Bekki

Well after about four and a half great months in Japan and one nightmare week in Beijing I'm back at home in the UK. I really wasn't ready to quit my nomadic life in Japan , but I was excited to visit China so consoled myself with this thought.... and what a fool I was! I don't want to offend Chinese nationals and those that love that country but I must admit that I really struggled to relax there. It's a very stressful city but then that shouldn't have surprised me at it has a population of 8.5 million living in the city itself (according to Wiki)! But I did spent most of my time fearing for my wellbeing, and in some cases, for my life. Beijing is one big construction site with zero regard to ... read more

Miserable is an exaggeration; I only used it for the alliteration! But let's say that this "farm" experience wasn't my favourite. The first problem was that it wasn't a farm. This was definitely a case of doesn't do what it says on the tin! I thought I'd be learning about bonsai making and uses of bamboo... a potentially great Japanese experience I'm sure you'll agree! But in fact the host was running a summer school for kids, including giving English lessons. So what she wanted me to do was to help with the English lessons and entertain the kids in between times! Yeah right! On my evening of arrival she asked if I'd help her with an English class the next day and suggested I may like to sing a song to the kids! Now, for ... read more

So now onto the reason why I've been absent from emails and phone for the last few weeks.... thanks by the way to those who emailed and texted with concern about my silence! And those who didn't miss me, yes you're right it was only 2 weeks after all! I left the riding stables and headed down South to the neighbouring prefecture, Iwate to my fourth farm. Little did I know though that I was heading into a remote, isolated country area with no mobile signal and no internet! Yikes! How would I cope! But as it turned out that was the least of my worries! This farm also didn't have hot running water or a 'normal' toilet..... you poo into a hole in the ground then it's used as manure on the plants! Pleasant hey! ... read more

Sorry for absence of late. But more of that in a later blog! In keeping with the fact that I've moved between two farms since I last wrote I thought I better write two separate blogs so as not to confuse matters. In the latter two weeks of July, I stayed at Towada Horseback riding club in Northern Honshu. Much to my relief, I left behind the torrential typhoon rains. It was so nice not have to dodge people's umbrellas all the time. I guess it's all part of the Japanese experience! Talking of which, there was also a strong earthquake as I was travelling Northwards. You may have heard about it in the news as a nuclear power station at Niigata has had to be shut down due to leakage of radioactive materials. Well I ... read more

As I had time on my hands having left TAO, the previous farm, early I decided to spend the week meandering up the country to my next farm location. My stop over points were Kumamoto and Nagasaki (both on Kyushu island) and Yamaguchi, Nikko & Morioka (all Honshu island). You'll find a random selection of photos, including some taken at TAO, after this little story...... I found a really quaint ryokan (Japanese style inn) in Yamaguchi. I was fed up with the lonely existence in Business Hotels. Remember "Lost in Translation"? My room in the ryokan was a spacious tatami (reed matting) floor with paper screens; so much more character even if it was rather ancient (see photo below). But along with the 'character' comes other 'charms' such as the cockroach who visited me last ... read more

Well unfortunately the last farm, TAO, didn't work out for me. I got frustrated by the lack of communication and not knowing what I was expected to do next. I'm sure it wasn't intended to be malicious, but I did rather feel like a slave at their beck and call. So I decided to move on one week early. With time on my hands until I'm expected at my third farm, I decided to spend a couple of days in Kumamoto. This town boasts the third largest (or best?) castle in Japan and one of the most beautiful gardens in Japan, so it's definitely worth some time here. Unfortunately the rainy season is here with avengence so although I managed to get to see the sights it was mainly from underneath an umbrella. So there'll be ... read more

I'm now staying at TAO Learning Centre and Farm near Aso in Kyushu. They teach an ecclectic mix of self-help, healing techniques, macrobiotics, English, maths and calligraphy as well as having an enzyme bath and an organic farm. Here's a link to a 3 minute video TAO have created to publicise their work. TAO Video Day1: I had a hard working day today!!! After breakfast, which incidentally was rice and last night's left overs (various veggie stir fries), we went to the farm land. This was about a 15 min drive from the house, which is a bit of a shame because one of the benefits of the last farm was that the land was around it so I could potter around when ever I felt like it rather than having to wait like a lemon ... read more

Sasayama-guchi I spent 10 days with the Nishimura family, Midori, Gen & Ray, helping on their organic farm. They also run an English school so luckily communication wasn't a problem. However Midori did give me a Japanese Verb Conjugation sheet and some exercises to work on. Shame I was too busy digging holes to dedicate more time to it! The farm is in an idyllic rural location, nestled between tree covered mountains. The family were extremely kind and warm so it was easy to feel at home here. We worked for about 3 hours in the morning, then stop for lunch (we all chipped in in the kitchen), then 3 hours in the afternoon followed by dinner. The weather was very changeable; we had sweltery hot and humid days followed by torrential day-long down pours. ... read more