Vintage Airstream Safari

Mori no ie - working in Kashimo

wax from pigs and rats in the yard in the bedroom

By train, it was therefore quite leisurely from Toyama to Kashimo. Half of the track, I knew already from my previous time in Gero, when I was working on the little Kuhfarm, because Kashimo located in the prefecture of Gifu, and only a few stops from my former host mother away.

Ma-san, my new host father and his youngest son, Kanta picked me up from there. During the trip I was about the lifestyle and characteristics of my new host family had been cleared.
Five years ago he had with his wife Rie-san is an old farmhouse, which was already 150 years old, purchased and restored. They called it a "mori no ie" - Forest house (even if it is in reality only at the forest edge). But this name also describes their lifestyle that is very close to nature and environmentally aware.
finance your family currently has two sons by a small shop, they also run online and where all kinds of ecological products from soaps can buy over food and even hot water bottle from Germany. Rie-san himself also bakes vegan cakes and biscuits which we were sometimes handed in a short break to try and which are indeed very good, although they are made without butter, sugar, milk and egg. However
must get up very early in the morning to satisfy the huge demand (that is, I sometimes have heard about three or four clock early rumbling in the kitchen) and was therefore often a little stressed and impatient. However, she spoke almost no English and therefore if one of their instructions not immediately understood in Japanese, she was annoyed and made it themselves rather than to explain again. Also

organized Ma-san for almost every weekend, a workshop, seminar or other meetings, not only because it gave him great fun, but also to themselves and to make known the store. The Bewirten Rie-san, however, fell to the load, what their stress is not relieved now. Often they had up to 20 people. (A seminar was in honor of an Australian woman who operates in their home country is also an organic farm and a presentation about their methods, held the other was a workshop on the theoretical and practical conversion of cars, so these green vegetable with WVO (waste oil - could travel so old cooking oil))

The life of WWOOFers was here just busy.
We slept on the spacious attic and since the house was, as I said already very old and we have already written the end of October, the icy wind blew through some finger-width columns. A few days after my arrival, we boarded therefore everything with big cardboard boxes. Since I was the only girl at first, was for me, separated by only a small niche with a makeshift Stellwaenden.
were apparently also spiders, stink and Maues the attic for an excellent winter quarters, because at night I could trip many little feet over the tatami mats and listen to small teeth to gnaw the boxes.
One evening I heard a loud rustling unusual from the corner that was on my futon next. That could be a mouse. I tried with my little flashlight to Identify the cause of this noise, saw nothing. Instead, the rustle only intensified. But ultimately won the curiosity and crawling on all fours I under the slope. And then in one of the mousetraps that had Ma-san set up, go with a rat paw a panic and tried to Leibeskraeften free.
I had no idea how I could help the animal, and so I only stayed to get my host father, who handled the case, including rat just in newspapers, and it disappeared. I never found out what happened to it ...

The People:
were around six clock morning we awakened by the loud squeaking of the domestic pig Buddha, asked for his breakfast. The people ate, but only against eight clock and our Morgentaetigkeiten not so much time took to complete because we were two and they could split between us. Therefore, we had only an hour later torment slowly out of the warm bed that allowed even if the complaints of Buddha to sleep. My first task before breakfast so it was to serve the poor starving pig and the chicken to the pot with Kuechenabfaellen, then to wash the clothes, hang to clean the toilet, to sweep the floors, to set the table and Rie-san to help with cooking. Later we washed the dishes, evacuated the house ready and then we called Ma-san to the farm work.

This was usually up at half past one, then we helped at lunch and from half past one we finally got a lunch break (which we all slept, of course).

went there for three more. While the others finished their tasks, was assigned one of us, the evening bath einzuheizen, which lasted almost three hours because the furnace was very small and the wood burned badly. Tens Meis it was smoking so much that even in the few seconds that you needed to open the hatch and nachzuschieben new logs, was erected under the ceiling of the room, a thick cloud of smoke. This was also partly responsible, that I had to clean every day the sink and the floor, as everywhere deposed the fine soot particles.

The farm work was in itself due to the advanced, yet during the day is still wonderfully warm weather, not only from Feldtaetigkeiten, because the rice had already been harvested and hung to dry on long poles. The beauty of
mori no ie that the work, apart from the domestic routine tasks were very varied was:

We learned, among other things, how to renew the fabric of traditional Japanese paper sliding doors. (Ma-san's sons loved it, with their little fingers hineinzupieken holes whenever it was not looking).
This is different to the old paper first if the joints with warm water. So it can be removed more easily and remove it completely. After the wood is dried frame, the frame and the inner edges with paste (formerly made him one of Reisstaerke) coated and then glued to the fresh paper thin. The whole is allowed to dry again for a while before the door can be possible again. An old Japanese house is so constructed that one can endure all the walls easily, because it is very hot in summer and were at this time to leave earlier to circulate almost all Papierwaende from the air.

once told us Ma-san, an interesting history. Three years after he had bought the house, he cleared out one of the shed, which is still partly full of stuff from the previous owner and are found in this action, two old hand mills from wood, which could be dated to almost 100 years. This hand mills consist of two major parts. The lower the shape of a cone on a pedestal and this cone is provided with many grooves. The upper part, however, has the same cone shape inside and can therefore move to the seamlessly share and Unterstueck. The grain is placed in a hole in the lid, then trickles into the groove and if we moved the Oberstueck, it is crushed by this.
The interesting thing was, the Ma-san in these mills Reiskoerner found some old, had to be at least 50 years old. This Reiskoerner he planted on good luck and one of them began to sprout indeed! During the following years he won with patience and parental care by repeatedly planting actually materialize as a few hundred ears of corn, which he now wanted to thrash along with us.
But not in modern, conventional way. For he had found some old equipment in the shed, that people worked in the days before electricity.
First, we used what looked like a big comb with iron, triangular points. By this we moved in small bunches of rice stalks and effect so that at the lower end where the waves came together pointed to Reiskoerner were separated. The whole device was not very heavy and therefore had to be there with your feet braced to counteract the train.
After about a fifth of the stalks had edited this way, which took quite a long time, Ma-san showed us a different machine. This consisted of a large rotating wooden drum with small Drahtboegen on the surface. The drum was brought by a pedal with your feet in motion, similar to the former sewing machines, and while the drum rotates, buendelweise was placed on the stalks. The small Drahtboegen had in this case, the task to separate the grains and it was thanks to the rotation much faster than with iron spikes. However, we needed some time, were bagged until all Reiskoerner. Then it went on with the normal rice, the now well-dried was and there were not only hundreds but thousands of stalks. Finally, we all had ordinary muscle soreness in the legs and were glad when this part of the job was done.
The last plane was a large wooden box with a funnel top, and several smaller openings on the sides and a hand crank. The crank operates a fan. The threshed grain was filled by a person in the hopper And while it trickled operated on the other fan for Halmreste, hulls and other light waste to be separated from the grains. The good seeds were flowed through the openings in the bag, while another from one of the dust and debris was blown. However, this process was not very reliable, because of serious Waste could not be blown away. However, it
was an interesting project in which one particular respect for the work required at that time learned.

One day by a friend of the family, all because of his fondness for alcohol only, "Brandy-san" called to miss its annual Bad Buddha. Buddha was in fact so dirty that you could not tell which of the spots was due to dark pigments, and which in the mud yard. So we drew the poor unsuspecting animal on his leash (it was a kind of armor around the chest, as he was also sometimes seen in dogs) and using a pot full of grains after I Haensel & Gretel-style in front of his nose placed on the street. There had
Brandy san already a bucket of warm water, soap, and provided some brushing and scrubbing. Even when Anweichen the dirt with water, it started squeaking too, as if his life depended on it. This was no better than the brushes were used, but soon we found out that you could divert it very well with food. While one is so busy with a few grains, it took the efforts of others, it sauberzuschrubben, no notice. That worked but of course no longer than the snout was their turn, but after about two hours we were there almost spotless deliver them from this torment.

I was even there when the Buddha finally Harnisch got rid of grisly that it was almost two years, because I helped build a fence around the Huehnerhaus, which was to be his new home. The chickens themselves would be housed in a bigger scale, as did Ma-san soon they begin to breed.
I thought the pig would make Freudenspruenge when it was finally released, but nothing like that. It just hung with his nose in the mud and wagged his tail as it burrowed its way through the new Terretorium.

But just as with other host families, passed my time in mori no ie not all work (as I call it the interesting things still work, since they are very tired of the body) but also for excursions and instruction.
We were shown how to self-beer brewing and canning. (Funnily enough, Ma-san used as the basis for this conserved German hops)
On another morning he took us to his dance group that meets every now and then and, accompanied by drumming, African dance rehearsals. That made a lot of fun, because if you spend a long time in a foreign country, a culture where others seem just as exciting as in their own country. We even received introductory lessons in drums.
When we had a visit from the Australian, we all made a trip together to a large mountain stream that ran through a beautiful and colorful in the fall forest. We climbed a long way of the mountain on beautiful wooden stairs and paths, which in turn were on stilts. It was practically on laminate, is a noble walk hardly possible. :)

then drove Ma-san past a temple in which stood a gigantic great, ancient tree. He dated to at least 1,500 years!

After we had admired this also extensively showed us our host father also a Noh theater, which admittedly was only 100 years old, but impressed nonetheless. We got a real leadership, not only behind but also in the scenes and were with some of the props, like the old samurai swords posing.

passed all in all my time with all these exciting things very fast, though a few particularly long and hard days seem not so.

My next destination would be the Hyogo Prefecture, where my new host family lived in Suwa. Since I wanted to spare my travel budget, I decided to hitchhike over Nagoya and Osaka there. Much to the amusement of my host father, who was not sure of my success. Also, I was probably the WWOOFers the first something like this operation and he wanted it can not be missed to watch me.

I tampered So once again a sign and put myself in the morning I left the road. In fact
accompanied me all other WWOOFers and my family up there and wanted to wait in all seriousness, until I took a car.
But I was afraid, thinking the driver could, I should get hold of the whole group for a ride and would therefore not even stop. Therefore, I succeeded in the end, to convince them to leave me alone ...

Mata ne
Kira

Herpes Outbreak, Scalp

Holiday American - Toyama

arrived in Takayama, I told Mario-san (Nanakos friend) with my plan to try to try to hitch a ride to Shirakawago. The bus was quite expensive and so far I was always so lucky. She said that I would have no bad chances, because this village is very famous and many people go there.

was, however, the city itself is not a good starting point, and so drove Mario-san me on a few miles to a "michi no eki" - which translated something like "road train" means and is nothing more than a roadhouse.
They even helped me to label an old cardboard box with my target of choice in Japanese. So I would certainly find someone who took me.
bought to leave me some cookies and promised to come over again in two hours to pick up myself, if I have had no success. Then they would bring me to the station, but where I could still take the bus to Shirakawago.

So we said goodbye and I directed my steps, the cardboard under one arm, first towards toilet.
When I left the cabin, stood at the sink in my backpack a lady who waited on me and asked, obviously, from this luggage belong to me.
I feared that I would have my things there, parked illegally (although I could not see any signs, but the Japanese are in many Things intrinsically something) and wanted me to apologize even when the woman pointed to the cardboard and asked if I wanted there.
I said yes, after which they davonwuselte me impatiently beckoning me to follow her. While walking
told me she and her man would pass Shirakawago and could put me there.

one has heard from so outrageous fluke that? If I were superstitious, I would suspect that it clenched the bad luck one day I would have to break out ...

We squeezed so my big backpack in the trunk and drove off. On the way I wrote Mario-san a short text message that I have had success and they can not continue to worry. The journey was
still. The couple talked a lot with each other in rapid Japanese, and asked me out barely. But that was fine with me. I was a bit tired and I could see just look out the window and whiz past the autumn-colored landscape. A car was still something beautiful. At least in some situations. Otherwise, I stay true to my bike.

We were down to my Zeitgefuehl perhaps three quarters of an hour when they pointed to the right where there is a small picturesque village nestled in a valley. There payments would Shirakawago, they told me.
I could still spot from a single thatched roof and thought I would have me all wrong, perhaps introduced, but as we drove along the village street, listened to the brick Betonhaueser and at one point suddenly, and instead, thatched huts raised to heaven, who created his azure-blue color has a great contrast.

This, by the UNESCO as a World Heritage site huts and "gassho-zukuri", what means "praying houses" because the roofs like two look each other in prayer hands down.

Here I said goodbye to the nice couple who had spontaneously decided the matter even to look at once, where they had been there.
I looked first at a supermarket in order loszwerden my shield in one of the trash and buy me something to drink.

When I left the business again, I met a couple on the road, the Taiwanese Emily and Markus Munich. We hit it off immediately, and after we had to Mark found a post where he could withdraw money, we strolled together through the village.
They showed me even a Infobuero where you could buy bus tickets and store his luggage. I did once with my heavy backpack.

this caused little easier, we continued our walk, I was even invited to a coffee until it was time for the two to get their bags and to go to the bus stop. They wanted to spend the night in another, smaller Gassho-Zukuri Village (Ainokura), the tourists was not as crowded.

I also had planned to stay overnight in one of the most famous shelters and asked me earlier in the tourist office for a free place, but there just held a festival on that day, everything was sold out long ago. The lady looked at me then assess and asked what was my budget, for 30,000 yen is certainly something to see one of the better hotels. (This corresponds to about 300 €!)
Well, here I need no one to pretend something - my budget was under these circumstances does not even passed for one hour in one of these hotels.

So I decided to spend the night in the mountains in my tent. Mark had told me that he went with Emily to a lookout point, which was only about 10 minutes away and there were enough opportunities to camp alone.

So I made my way to give me the thing to see. The prospect of the village was really lovely and there were many runherum bushes, among which I could pitch my tent.
S0 I made myself a nice rest day in the village, bought a gift for Katie and hot corn soup in a can, Milchbroetchen, carrots and a bottle of water as food.
I did not go back to the valley, as I had already seen a sign at the viewpoint to the highway, where I try my luck tomorrow initially wanted to hitchhike towards Toyama.

At half six when it dawned slowly, I took my backpack from the information and went up the mountain. When I had set up my tent and my dinner of corn soup and bread eaten at the beautiful view, it was quite dark.
now gleamed only the entferten lights of the lighted windows of the huts and Shemen up to me, which were illuminated by a large radiator gently. I wondered whether under these circumstances a good night there was spent below, with the radiator, which appeared brighter than the moon ...

were often cars and people got out to escape and enjoy the scenery as well. Even when I was a long time in my sleeping bag, and then I heard when pop autotuning, footsteps on gravel crunching that passed by my tent and from time to rustle in the bushes. Damped sounded the drum music of the festival even this far and rocked me to sleep. However, I could not really sleep deeply, but I enjoyed it the next morning the fresh air and the sunrise over the mountains even more.

I ate breakfast, packed my things and calmly went on a little road towards the highway.
I hesitated at a junction. I pulled my card rate, but could not decide which way is better. Both led to different highways and there was unfortunately no direct connection to Toyama. A car drove slowly past me, turned in the right road, and when it was almost out of sight, kept her in a curve.
I said to myself, if I chose this road, I might have the chance that the driver possibly took me ... And just as it was. When he saw which way I chose, he got out and approached me. Apparently he had been waiting for this, as I would decide.

He was retired and wanted to make a day trip to the vicinity of Kamikochi, to Nagano. We invited along my backpack in the trunk and I thanked him several times. I was glad that I once again found it so easy to lift. I did not care right now, where it went. I had enough time - at Kati I had only logged on for tomorrow and as long as I dumped the waste in any place where I could take a train, I was right.

We drove the small, narrow mountain road that is often over-grown wall, and left and right with the magnificent colorful trees. Otherwise there was nothing. Just mountains and trees for at least an hour! As I walked would be nice with my heavy backpack!

But this way I could enjoy this beautiful landscape. My St. Martin was also a friendly, entertaining companion.

He was a little sad that he just could not help very much, because after this mountain road I had it to the west and north, to Nagano. He talked very fast and it was Japanese really tiring for me to follow him and understand everything.
But worth the effort, because he asked me if I still intend something, and after I said no, he invited me to make him a trip to Nagano. Happy I said yes, because when I had time to work Kazuko-san, I really wanted in the mountains to Kamikochi and that I was now granted contrary to all expectations, I saw a true gift.

a while we drove through the countryside, now and also my Ojiisan had to ask for directions, despite the newest navigation system.

Finally, he chose a small street and we found ourselves surrounded by mountains again.
Here there was even a cable car, was able to drive with. He was very eager to show it to me and so we waited a few minutes before they moved up in the distance, in our view.
We stood on a kind of plateau and he explained me that this was actually a helicopter landing pad.

offered from here, a particularly beautiful view!

When we back after about half an hour on the road made the car, asked Ojiisan me as my relationship to Onsen would and was delighted when I told, I should so like that I prefer one of them to Stuttgart would import!
He wanted to show a very famous hot spring, which was very near. And
then he invited me there!
Later, when we clean and heated in the waiting room came back, he would like to eat something before it went on. And here I was powerless against his generosity, because for him there was no question that he invited me for dinner! There was thick udon noodles and tasted wonderful ...

magenwaermenden broke after this meal to us. Ojiisan wanted to drop me off at a michi no eki, I would have more success from there to find a bus to Toyama. He lived namely in Nagoya and was lying on the east coast - that is exactly opposite from my destination.
But the first rest area came and went without even that he changed the speed. In response to my questioning look said he only had a little further to another, the payments would be clever.
however, it became the "something more" out to be a good 15 miles.
But even here he did not and as I was now really puzzled, asked why he was in continued, as he explained to me, not all people are nice and he would just worry about myself and therefore prefer to bring directly to Toyama!
course I tried to talk him out that, but it was in vain. He makes driving fun anyway, so I'd better not make a head ...

That says so easily. At least I brought him to a relaxing day.
When we arrived in Toyama, he was also really tired of him and I wanted to invite for a coffee but he beat off! After I had unloaded my stuff, he also adopted the same me and sped off waving.
I was in my luck still somewhat surprised at the roadside and had to sort myself first. Actually, I do so until the next day to arrive here ...

So I sat down first with a fountain on a bench and uebelegte. While it was unlikely that Katie would read my message in time, but I wrote to her from my phone yet Once an e-mail, explained the situation and asked to have me tonight take with you. (I did not trust me to call her because she was working at this time perhaps. It shall English and to call in the middle of her lesson was certainly not welcome)
Then I made my way to Bahnhofsgebaeude, for there I could schonmal ask about cheap accommodations and an Internet cafe. A business hotel, it was near for 1,900 yen, and even very cheap Internet access directly on the second floor of the station.

So I asked first in the hotel for availability. But here was fully booked because of all festivals. Then it was probably similar to the other cheap accommodation. So I was looking at the train station
PC for internet cafes nearby. Then I would spend just one night there. That was far more flexible, but contact me if Katie still should. I also had success and found one, not two streets away.

again I shouldered my backpack and made my way to find out if you could sleep there. should be (but is usually so, but you never know ...)
When I arrived at the crossing where it would have and I'm just at a nice restaurant owner then asked, suddenly behind me I heard someone call my name.

It was Katie!
you been cycling came at me and smiled.
What a coincidence, too, but! She had read my e-mail yet, of course, was on his way home from a doctor. Luckily it
was no problem for them, I have to lodge tonight. On the contrary. Her friend was currently on a business trip in China and she was bored to death.
only laughed about my "inappropriate Ruecksichtsnahme," as she put it.

your apartment was not far away. After 10 minutes we were standing in front and she told me the PIN number for the automatic door opener.
The apartment was a little smaller than that of Claus, but definitely bigger than Angelotti. There was a relatively large bathroom, the kitchenette was not trapped in the hall, but in a small ante-room and the bedroom or living separate left with folding walls. There, four mattress easily fit next to each other and I immediately got my own corner. Katie asked me even a small table inside, by which and to which I could put my things.

the following days were very relaxing. I did not do very much. As Kati mastered the latest from the afternoon until the evening, worked until we got up late, ate breakfast, shopping, were cooked lunch together, talking and joking around a lot and sometimes her friends came to visit.
your best friend she had known all her life. Jules was also an American and lived in the same building. Her friend lived just two floors above her.
That was a fine choice for Kati. She was never alone at least.

She taught me well in American cuisine. So I had pancakes with maple syrup, oatmeal (In Water cooked oatmeal with raisins) and various Smoothis from fruits, milk, oatmeal, peanut butter cost more. However, I found that I have ever been able to gain anything peanut butter!

From time to time we also took excursions.
In Toyama, there are many beautiful places and some interesting museums, which I explored when Katie was working on.

One of my Lieblingsplaetze was the "mountain of 1,000 Buddhas. The name itself explains quite well what the task involved.
infinite number of stone statues lined up close together up the hill and in between there was a worn stone staircase that you could climb to the summit. From
there had a great view of the city. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes also apparently liked very well, as long as we could not remain there without being eaten. It was the end of October!

weekend had Kati free and so we made all together on a trip to Kurobe.
That's a pretty little town in the Alps, surrounded by unspoiled nature along a large river.

Here I could see my first Japanese macaques first hand - and of course take pictures! I had already seen one of these red-faced when Nanako monkeys, but only by car, as he sat on a tree. Here they
sat in the street! And on the tracks of the little mountain railway, with which we would continue later.
They wandered around quite slowly, as if they knew that it would not harm them here. That was really impressive to some as the zoo.










The inhabitants seemed to be the usual, because they hardly noticed the monkeys. Almost as if they were stray cats ... Unfortunately, soon came

adds even more tourists and the animals were then probably just a little too much and they moved behind a fence of the station.

So we left them alone and went our tickets sell for the small mountain railway.
We opted for the open version, the only a roof but no walls has, for while it was cloudy, but not raining.
We drove along the ridge of a deep ravine, which had created the river and there are wide and Turkish blue still entlangwaelzte.
was a dam there to admire and many small and big red bridge, which spans the gorge.

We got out at a small station, where the Bahnhofsgebaeude and a restaurant were the only buildings, and went down to the River. Tearing he worked his way, but made little troztdem this noise.
We wanted to go into an onsen that there should be here, but we were well understood a little bit wrong, because it These were not, I had met her before.
At the edge of the river where a lot of boulders and huge rocks were formed, this natural pool in the soil, where water had collected. But no river water, because this little laugh was really hot and steam rose into the cold damp air ...

We splashed with their feet in the pool, built sand castles, jumping stones left and climbed over the rocks along the shore. It was a nice afternoon and we went first when it began to drizzle slightly.

We also had the need to leave the station for a particular train and log back this drive would also soon.
The Return was not very pleasant. Up on our feet, we were pretty supercooled and driving wind blew fresh and tropfengeschwaengert contrary. But that could cloud our mood is not, but we had a great day had!



passed this way my vacation in Toyama in a flash. Especially since every day I had Katis Does this laptop available and even via Internet. At last I could finally spend many hours as you like on your PC, watch movies on YouTube, read Onlinebuecher (although even a libaries directly opposite was a small English department) and skype with my family!

The food was of course, have completed the west: toast with jam, oatmeal, spaghetti all variations and, most importantly, black tea with milk! I especially missed! Miso soup for breakfast was not too bad, but against my usual black tea just came to nothing and I could even make Kati tasty, the other only drank coffee.

too soon this wonderful lazy time was sadly over and the day of departure lived. But somehow I was happy again and to seeing something new and start to do something meaningful. To cancel the holiday was just right, but my gap year I mainly wanted to make something already rich experience ...

Katie was with me in the morning early and accompanied me to the station. Then we said goodbye, I promised to write, and finally made my way to the train to Gifu. This time it was not, however, after Gero, but after Kashimo, a place a little further east. I had this family with two little boys already Nanako san-written and the time there very promising to be interesting. I was curious what I have expected ...

Mata ne
Kira