Well, I managed to find my destination somehow. After leaving Tokyo on the shinkansen I was supposed to ask around for enerugi no sakai, or the gaijin farmer. Turns out not many people know where that is. I asked a kid at the bus stop, who asked a train station employee, and eventually somebody overheard us and offered to take me to where they thought it was. I forget the guy's name, but he had his son with him and he loved the red hot chili peppers. That's what I gathered through our limited communication anyway.
I don't think I could have found this place on my own. I had to rely on others to help me, but that's ok. When we work together there's no limit to what we can accomplish! Well, we didn't really work together, he did all the work finding this place, but you know what I mean.
I had arrived at my destination. The farm I was destined to pour my soul into, one grain of rice at a time. I walked into the house and met my new family of 10. There is the great grandfather, the grandparents, Nao and Yo, their children. Yo is married to Ikumi and they have two babies, Beijan and Nikko. Sam is married to Nao and they just had Hannah, their first child. Sam has been my correspondence this whole time. He's a former Brita of all things, and he looks exactly like Eminem. He and Nao are the only ones who speak English. Life has been interesting so far.
After introductions over a dinner of homemade cherry curry, Sam showed me to my guesthouse. A quaint little shack outside the main house which stays surprisingly cool in the 100+ heat. But there are about 50 spiders right outside my door.
Murayama must be the spider capital of the world. They are everywhere. Anywhere I walk I need to duck because I'm afraid of hitting a spiderweb. Normally the walkways are fine, but I'm about two feet taller than anybody, and the spiders like to hang out just above a normal person's height. I've never hated being so tall before. The bathroom is outside if the guesthouse, and naturally the road is paved with spiders. I'm too scared to go the bathroom, but being scared makes me have to go to the bathroom. It's a vicious, vicious cycle.
The first day of work wasn't so bad, aside from the 6 oclock departure time. My first day consisted of weeding the soybean field, removing rocks, and protecting all the peaches in their orchard. It was about a 12 hour day. The hours are long, the work is tough, but the people are great. People make all the difference in anything you do. Sam is under the impression that everyone in America is a lunatic with a gun (he hasn't had a lot of US visitors) so I'm on my way to deflecting that stereotype.
After the first day of work we had an extravagant birthday dinner for everyone born in July. They have 3 born in this month, and of course I had to join in. They sang me happy birthday as we feasted on Hokkaido sausage, Yamagata beef, roasted vegetables, and of course rice. Sitting out by the hills and rice paddies at sunset drinking a beer with a huge Japanese family is one of the more interesting experiences I've had the pleasure of enjoying.
Tomorrow is rice paddy work. The real deal. This was apparently the most relaxing day I will have. Better rest up...
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