Shalom no mori - Gunma

So I've had very limited access to wifi since I arrived in Gunma and as such haven't updated the blog.

I left Kyoto at 8 am on the 7th of march. Google told me that total travel time should be about 8 hours so theoretically, I should be in Gunma by 4 pm. From the apartment to the Kyoto Station was about 40mins on the bus where I took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo (the shinkansen really isn't the most cost-effective method of travel. I really have to figure out where and how to catch the night trains) I got myself a new SIM card while I was in Tokyo, this one will last 3 months and I can just top it up with data but it doesn't allow texts or Phone calls. From there it was a simple matter of getting the Ginza line to Asakusa and jumping on a train to get to Sori Station, though I had to go from Asakusa - Aioi, Aioi - Omama and Omama - Sori. I arrived at the Sori station at 6 pm and was collected by Hiro at 7 pm.

Day 1 - I started off today by cutting firewood. at about 11 am Hiro said he had to go out and would be back at about 4 pm, I was to look after Takeru in the mean time when I finished cutting the firewood. Hiro got home at about 7 pm and then I went to the cottage to sleep.

Day 2 - I met Daichi today, he didn't speak much today. Daichi, Hiro and I were collecting logs from the forest, I would attach a steel wire cable to felled trees and then attach the other end of the cable to the crane. Hiro would then drag the trees up the valley and the crane would cut the trees into manageable sized logs.

Day 3 - I spent the whole day looking after Takeru, this was by far the hardest day, Small children are hard enough as is, let alone when you don't speak the same language. that afternoon I met Takuma the next son. Takeru is 6 and Takuma is 8. when the two are together the fighting seems to never cease, it generally ends with Takeru crying, also a guy named Riku showed up, he was staying for a few days.

Day 4 - Due to the day prior being exhausting Hiro said I could sleep in and go to the basement (a ground level room that he uses as a meeting spot for the WWOOFER's so they don't have to go into the house. I woke up hearing Hiro call for me from the front door. I had slept in until 9.30, I quickly got ready and went off to see what today held in store. I was to tape trees with Daichi and Riku. I had done this for a short time on day 2. It's just running tape around the base of good trees to protect them from bears and deer. apparently they pee on the trees and that causes the bark to peel and when the bark peels it allows bacteria into the trunk and eventuates in death for the tree.

Day 5 - Daichi and I continued taping today. Climbing along the mountain is questionable haha. Daichi found out that Hiro hadn't taken me shopping today so I had no food at lunch time, he offered me some of his lunch but I couldn't take his lunch I told him not to worry about it. At about 2 pm Hiro showed up with some onigiri for me. Onigiri is strange but nice, very different to western lunches.

Day 6 - Today was Sunday and was our day of rest. I spent most of the day sitting by the fire reading my book and drinking tea. Though Takeru and Takuma turned up in the afternoon and I was to look after them for a couple of hours it was mostly quite relaxing.

Day 7 - I was waiting in the basement at 8 am as per usual when Daichi walked in, he told me that because it was raining and because we worked so hard on Friday and Saturday that we were going to have a rest day. he also gave me a Bento with some Onigiri, a small container of what I think was cabbage and rissoles and a mandarin. I could've hugged the man it was very kind.

Day 8 - I spent today looking after Takeru. Reiko-san also got me to practice my Hiragana which was very good of her. it's something I really need to continue working on.

Day 9 - Today Daichi and I drove off to the Omama area and went taping in the mountains. I once again had no lunch and Daichi was kind enough to take me to the shops, I did some shopping for myself which was really nice.

Day 10 - Once again I found myself working with Daichi, He speaks a bit of English and we're either totally silent or chatting and laughing. I like the guy, we get on really well. Hiro gave my some food-stuffs today which was nice so I now have a full pantry for the first time since I've been here. it really makes life easier when you can actually have food and not rely on someone else to provide the meals.

Day 11 - I pretty much spent the day looking after Takeru while he Hiro and I drove into town, Hiro had some errands to run and I just had to look after Takeru and make sure he kinda behaved himself. We went to a Beisia supermarket where I got to restock my pantry a bit more, Hiro took us to a tonkatsu place for lunch (I love tonkatsu, its one of my favourite Japanese meals) and then we went to Hiro's work headquarters for he had to meet with his superior. I ended up having a nice chat with some guys there that spoke small amounts of English. people seem to be very surprised when they find out I'mm 23. As far as I can gather it's quite unusual for someone of my age to have facial hair in Japan. and considering my facial hair grows significantly slower than many other guys my age I will admit to finding this surprising. Oh yea, it was also Takeru's Birthday today so there was a family dinner and we had some cake that Reiko-san made.

Day 12 - I was told we were to help set up an area for a school wrestling event so I wore appropriate clothes and went to meet Hiro. We first went and surveyed an area in the mountains and then at about 11:00 we went to collect a large truck to store wrestling mats in. there were probably upwards of 120 mats, though they aren't heavy they were slightly awkward, we had to take them from the schools wrestling Dojo into the truck and then unload them at a sports center. I found the lifting a lot easier than the other people that were helping so I ended up lifting them off the pile and then starting to slide them along to the others, they were very happy for the help and honestly it was cool to be able to help so many people in a community type of situation, it reminded me of when people get together back home to get something done. It was mainly women and children helping at the school end and was therefore much more efficient than when we got to the sports center where it was mainly guys. the women worked as a team to pass the mats from one person to another where the guys all wanted to just carry them. it ended up being slower but we finished the job. That night we met a friend of Hiro's and we went to a vietnamese restraunt for ramen. I had been avoiding having ramen cause I wanted my first bowl of ramen to be magnificent. it was not, it was pretty average. in fact the broth/soup/whatever was like a knock-off version of Fred and Denny's Combination long and short soup (damn them for having magnificent food all the time, it just ruins other places haha)

Day 13 - I was to meet Hiro at thr basement at 6:00am. I made it but we ended up not leaving until almost 6:30. Hiro and I went to the sports centre and I ended up just helping out with odd jobs. though I didnt understand what was being said most of the time I could generally figure out what needed to be done and the women eventually realised that if they just kinda pointed at something and asked I was happy to do the lifting. Reiko arrived later on and told me she had forgotten the kids cause it was so quiet when she woke up that she thought Hiro had take them. Shalom was over an hours drive from the Sports centre and I must admit I laughed uproarously when I found out. I was later informed by Hiro that he, Reiko and their friend who had stayed the night had remained awake until past midnight drinking and it wasnt so much because it was quiet when she woke but because she had a raging hangover. this made me laugh even more.

Upstairs in the sports center was a gym and Reiko helped me apply to go there, I was given an appointment there for 10.45 which I was ecstatic to receive. Upon arrival I was actually just put through a bunch of tests with 4 other people, it was a membership test. some of them were interesting and I did better with some than expected and much worse with others than I would have hoped. I haven't been able to go to a gym since I left Norfolk so I've lost a lot of muscle mass in the last 2 months. Though I must admit that the last 6 weeks I have done a hell of a lot more cardio than I used to and have a lot lost a lot of body fat so its alright.... kind of... I ca go back to the gym whenever I want but I have to take them a photo to finalise my membership card and from there is just $2.50 per visit. It really is a shame I don't intend to stay long enough for that to really matter but I hope that I might be able to use the membership card elsewhere.

The wrestling eventually finished and then we reloaded the mats back into the truck and took them back to the school. we ended up finishing at about 8:30-9:00pm. it was a very long day.

Day 14 - rest day because it was a national holiday for the winter solstice. Just cleaned the kitchen, did my laundry, read my book and watched some shows on my laptop. it was nice

Day 15 - I have the day off again due to rain (Banzai!) figured I'd1 drag my laptop up to the basement and update my blog. I figure I'll go back to the cottage and make some food and either read or watch a movie.

Side Notes about Shalom No Mori

The family; Hiro and Reiko have 5 children. Takeru is the youngest son at 6, then Takuma is 8. they have two younger teenage children Yoma (their 14-ish-year-old son) and Andi is of the same age group and Karin is their eldest daughter of 18. I've barely seen the older 3 and to be honest I'm not entirely sure I've got the 2nd and 3rd eldest's names right.

There is no bathroom in the cottage and because it's freezing Hiro has told me to use the family bath. Their bath system is very strange to me but I am aware it is not unusual in Japan. They fill the bath with hot water, clean themselves outside of the bath and then when completely clean they sit and soak in the bath for a time (much more hygienic than wallowing in dirty water, which is why I prefer showers, to begin with). To save water we are to get water from the tub with a small basin and pour it on yourself instead of using the actual shower. The Post-cleaning soak is pleasant but I'm not a fan of not having an actual shower.

The mountains themselves are beautiful but can be difficult to traverse, If I hadn't spent the last month biking everywhere I think these mountains would have killed me.

There is no indoor plumbing in the cottage so for water for washing the dishes there is a large container above the sink which I take down to the river and fill it then use that container for cleaning. (it has an inbuilt tap so it's pretty easy. The thing is heavy/awkward when full though and its surprising how quickly you use 20L of water

It's winter so I have yet to see any animals. Though there is no shortage of deer droppings.

The Treckin boots I bought for this trip have been invaluable up here in the Mountains. As has my sleeping bag.

Anywho thats it for the moment. if anyone has any questions go for it. I'll do another update at some point but no promises on a timeline.