So today i switched my place and i arrived at my last host this year. It's in a small city called Omaezaki in Shizuoka prefecture...
Every travel this year, every host, every single place had its own surprises. I left Kyoto late at night, short before midnight and i arrived at Shizuoka in the early morning - at 5 am, so i saw still sleeping city. I didn't sleep too much, maybe 3-4 hours tops, so i was still tired. I found a comfortable bench and i had another hour of sleep, while the city was still, resting after long day and just slowly waking up for a new start. I haven't explored the city at all because of my heavy baggage (damn you, stuff!!!), but it's not as rushing as Tokyo. People in white and black (all the employees) spread through the whole train station relatively late and walked with a tiny grace, even with their heads down. But it's not like in Tokyo - with blood boiling and crazy eyes they're running from a platform to another, trying to squeeze themselves in the trains.
While the first host didn't surprise me with the view and surroundings (it was in Tokyo area...), it managed to give me a big shock cause of its hygiene and how things go there. It wasn't as bad on one hand, but on the other hand it was just terrible. When i left to my second host, i didn't even know what to expect. And then the mountains, valleys, rivers and greenery made me wipe my tears off while still on train. The place itself had its minuses and pluses, but i found peace and was enjoying mountainous view every day. Here, when i was going to my spot, my attention was caught by neatly planted tea bushes - there's a lot of them in this region! I never knew that Shizuoka is famous cause of its tea! So it was a nice surprise... The town i work in, doesn't have tea farms, or at least i haven't seen them yet, but they trip on the train was an interesting one!
It didn't take too long until i met with my host which is an alternative type, listening to reggae, surfing, warm and that also took me by surprise. After lunch we went to Nagomi (that's how the cafe is called) and i went to check out the beach and that was yet another thing that made me smile! The ocean is beautiful, the beach is amazing! I cannot see the sea from the cafe, but it takes tops 2 minutes until you can dive in the water. It's so beautiful here! You wouldn't believe. It's not just a simple random sea, it is the ocean! It's my first time to be so close to the real ocean. The feeling is overwhelming.
You climg up the dunes and while doing that the ocean just open ups right before your eyes. In the evening the whole beach is covered with this mellow warm yellow sunlight, at the sides of the beach you can see mist chewing on sand and you just want to explode into million peaces and fuse with the mist. And never leave.
Cafe is really beautiful as well. It's pretty alternative, just like the owners! It's always filled with reggae or ska music, bright colors and friendly decorations, so i feel totally welcomed here. It's almost like at home. The whole village is interesting. Even though it's really small, but on the way your eye catches reggae posters, shops, paintings of Bob Marley, rastafari flags. There are many events to support the rastafari culture - it's gonna be interesting to explore the neighborhood.
I'm the only wwoofer at the moment, so i enjoy the quiet when i'm not doing anything. It's quite the opposite from Sasayama where you're always surrounded by other people. It is of course nice, but also tiresome. One girl might join me here, if my hosts still need someone. She wants to leave Sasayama and i suppose we both want to work together again, before our ways split for good. She's australian and so after Japan she is going back. So this thing is a little bit of an inner conflict inside of me - to stay alone or not. Tomorrow's my day off ( just like in Sasayama, despite the fact, that we have 2 days off there), so i'll have time for myself, for my blog, for sea, pictures and the rest.
I still haven't really experienced the work here, since we didn't have many customers today, but i'm a little bit worried about working hours. We close with the last customer which might be really late, but the starting point is always the same. So we'll see.
The house where I stay is really nice and big. I have a nice room and a really comfortable futon - today i was barely to be woken up after my afternoon nap. A little bit embarassing!
My host-mom's parents have a super market which used to be a fish shop, so I suppose we're going to have lots of fish, which makes me really happy! Not just because i love fish, but also because i have to take care of my health and i didn't quite have this chance in Sasayama. It's my first day so i really cannot say much, but it seems i won't have any problems with food. It's of course not just about food, but give a worked better food and you'll have better results! Today for lunch we had delicious sushi. I guess a day with raw fish is a successful one, so I'm glad.
It's gonna be interesting for me to work here, since i wanna have a cafe on my own on day. There's already one recipe from today that i'm gonna memorize!
Before my host picked me up from the station, i had couple of hours of spare time, so i just found a place in a shadow, which happened to be some kinda empty lot between houses and just crashed on the rocks and slept. Oh boy, i slept so well! That's the test for you - if you can fall asleep in less than 3 minutes on rocks, that means you are really tired... Just like i was.
