6:40 wake up! Help with breakfast, watch the news and weather

7:30 do the goats! Alone, it takes until about 10:30, and consists of feeding, watering, and milking all the goats (8 at the moment, plus 3 kids and 1 adult male), along with cleaning out the pens, feeding the ducks who live next door to the goats (DUCKS=LOUD,SMELLY!), cleaning out the milking place, and making the goats’ dinner. The goats all have names and pretty distinct personalities, which makes milking them all the more fun and interesting! None of them kick except the biggest, named Ribbon-chan (the queerness factor rises by the second), but other than her they’re all nice and easy. I only hand-milk each about three times; after that, there’s a little motor in the wall of the milking pen, and it sucks up all the milk through an elaborate series of tubes. Like the internet! Harharhar; but seriously, it takes a few minutes depending on how old they are.

Now that it’s mating season the schedule is a bit different, since the big male goat we used to have (now replaced) was a little aggressive, and, along with the massive Beelzebub-esque horns, Mieko was too freaked out to let me do the cleaning alone. So it takes a little less time, with her help.

10:45 go to the restaurant! Along with owning the goats and running a guest house, Ueda-sensei and Mieko also run a Japanese-style noodle restaurant and a working patisserie in which they sell all the sweets they make at home. Working at the restaurant is just, basically, the coolest thing I could possibly be doing. I get to waitress and say “Omatase-itashimashita!” (“I”ve kept you waiting!”) when I bring customers their food, and when people come in I get to yell “IRASSHAIMASEEE!” (“WELCOME!”). Unfortunately, a new road was recently built which transferred almost all the old traffic away, and so we only have about 4 or 5 customers during the day, at most. Luckily, this means that working there is virtually stress-free, and around 1 Mieko and I take an hour break to just talk and enjoy sweets and soda from the bakery. Milking cool goats and studying animal behavior? Yelling festive phrases in Japanese? Eating delicious food every day? Getting to eat as much cake and drink as much melon soda as I could possibly hold in a sitting? Shouldn’t I be paying for this?!?!

3:00 close up shop! After we finish cleaning up the restaurant, Mieko rarely just takes us home; out of the roughly 12 days I’ve been here, probably 8 or 9 times we did something before finally returning home, such as: visiting Mieko’s rich aunt so she would buy Mieko meat (?); going to the neighboring prefecture to buy organic vegetables and ending up watching a lion-dog dance during the neighborhood’s annual festival for three hours; stopping to get two big bowls of udon noodles “because it’s only 120yen;” and, of course, driving up into the mountains to pick up a huge male goat for mating, whom we tied to the back of the truck and paraded through town.

4:30 do the goats, again! No milking in the evening; just feeding and watering and making breakfast.

6:00 eat!!!

7:00 take a bath and sleep!

Herro, World

Old posts from my computer!:

Thursday, October 4th, 2007 3am Japan Time

So I was lying here in bed in my hotel in Osaka, my mind on fire with all of these things that I couldn’t wait to blog about, when I turned over and realized that my laptop was sitting dormant on the desk, just waiting for me to open up a Word document and begin!

But yet…where to begin?

My flights went perfectly according to schedule. The two domestic flights (Nashville-Denver-San Francisco) were smooth and I had plenty of time to get through the international security stuff and get to my gate; even enough time to charge my new iPod before the plane departed.

The flight to Osaka itself was okay; I couldn’t sleep much, and since I switched from a middle-row seat to an exit seat, though I had more room, I had no window to look out of—a significant thing when you have a long plane ride and have nowhere to rest your eyes! I tried to open the window that was between my chair and the person behind me, but it was a little Japanese girl who, when I asked, in Japanese, if opening the window would be okay, she just looked freaked out and like she couldn’t comprehend that I was talking to her. But that’s a whole other story.

I was very lucky in that I had a nice guy sitting next to me—a youngish Japanese chef who lived in California for a few years, who was going back to Kyushu (another big side island, like where I’m going) to visit his family. Incredibly, he also had an iPod touch (can you tell how obsessed I am?), and we both freaked out and talked about how we were the only people who were going to have it in Japan. I was able to speak Japanese with him, which was great (because I stink and need to practice!) and when I told him where I was headed in Osaka, he very kindly offered to escort me to my hotel. I didn’t really need him to, since the limousine bus service went right to the hotel’s door-step, but it was really thoughtful of him regardless, and allowed me to really relax on the bus and not worry about going to the right station, etc.

We parted ways quickly (his girlfriend picked him up at the station, and she was awesomely nice, just to note!) and I got my hotel room by 6:30 without a hitch. And this is when I came to my first big conclusion of the night:

Lucy’s Travel Rule that probably only applies to her because she’s really eccentric #1:

Do NOT judge your emotions according to how you feel when the porter shuts the door and you are left alone in a tiny hotel room in a huge city, after a transit period in which, in the span of 24 hours, you have not eaten anything substantial and only about four of those hours were spent in sleep.

Seriously, I’m not someone who really gets lonely; it was just that when I thought that to myself, I then heard my boyfriend’s voice saying “ronery” (a la Japanese pronunciation) instead, and I just kind of couldn’t control myself at that point. BUT! I went back down to the lobby, walked on over to the conbini right across the street, and got some AWESOME JAPANESE CONBINI FOOD, YEAH! I came back, had another hysterical couple of minutes, got in bed, was sad and ronery, and finally got myself to eat. Fried chicken, chocolate-filled French bread, apple yogurt, and two cartons of lipton tea…nothing soothes your soul like a full stomach, especially when it’s food you’ve been missing for two years. It’s needless to say that I felt about eight hundred million times better after that, and immediately fell asleep.

Upon waking up, I could just smile. I’m back.

October 4, 2007 Thursday 8:10am

Going to quickly type this up on my computer so I can put it on my zip drive and upload it from the lobby computer!

I’m feeling awesome. After about two hours of tossing and turning, thinking about all the fun things to come, I decided to give up trying to sleep (even though I feel pretty tired), called my boyfriend, and took a shower, beginning the day at 6 in the morning. Post-shower I had a few things to figure out, namely two: 1, where was the bus stop, and 2, goddamnit, how did I forget to bring deodorant*. The ONE thing you can’t get in Japan is good deodorant brahbrahbrah I’m so dumb, but anyways, I needed to figure out the bus situation. My hosts had warned that finding the bus terminal was “a little difficult,” and in fact, if they had tried to explain it its location, it probably would have been hard to find. Luckily I found it with total ease; the hotel is literally 10 feet away from two major stations, and the bus terminal was just on the other side of one of them; there were signs and everything, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Japan does transportation right. Trains, planes, ferries, and expressway buses are all ubiquitous, and from what I’ve experienced, clean, always on time, and just really festive and nice. I wouldn’t say they’re necessarily easy to figure out for a foreigner, though—if you can’t read Japanese and are going anywhere remotely “out there,” you’re in trouble—but luckily I know a few of the kanjis so I was able to get my ticket to Tokushima without a problem. However, LOL, I did have some trouble communicating my departure time to the guy:

“Is the 7 train okay?”

“Yes!” (Thinking: Hmm, did he just speak Japanese to me? Lalala, I can’t wait to get another carton of milk tea)

*prints ticket*

“Um, aaaactually, if I could get the next train, that’d be great.”

“Okay, is 9 alright?”

“Yes!” (Thinking: What number did he just say?)

*prints second ticket*

“Ummmmmm….if I could leave at 11, instead…”

Getting used to speaking Japanese again is going to be really fun. It’s just so weird; sometimes I feel like I can convey exactly what I need to, but there have been plenty of times (in just a day!) where I’ve been totally clueless. For example, I was able to ask the conbini store guys which flavor of potato sticks they liked best, and explain that I was buying so much candy (aheh) because I had a long bus ride to Tokushima. But when I asked a hotel person how long it took to get to Osaka Castle, I could only stammer, “where’s…station?” Not as in “where is,” but, “where possesses the station?” She just smiled and said, very loudly and very distinctly, “OO-SA-KA STA-TION”.

Anyways, I’m going to go ahead and post this so I can head on out—I have three hours to kill, so I’m going to jump on a train to see the aforementioned castle before I cruise on out to Tokushima at eleven. Castles! Trains! Milk tea!!! I’M SO HAPPY!!!

*My deodorant was hiding in the bottom of my suitcase. Yay!

Alive and Living!

  Who in the world would have thought that when I said "I don't know when I'll get to be able to post," I really meant it? Here I am, with only three more weeks on the farm left (and two weeks of traveling), sitting in a delightful internet cafe an hour away from home, having come with my even more delightful host-slash-host-mom to the "big city" for her doctor appointment. I have no idea where to begin, where to start describing the incredible time i've been having, but i'll try--in pictures!

Welcome to Beautiful Japan

Denver-San Francisco-Osaka-Tokushima-Ikeda! I MADE IT!

I don't think we have mountains like this in the States

 
The entrance to the Goat House

My milking suit!

The view from outside my door

Kimono-wearing for a party we went to about a month ago

The inside of the restaurant where I work!

The pizza house/bakery where we sell the sweets and breads

"Some-chan's Cheesecake" (Some-chan is the name of the first goat they got)

Hana-chan (white) and Sumi-chan (all black, who I named) as puppies! They've both gotten so much bigger!!

Taking babygoat to the festival we had at the restaurant

Me and Sumi-chan!!!

Me and Ushi-san, my goat boyfriend. Oh my god, I loved him so much--we were just keeping him for a friend and I almost cried when we had to take him back. He was SO cute and nice and good-smelling.

"I love you, Mr. Ushi!"

Day Trip to Iya Valley!

The day we brought Ushi-san back to his owner, we also went to the famous Iya Valley in the middle of Tokushima prefecture. The most famous tourist attraction is a vine bridge (Kazura Bashi) that was first built by the fleeing Heike clan after being defeated by the Genji clan some hundreds of years ago. The bridge isn't that old--it's actually cut down and re-built every two years, to preserve the art of vine-bridge making--but it's pretty cool. There IS something I'd like to point out, though. Every person who's ever been to Shikoku and crossed this talks about how lame it is, and how blahblah Japanese people are dumb and it's not scary and just dumb Macho Gaijin stuff. Now, the five dollar charge to cross is a little steep, but holy crap, it was one of the most freaked-out i've ever been in my life--not only was it somewhat high up, but the planks were built freakishly far apart, making every step mind-jabberingly scary.

"I love my life, this is so cool, hey let's cross this bridge guyz!"

Ten steps later...

"I do not feel good about this anymore."

Picnic lunch on the side of the road! Dutch Will, Mieko-san (my host), Malaysian Bibi

A famous Iya sight

Alex Kerr's Chiiori!!!

The mountains seen from the top of Konpira Mountain in Kagawa prefecture. Delete the city and don't the mountains look so mystical? Like a scene from "The Land Before Time" or something.

My first "ema" (prayer board) written in Japanese! Just guess who it's about?

Taken from a mountain around the restaurant. The mountains go on forever--it's unreal.

The Sumi-chan Rescue Adventure!

About two weeks ago, Hiroko (a Japanese WWOOFer who's been at the place as long as I have, and will stay on til Christmas) and I were folding laundry in one of the empty bedrooms when we started hearing a terrible whimpering sound coming from below the house. It was an awful, devastated kind of cry--immediately we started looking for Sumi-chan, the puppy, and when she didn't come when we called we realized it was her voice. We searched for holes and openings all around the house but couldn't find anything, and so we went to Mieko for help. She was cooking dinner and talking to Mr. Hama, a friend of Sensei's, who was staying for dinner, and when we told her about the cries she seemed very unconcerned. Hiroko and I were freaking out but Mieko kept saying she knew what to do, so we all sat down to dinner (very uncomfortably, as the howls and cries reached the kitchen easily). After about ten minutes, Mr. Hama put down his chopsticks, and Mieko and his eyes met. They got up and we followed. What we learned was that in all very old Japanese houses, there's a very large, deep hole built under the middle of the house for the special storage of sweet potatoes. Sumi-chan had crept under the house and fallen into the house, and as it's about *seven feet deep*, she was trapped and unable to get out. This had apparently happened to both of the other dogs who live at the house, and Mieko knew exactly what to do.

Lifting up the tatami mats...

The descent...

The rescue...(please note the look of utter shame on Sumi-chan's face)

Hama-san's head...

I would also like to note that before we found the entrance to the hole in the wooden floor, I was walking around one of the thin areas of the floor and *fell through waist-deep*. If there hadn't been a plank in the way I would have fallen through the entire way. Needless to say, there is a Lucy-size hole in the wooden floor of the Ueda house, and it had to be one of THEE most hilarious things that has ever happened to me. Mieko literally cried, she was laughing so hard.

The ever-changing family! Mieko, Ayako from Kyushu (who only was able to work for three days), Sensei, and Hiroko

"Iya Heike Clan Festival"

Samurai = coolest thing, ever

More goats!

Sanchou-san, the scary male goat who was staying on the farm since it's mating season. He's gone now and good riddance--he was veerrryyy smelly, and goat mating isn't really very nice to see.

Urara and Sumi-chan getting a drink of milk

I haef a frog hat.

Possibly the most delicious meal ever--rice, hand-rolled soba that you boiled yourself, radish and carrot pickle salad, and turnip pickles.

Waiting for ice cream after work. So happy!

Grilling eel!

Mmmm.

Selling bread and mochi (rice cakes) at a neighborhood temple festival

Shingon Buddhism is where it's at in temple finery

The ascent up the mountain

The milking tank!

Who's next?

"I HAVE STOLEN AN EGG FROM YOU!" Ducks are very loud and smellier than goats.

Giving...

...and receiving.

The house, as seen from the Goat Shed

Beautiful Sumi-chan!

Carsten from Germany

Goat milk ice cream!!!

it's delicious!

I wish I could post more--I have so much to say and have had some many revelations about Japan, my career, and my future goals, but Mieko has just phoned me and she'll be her in ten minutes, so I'll need to wait! I'll be able to post a non-picture blog easily from the computer at home, so stay tuned! I'm having an amazing time, and can't wait to tell everyone all about it.

Thanks so much for reading!

-Rushi

HERE!

Okay,　so I had this AWESOME post ready to upload and a ton of pictures, but unfortunately my room didn't have an internet connection and this computer doesn't allow USB devices, so I'll have to wait!

SO, Japan is freaking awesome and I'm so happy. The flights were easy and went totally on schedule; my hotel was comfortable; I found the bus station to Tokushima easily and will be on my way at 11, before which I'm gonna go to Osaka castle for some tourist business!

There's SO much to blog about and so many pictures to describe, but it must wait!

See you in Tokushima!

-Lucy

Pre-Japan Picture Festival

Off I go! By 6am tomorrow, October 2nd, I will be in transit to Osaka (via San Francisco, via Denver...), and hopefully after the successful working-out of a number of very shaky ideas on just how to get from Osaka to Tokushima, I will be nestled into my new roost by Thursday evening. Wish me luck!!!

Start the day off right with the best drink ever, an italian soda with extra irish cream and half-and-half.

"Japan Unescorted"

"In the Shadow of Fujisan"

"Religion and the Rise of Skepticism"

GET DEM YENZ!

The only way to make a BRAND-NEW iPod Touch the day before you go on a big adventure better is to make your favorite person EVER its wallpaper!

mmm...

dreamy...

About Japancakes2

As unbelievable as it is, once again, I am destined for Japan. When you spend a relatively long period of time working for something, it has seemed to me that it's easy to lose sight of the long-term goal and focus more on the tasks at hand. In 17 weeks I had 19 days off (not counting two 6-day trips), and during this time I didn't think a whole lot about my ultimate goal; I worried a whole lot about having enough money, but other than that, I think I subconsciously protected myself from getting my hopes up.

But, but, but! The planets have aligned, and somehow I'm going back. I really can't even believe it; it's been two years since I've been in Japan but I have not by one-tenth of a percentage forgotten the wonderful life I was able to experience as a 16-year-old. I've tried as hard as possible to not have high expectations, but at the same time, a tiny, tiny little voice deep down says, "Who are you fooling?" Japan is a place where dreams come true, at least for this gaijin.

So, just to fill in some blanks: I'm going to Tokushima, Japan from October 2 to December 13 to work at Kashikoubou Ueda ("Sweetshop Ueda"), an organic patisserie/restaurant/"pizzah housu"/goat farm as a WWOOFer. I have virtually no idea whether or not I'll even be able to post much at all, but I really love blogging while in/about Japan, so this is here, just in case!

Thanks for reading!!!