A lot has happened since my last update I didn't really know where to start, but I suppose we'll go from the beginning and try to get everything in without making this entry too long. This is going to be seriously abridged but unfortunately I lost (decent) wi-fi at Maltoen so I was unable to update before.
(UK Dates DD.MM.YY)
2.12.16 - We'd had a lot of complaints about our rooster being too noisy, we'd tried putting him in a coop with thicker walls to reduce the noise he made at night, however, he still crowed at all hours (including the highly unsociable ones) so unfortunately we had to get rid of him.
It turned out that the farm we took him to was also an ICYE project that had hosted a volunteer from the UK, a volunteer I actually knew. It was nice to hear about how he got on for the 6 months he stayed at that particular project and how the host family felt about him.
3.12.16 & 4.12.16 - It was sad that we lost our rooster but the egg that our brown hen had been incubating started pipping on the 3rd. By the 4th we had an adorable baby chick chirping away. I called it Chris in my head, short for 'Christopher Eggleston' if it was a boy or 'Eggitha Christie' if it was a girl (the puns are awful I know).
5.12.16 - 11.12.16 - I went to Hagi city for a home stay, I was a little worried about it at first but I actually really enjoyed my time there. I was helping out on a flower farm and honestly I found it really fun as I spent a lot of time talking to Ayako-san while we worked.
In the evenings we ate dinner together and talked, I just wish my Japanese had been a little better so I could have spoken more with Dai-chan and Yukimi. However, even with the language barrier, Yukimi and I still had fun trading pokemon to each other.
I was honestly quite sad to leave on the last day, I would have loved to stay with them for a little bit longer.
After I met up with Hikari and her mother again we stayed in Hagi a little longer, they were going to see a film so I went and did a spot of sightseeing. Hagi is a very historical city with lots of really interesting places to visit, however, I only had time to go to the local museum. The museum itself was very good, it was quite cheap at ¥510 (about £3.60) for a ticket, and I was was given a folder that had the exhibition descriptions translated into English. So far this is one of the only museums I've visited that had this, bar the Edo-Tokyo museum in Tokyo.
28.12.16 - Hikari and I were invited to a local event where we learned to make soba. Making the dough for the noodles was relatively straight forwardthough the 'cat claws' action was a little tough to get the hang of, however, cutting them was a lot harder! Soba noodles are supposed to be thin but mine ended up being quite thick and looking more like udon (oops). They tasted nice though so there were no worries.
Afterwards we all ate dinner together as an early welcome to the new year, it was really nice as I was able to chat with the local people there.
29.12.16 - 03.1.17 - Simon, the other ICYE volunteer from Denmark came to stay for New Year. It was really great seeing him again after 4 months and having a catch up.
The New Year celebration was loads of fun:
12.01.17 - Tragedy once again struck, I went out to feed the chickens that morning only to discover that an animal of some kind had gotten into the coop and eaten them. It wasn't a very pretty find I can tell you that.
When Hikari and Bingo-san arrived later that day we dug graves for the two of them a buried them beside the baby.
Later that day Kurose-san from ICYE came to stay at Maltoen in order to talk about the other volunteer program CIEE that would be hosted in Yamaguchi in the Summer.
She also spoke to me about how I was getting on at Maltoen and told me the dates for the Mid-term evaluation camp.
We spoke a little and I said that I was quite lonely at Maltoen during the winter as there wasn't all that much to do. There was also no wi-fi making it hard for me to keep in contact with my family and friends.
It was later arranged for me to go to another project in the Shiga prefecture for just under 2 months. I was really excited to go but at the same time I was quite upset that I would be missing the February event at the Akiyoshi Plateau. Still, I asked Hikari if she could take some photo's to show me.
Final few weeks of January - It was arranged for me to go over for dinner with one of the local families. I found it really enjoyable, I was a little unsure at first because of the language barrier but with the use of the little Japanese I know, the English they knew and lots of looking translations up in dictionaries, it worked. We talked about quite a lot of things, politics, music, family, and hometowns; to name a few.
Though honestly, the best thing about it in my eyes was the 4 year old little girl of the family. She and I would play together and also read together (in this skill we were very much on the same level.) Communication was hard but if I seemed confused she's often ask me if I understood which was nice. The speaking thing really doesn't seem as hard when you're talking to children instead of adults. I suppose it's because they tend to talk slower and generally use more simplified sentences than their grown up counterparts.
After I met up with Hikari and her mother again we stayed in Hagi a little longer, they were going to see a film so I went and did a spot of sightseeing. Hagi is a very historical city with lots of really interesting places to visit, however, I only had time to go to the local museum. The museum itself was very good, it was quite cheap at ¥510 (about £3.60) for a ticket, and I was was given a folder that had the exhibition descriptions translated into English. So far this is one of the only museums I've visited that had this, bar the Edo-Tokyo museum in Tokyo.
28.12.16 - Hikari and I were invited to a local event where we learned to make soba. Making the dough for the noodles was relatively straight forward
Afterwards we all ate dinner together as an early welcome to the new year, it was really nice as I was able to chat with the local people there.
29.12.16 - 03.1.17 - Simon, the other ICYE volunteer from Denmark came to stay for New Year. It was really great seeing him again after 4 months and having a catch up.
The New Year celebration was loads of fun:
- I was able to wear a Kimono again (Which was amazing!)
- Simon and I also helped with making the "osechi ryori" (Traditional Japanese New Years Food).
- We joined in the festival held by Hikari's fathers church.
Unfortunately, the second of January wasn't quite as enjoyable. We had returned to Maltoen that day and while we were working, separating sesame seeds, we heard a commotion from the chickens coop. I went to investigate and I unfortunately found that our little chick was dead. It had fallen into the water bowl and drowned.
12.01.17 - Tragedy once again struck, I went out to feed the chickens that morning only to discover that an animal of some kind had gotten into the coop and eaten them. It wasn't a very pretty find I can tell you that.
When Hikari and Bingo-san arrived later that day we dug graves for the two of them a buried them beside the baby.
Later that day Kurose-san from ICYE came to stay at Maltoen in order to talk about the other volunteer program CIEE that would be hosted in Yamaguchi in the Summer.
She also spoke to me about how I was getting on at Maltoen and told me the dates for the Mid-term evaluation camp.
We spoke a little and I said that I was quite lonely at Maltoen during the winter as there wasn't all that much to do. There was also no wi-fi making it hard for me to keep in contact with my family and friends.
It was later arranged for me to go to another project in the Shiga prefecture for just under 2 months. I was really excited to go but at the same time I was quite upset that I would be missing the February event at the Akiyoshi Plateau. Still, I asked Hikari if she could take some photo's to show me.
Final few weeks of January - It was arranged for me to go over for dinner with one of the local families. I found it really enjoyable, I was a little unsure at first because of the language barrier but with the use of the little Japanese I know, the English they knew and lots of looking translations up in dictionaries, it worked. We talked about quite a lot of things, politics, music, family, and hometowns; to name a few.
Though honestly, the best thing about it in my eyes was the 4 year old little girl of the family. She and I would play together and also read together (in this skill we were very much on the same level.) Communication was hard but if I seemed confused she's often ask me if I understood which was nice. The speaking thing really doesn't seem as hard when you're talking to children instead of adults. I suppose it's because they tend to talk slower and generally use more simplified sentences than their grown up counterparts.
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I'm sorry that this is rushed and a little messy, I'm also aware I probably missed a bunch of stuff out but..... Writing isn't my strong point, I write how I think, which is all over the place.
Still, I managed to type it up sooooo...
Still, I managed to type it up sooooo...
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Some of my favourite photo's:
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