Day 25.

Today we had a day off because of the festival in Sasayama. Before the festival we went to the Host’s house and had a barbecue, home made pizzas, some of us had beer or two (or three and

more). The food was really delicious and the atmosphere was really good. There was some people who i didn’t know before, some of host’s friends, but all of them were really friendly. We didn’t spend too much time there, but it was one nice afternoon. It was filled with lots of different people and music - i learned a little bit how to play jambe, i tried some wicked home made guitar, touched cello for the first time and had the opportunity to sit down at the piano. After maybe 3-4 years i played piano again. It was painful to realize, how much i’ve forgotten. Fingers kept on slipping from the keys as i played, so i had to concentrate not just on the notes, but also on the keyboard. And i couldn’t play anything proper, but it made so much fun i had to ask myself: “Why did i stop playing at all?”. Well, back in Germany i don’t have a piano, so it would be difficult for me to practice, but maybe i should try buying an electronic one? Would be better than nothing. Some of the japanese girls played really well, so i was just lying down and enjoying it. And i really do wanna get better again...

So today’s festival was quite a challenge for me, because the leg was still aching with every step and i felt this big chunk of muscle cramped into one piece. But having the opportunity to wear

yukata (a summer kimono-like clothing) even made the pain dissolve a little bit! It was my first time and i completely loved it. I wonder how a real kimono feels like, maybe i will get the chance to wear it one day. I’ve been trying so many things here and that makes me really happy. I’m gonna come back to Europe with a huge luggage of experience. Since that was one of my goals i’m happy i was able to achieve it. But experiencing this, makes me wanna travel more and more, go here and there, visit this and that and it’s not getting out of my head. My dreams are getting bigger, but the time is running out every day.

The festival was different from the ones, i’m used to. It wasn’t a street festival, it took place in a

park, so it had a separate area with all those food kiosks and souvenirs and fish catching places, and there was another area where the dancing and the fireworks, and eventually the taiko performances were to observe. I was waiting for the latter one most, because i enjoy drumming so much. The performance seemed promising of the quantity of drums, but it was weaker than the one in Hachioji. Anyway, it was a nice performance and i was enjoying it; afterwards i talked to some drummers and we decided we could maybe have some taiko lessons for the wwoofers. I really hope we manage to arrange this while i’m still here!

From tomorrow we’re changing working times a little bit, so we’ll have to adjust to the new working schedule. We’re gonna start working from 8 am and go until 5 pm, which means shorter break, but then again, the working day seems to be not as extended as it used to be, when we had 6 am until 6 pm. We’re still don’t know if it’s gonna be permanent starting tomorrow, but today was a long day for all of us because of the festival, so it is wise indeed to change it at least for tomorrow...

More pictures from the festival:

Day 24.

So today was not the best working day for me. After yesterday’s acupuncture session my leg kept on getting worse and worse and this morning i couldn’t even walk properly. So i had to stay at home, while everyone was working. No one actually said anything bad about it and i was helping as much as possible at home, but i was having hard time dealing with that. I condemned myself and wasn’t feeling too good the first half of the day, but then i understood i cannot change anything about it, so i just tried to keep on the positive side. Our host really worried about me, which again and again reminded me, it’s not previous place anymore. In general i met way friendlier people here, for instance not just the host was calling the doctor in the morning, but the doctor himself called in the afternoon asking how’s my leg, is it getting better or worse, just taking care. He wanted to run another check up if it’s not getting better, but i started feeling slightly better by the end of the day. The day was quite good, despite the awkwardness about not being able to work. But i had a nice conversation with one of the wwoofers and the evening was lots of fun - kinda needed that to relax a little bit.

Some of us are getting quite edgy though. Today i had to bounce back one pretty sharp remark. It didn’t hurt me too much, but still scratched and even though there’s no pain, it burns. Just like weeding roses - you don’t get cut properly, but the scratches burn afterwards for a while. I already was warned about that guy, so i really just tried to flush it out of my system as soon as possible. And also, we have to understand some of them, who are staying here for months, even years - they deserve to be edgy every once in a while. Of course, the ideal way would be for them to work on their stress by themselves, not involving other people, but sometimes it happens i guess.

Because of my leg i missed something really interesting today... I was nagging about climbing to mountains from the very first day after i arrived here and today during the lunch break guys went to the mountain. It was sooo unfair - they climbed it exactly on the day, when i couldn’t walk. And tomorrow we’re having a festival, so i hope i could go at least for an hour, just to make some pictures.

Days are going by really nicely, i had first three days off, yesterday i worked, today i couldn’t do much, tomorrow we’re having a day off because of the festival, but we’re working again on Monday (had to take a look at the calendar, what day is the day after festival - no sense of time anymore...).

I have some worries that sometimes takes me away from the actual happenings and puts me in some kinda personal labyrinth. Some things are happening here, that i might wanna have avoided, but it happened already and now cannot be undone. But that spoils the fun every once in a while. I just have to pull myself together when the upset face is trying to cover my smile and that’s it!

Day 21, Day 22 and Day 23.

It is tricky indeed to use the internet here, but the reason i’m merging my posts is not the lack of internet at all. It’s just that i don’t have the need anymore to just rot at the computer. I just wanna enjoy different things, get to know other wwoofers, listen to them, talk to them, laugh, laugh, laugh with them and at them and just have great time...

I feel really good here! I wasn’t working at first, so i could relax really well on our days off - our weekend in the mid-week. I’m totally losing track of time, it’s hard to remember which day it is and i mostly don’t know the exact time. But i don’t need that anymore as well... I just feel completely relaxed and i’m just existing here and enjoying the stay... The landscape here is amazing, the air’s fresh, since the city is a bit further, it’s really quiet. All the wwoofers are mostly together, just spending time together... Our house is big and we’re all staying here except couple of people, who live in the other house just across the street, so basically they’re also hanging around with us.

Wednesday or Day 21 was our “saturday” and since the weather was quite ok, we went to the river. It was around hour long drive and then we’re arriving at this beautiful valley in between the mountains, covered with pine trees. It sounds rather casual and simple (valley, pine trees...), cause i cannot exactly describe it, but it was just more than awesome!!! Barbecuing at the river and swimming in the cool, clear water, enjoying the view and the sun... It was unbelievable. I felt as if i’m in a dream, i’ve seen those kinda rocky rivers in mountains just in the movies, to he honest and i was totally excited to be able to experience that by myself. It really feels like a dream every once in a while and i’m worried i’m gonna wake up in Germany, but at least this is a nice dream, huh? Sometimes i do think about things back in Germany and shudder even from the thought of it. Being at this place i get the feeling often, that i just wanna stay, simply be here, work, never leave. Thinking about my real life makes my smile go away for a while. But there will be time i’ll have to go back to my real life and this will stay behind as a sensational memory.

On Wednesday’s evening after dinner, one guy came, that has a local band here and visits us often, even though he’s not a wwoofer. It was a really nice evening - we just played guitars on the street outside the house and sang along... Couple of us had fun with small fireworks. We had quite a few good singers and players, so i totally enjoyed the music around me. Everyone seemed so at ease, relaxed, happy - it’s almost the total opposite from what we had at the previous host. After that we watched movies, i haven’t finished both of them, because i fell asleep in the middle of the first one and was totally dozing off during the second one, so i just decided to go to the bed. Anyhow, the second movie was just a blast! People who like alternative movies, should definitely put this one on the list and watch it as soon as possible - no kidding. It’s a really good australian movie called “Bad Boy Bobby”, it is pretty disturbing since the main character is mentally ill and he’s doing things you wouldn’t normally think about, but it is by all means worth watching.

Also, we had some new wwoofers arrive - in the morning we had a dutch couple and in the evening two more guys. Those two dutch people really arrived on good time - they even couldn’t unpack their things, just went straight to the river, so they had a nice introduction in who, how and what we are, they had the chance to get to know us in a relaxed atmosphere, which was really good. In the evening we had another australian guy and an italian, so our family is getting bigger and bigger every day. I was welcomed really warmly and just accepted to this family, which makes me really grateful. All the new guys think i’m here at least for 3-4 months (asked all of them...), but i’m here just for couple of days!!! It is weird even for me, but i feel as if i lived with these guys for ages. They are all different people, so it’s amazing that we have more or less a balanced family.

It might be because of the fact, that everyone here is a wwoofer which gives us all something in common. We have though some guys from Tokyo who are probably having difficult time here, because just imagine growing up in sucha huge metropolis like Tokyo. They probably see vegetable fields for the first time, they’ve never did weeding and definitely never cooked for over 20 people at once! So it is quite a drastic experience for them. And even though they don’t quite know what, when and how to do, they fit in and do their best.

Yesterday it was raining from the early morning. We were waiting for a typhoon actually, but it never hit us. Some of us just ignored that completely, some of us were actually waiting for it, some of it weren’t happy about that kinda weather forecast, but we never had the typhoon. Rain in Japan is mostly really nice, i already enjoyed rain last year, while working in Tokyo, so being here, in the middle of the nowhere, surrounded by mountains was even nicer than before. Since we have subtropical climate here, the rain is warm and calm (when it’s not a typhoon or tsunami). In the morning when most of the wwoofers left to the city, i stayed in the house and enjoyed the silence of here and the calming music of rain. I grabbed a cup of tea and just went outside to the back yard, meditated a little tiny bit. It felt so right and peace was coming back to me.

Most of the times it’s so hard to run away from your routine even if you understand that it’s not good for you, so all you need to do is be in a situation where you don’t have the chance to get back to your routine. I’m actually living perfectly fine even without having internet, cell phone or skype. Of course, i would like to have it every once in a while, chat to my friends, but it’s not the end of the world that i don’t have it. If i stayed here longer than planned, maybe i would be able to write again (?).

In the evening i had an opportunity to do something that i’ve been waiting for for a long long time. I got to practice Kendo!!! It was my first time, i probably sucked a lot, but it was so much fun. I didn’t get sore arm muscles, nor did i get blisters on my palms and foot that everyone experienced, so i was lucky. I guess i’m just naive to think like that, but maybe the fact that i enjoyed it so much is kind of a sign, that i should continue Kendo back in Europe. I still don’t understand how can you become good at it, because it seems nearly impossible to win a fight, but maybe after years of hard work it’s doable. Next week i’m gonna go practice it again! We have one (also new) japanese guy, who has been doing Kendo for 15 years, so maybe he can teach me things back at home on our breaks and days off.

And today was my first working day. I didn’t have any problems with waking up early in the morning (5:15 oclock), although it felt strange having breakfast that early! We had to work with wheat grains in the morning and after lunch break we went to the fields, did some weeding. It wasn’t as difficult as i expected, so i feel relieved. I thought i’m gonna be totally stressed out after the working day, but i felt well, except the leg muscle that was aching from the morning. It’s different from my previous host, because here you feel like you’re a part of the family, just doing things, but also getting something in return, when at my previous host it just felt that you’re an unpaid labor, which isn’t quite right.

During the lunch break another 2 wwoofers (again a couple) arrived, so our big family turned into a huge one! We have 21 people right now. I take pleasure in meeting all those different people, they all have their own reasons in coming to Japan, wwoofing here, wwoofing at all, they all have different backgrounds, they all can tell me different things - it’s a treasure we have here! Anyway, with so many people our balance is starting to crash a little bit. We had to decide where to accommodate the new guys and they got the room with the mosquito net and everyone freaked out, that some new guys are getting the mosquito net! We have just 4 of them and everyone wants it, so we almost ended up in a fight, but thanx god we managed to settle it down... But even after doing that, the stress was lingering around me and left just in the night after talking about it with Toby.

In the evening we had an interesting seminar on acupuncture. A doctor from Kyoto came to us and explained some things, also did couple of sessions. I was one of the lucky guys, who got to feel the needles in the body by themselves! I don’t know if i’m just a sensitive type, but i actually felt pain, even though everyone said it’s just like a small tapping or pinching and not an actual pain. It was however really interesting and i would like to continue that in the future. I pointed out my muscle pain, so the doctor worked on that: put some needles in me, stretched me, cracked my spine (that was really freaky!). He said that i grew up too fast, because it seemed like a nerve problem and it should start earliest with 30 years old, so i’m 10 years too fast. Which actually makes sense... After the session it actually hurt more than before, but i hope it’s gonna be better the next day.

I’m having lots of new experiences, i can improve myself personally and that’s something i was seeking for. I’m leaving end of this month, but i don’t wanna even think about it. At least not now...

Day 19 and Day 20.

These two days i’m gonna merge together, because i just didn’t have the chance to write about them separately and right now, it’s a little bit stupid to write two different posts, when everything’s mixed together already.

I’m afraid there’s gonna be more merged posts, cause we don’t have any wi-fi at this host and there’s just one computer and around 15 wwoofers, so i’m almost sure, i’m not gonna be keep my blog updated daily, but i shall try and we’ll see how it goes!

So yesterday i left Hino... I got kinda soft and felt a bit upset after leaving it, because i really started to get used to things there and also because i attach to places and people. I love travelling and i do that a lot in fact, but i have this attachment thing, that actually ruins the fun, because i know i’m not gonna meet most of the people ever again, but still i wanna keep my hopes up and of course, i get disappointed most of the times, when the obvious happen - those people just drift apart. But is it wrong for me to want to keep nice people in my life? Or is it just too desperate?

Yesterday after leaving Hino i went to the embassy first and actually planned staying just for a couple of minutes, repack, leave and come back just before closing time to get my suitcase, but it ended up in me staying there for couple of hours and leaving before closing time, but without ever going out. Maybe it’s because i still feel one of them, maybe because i want to feel like them, besides it really brings the memories, so i feel nice being there. Just entering the Azabu-Juuban district makes my smile bigger. I never liked Tokyo too much, but i’d be lying if i said, i don’t feel nice there. It is nice to find familiar places, it’s nice to know where to go, and yes, i got attached to that place as well - i was living there for three months last year after all.

I am coming to Tokyo for the last 5 days of my trip this year and i’m already looking forward to it.

After visiting the embassy, i spent the evening with Adam! Even though we had to carry my baggage all around (one big backpack and one big suitcase), it was still fun. We went straight to Shinjuku, where my bus was leaving from, so we don’t have to change our spot too much anymore. It was weird sensation i got. At first i knew just approximately where to go, but with every second passing by and with every step we made, memories came back rushing to me and brought me to the point, where i knew exactly where i’m going and where i can find what. I didn’t spend too much time last year in Shinjuku, but the feeling of being in some kinda familiar place, made me feel at ease. It was nice of Adam to spend the whole evening with me, because if not him, i probably would be just sitting in Starbucks for 5 hours and waiting for my bus to come.

Instead, we did quite a few things until my departure time, but that time also came! I’ve never travelled by this night bus before, so it was a new experience for me. And now i know that i should recommend this way of travelling for everyone, who’s not afraid of spending the whole night in the bus. Of course, it’s not as fast as Shinkansen (the high speed train), but it’s also three times cheaper, so it’s a pretty good deal, i think. I left Shinjuku around 22:30 oclock and i was in Osaka at 7:00 oclock in

the morning. The seats were big and comfy, but i spend a great amount of time (basically the first half of the night) trying to figure out where to put my long european legs, because they were hurting a little bit, but after i found a way, i slept like a baby. Starting with Kyoto my eyes were wide open, looking at everything through the window, because everything was new and interesting. There were so many mountains - i was just impressed. I spent just couple of minutes in Osaka, but i already got the first impression of it. It is really different from Tokyo!!! Not just practical things like for example, in Tokyo you’re always standing at the left side of the escalators while leaving the right side free for people who’re in rush and just wanna go faster. But in Osaka, it’s opposite system. So i was blocking the traffic for a while. But i had my comfort in the fact, that i did that not because i’m a plain foreigner, but because i’m a Tokyo Foreigner so to say - was raised in Tokyo and adapted to that city. Anyhow, the city has this strange feeling that i cannot really describe. It was still an early morning, so everyone was rushing just like in Tokyo you might say, but they did that in their own manner, the whole city felt like its moving with passerby's pace, while Tokyo always holds his grounds and never moves. Its concrete is firm and unchangeable, while Osaka has this floating sensation, but then again - i was tired, it was all new and i had just 5 minutes there, so it might be very wrong what i write here. I will be able to explore the city some more in 15 days though, so i’m already excited about it!

I arrived in Sasayama with some kinda relieve. The mountainous view still continued to please me as i went on in the train to the very spot. At first i was just reading a book but the view impressed me so much, i put my book back into the bag without even noticing that and my eyes were just eating every single glimpse of that amazing view. Valleys and rivers between the mountains, greenery everywhere, some fluffy clouds at the summits of the mountains. I felt tears gathering in my eyes and i felt at ease... With every tunnel we went into, i pulled a long face, and when we got out for those couple of seconds i was ready to observe as much as possible. “How beautiful can a country be...” i was thinking. I was praying that the mountains stay with every station passing by and when i arrived to the last stop - Sasayamaguchi i was lucky and smiling, since the mountains were still there. I took a deep breathe and just enjoyed the view for a while without going through gates.

I had some time before i got picked up and i was surprised how quiet it is here! Probably i shouldn’t be surprised, since it’s a really small town and i knew it, but the realization that it might be SO quiet never visited me. I got my hope back that it can be better than Hino, but i’m a little bit worried about the work itself here. We have lots of people here and they seem really friendly, but some kinda strange system started working in me and i wanna back off a little bit - never really had that in this kinda situation. So i’m worried. The house is big and spacious, we have backyard and are gonna eat lots of fresh vegetables. The food isn’t too promising though, because we totally depend on what farmers give to us, so we’re gonna eat really simple things like rice, oats and vegetables, noodles every once in a while. “It might get boring” told me one girl, and normally i wouldn’t complain about it, because i prefer healthy simple food over the complex one, but since my anemia basically came back just before i left to Japan, i would really like to have raw fish every once in a while. Well, every host has his own rules.

The work sounds pretty tough. We start at 6 oclock in the morning and work until 10 oclock, then have 5 hours break and work for another 3 hours, so we have 7 hours working day and mostly we work in the farms and fields, so it is gonna be way more difficult than in Hino, but i hope i can pull it through, those 15 days. We have two days off and, oh boy am i lucky, our “weekend” is thursday and wednesday, so tomorrow and the day after. Today i also wasn’t working, because it my first day and i also felt a little bit bad after the night trip. I didn’t sleep that much after all, and after i took a nap in the afternoon i felt cold and dizzy, so i was just waiting until the dinner in the bed, because i didn’t wanna overdo on my first day. They have lots of mountains here and the roads are not too busy, so i might be able to do some sports finally! There is a waterfall nearby, so i’m all excited about exploring the realm here. The city is pretty far away, but i’ll be trying to go there on one of those days off, since it’s getting ready for a festival and i think it would be nice to make some pictures.

So the first impressions are quite interesting: i’m happy because of the view and the peace here, but i’m worried about the work. But there’s just one way to find out if it’s worth worrying, simple by doing it, so i’m gonna be a little bit restless until Friday, which is gonna be my first working day.

Days here are gonna end pretty soon, since we will have to wake up rather early, maybe at 5 oclock in the morning, so we will also be going to sleep not too late. I hope i can rest here mentally... There is one girl who also was in Hino, so we had lots to talk about! We were sharing our experiences with Kazuko and just telling each other about this and that. She is telling everyone not to go there by any means. Poor host-family on one hand, but on the other - it’s to be expected if you treat people like that.

Day 18.

It is nice to have smth in common with a person from sucha different culture, don't you think? Today i met the guy from yesterday. We played guitars, chatted, went to eat - i was really enjoying the evening. Something impossible happened as well - i went to karaoke for the first time in my life. It's totally his fault! But i have to admit, that it was kinda fun... So, i am so sorry, that i always said 'no' and spoiled fun, from now on i will also go to karaoke with my friends.

Anyway, we were heading to the station already, when it hit me, that we have quite a few things in common and that again made me feel, that every each of us is just part of this world, we are all human beings, we are coming from the same roots. But because of education, friends, society system we greatly differ. That doesn't mean though, that we wouldn't be able to find a soul-mate or a dear friend in a totally foreign culture. I wouldn't call japanese culture totally foreign for me, because i'm interested in it and have been into it for a while now, but still, if we looked to the beginning of my life - i grew up differently than japanese kids, i had different education, different family, i lost the need to fit in, which is still really significant in Japan, and yet, i'm sitting in front of Hachioji's station and playing guitar, singing with a person, who could become a good friend of mine! And we talk, and i wanna talk more and more and more... This makes me wanna travel all around the world more and more every day! Find the clashing points in cultures and find the similarities, learn from different people, gain experience - become a rich personality...

Rain was pouring on my way back home, but i still had my smile on. I was a little bit upset down in my heart, because i knew i'm leaving really soon and i won't be able to meet the guy for long long time (maybe even couple of years!), and who knows if we would still have the wanting to meet after those years, but i still feel that he left a trace in my life. One doesn't have to be genius to impress people or leave a trace, even a small one, in their memories. One just has to have something real and genuine inside and open up at the right moment about the right things. He told me about a girl, who left a big impression on him, and the fact that he is able to value it means a lot for me. Because nowadays, emotions are left behind most of the time...

When we were playing, i was just enjoying the music and then i saw a group of foreigners taking pictures of each other, looking around and then another impossible thing happened - i saw on their T-shirts "Lietuva", which means Lithuania in lithuanian language. I was sooo wicked! I went to them and we just chatted about small things. They came here to the festival and the reason to go to Japan was a karate championship (by the way, japanese won... as always...), it was really nice to meet someone from my own country in Japan! Of course, when i'm in lithuanian gatherings or visiting the embassy, i meet lithuanians, but to meet someone (and they were maybe 6-7 people at once!!!) just by accident is nearly impossible. But things do happen, right..?

This evening is for the last one here in Hino, i got an unbelievable present from our hosts' son - a rilakkuma and a bag with it!!! That's also soo amazing, since i'm just crazy about rilakkuma. I wanted to do many things, but i didn't have any time for them, since i was pretty busy here and those 10 days passed by so fast. I promised my host-momma, that i'm gonna give pictures from Clare (the place where i work) to her, but i even had to break this promise, because i just didn't have enough time to retouch any of the pics. But this is not that big problem, since we all have internet nowadays.

Today i have lots to tell in fact, but because of the whole leaving mood and because of still too vivid experiences, it's difficult for me to put everything in a neat order. I'm not sure when i'll be able to write the next post, because i don't have any idea, if they will have internet in Sasayama, but i sure hope they will!

Japanese Street Fashion

@ Hachiouji Station

Day 17.

OMG! One of the best days so far!

Probably i could write and write and write about this day, but it's still too present for me to put it into words. I'm just full of good energy and charged for the rest of the trip. I got to know the side of Japanese society, that i like. And i hope i keep on getting deeper and deeper in this kinda warm and friendly layer...

My working day was short today, maybe because i was working with the host-dad, or maybe because it was my last day of work before leaving for good, so they didn't torture me too much. I even got 1,5 hours for my lunch break! So i took that time for making some pictures of Clare, which i will be posting a little bit later, because i just cannot handle the amount of pictures anymore. I was happy to finally go to the construction suite, where normally just boys go! But i guess, lack of male wwoofers made it necessary for me to join them there... I have to say - it was lots of fun! We worked with glass fiber - had to stuff the walls. It was interesting to work something, where you have to use your muscles (we had some carrying to do). On our way back home i saw a ceremony before starting to build a house. Never seen that before! We were finished more than 1 hour earlier than my normal working day stops, but my host-momma didn't give me any tasks, she just gave us some money for the festival and wished us lots of fun. That was really nice of her!

For me the festival started even before i got to the actual place. Taiwanese wwoofer decided to spoil me with english, so i felt so relieved i don't have to think about how to say what - that helped me a lot.

On our way to the spot, we passed a street musician, a guitarist, and i just had this urge to at least touch the guitar, because i missed it so much!!! So i risked it all and just went to him and asked for the guitar. In Europe i wouldn't have any second thoughts about this, because it's ok to just approach people like that, but right now i'm in Japan and it's all different. I was happy

though and succeeded, but unfortunately the guitar was tuned totally different and i just played around for a minute or two and after saying thanks set out for the festival. It was a little bit similar to the Azabu-Juuban Matsuri from last year in Tokyo, because they type of festival is the same, but it was also very different in a way, because it had way more cultural things, like performances and musicians. As always, i bought okonomiyaki since that is such a festival food for me, but i have to admit that my friend makes better okonomiyaki at home in the frying pan. However, it's not all about the taste, it's also about the process itself, of going out, buying yourself something from of the kiosks and eating somewhere on the side of the road. We were lucky to find a splendid place for eating! It was a staircase of some apartments' house just at the road, so we were watching performances as we ate. Pretty convenient, huh?

I went to the festival with the Taiwanese wwoofer and it was interesting to talk to him about our points of view to the world, our perspectives, how we understand cultures and certain points, how we see the aspects where cultures clash and it was new for me to explore a Taiwanese mind... It was at times complicated, because European opinions differ rather drastically from Asian, but i always tried to understand him as much as possible.

I again understood how difficult for me would be to settle down and how impossible it is to define me, since i feel nationless and i'm just being me. I'm travelling from very small age and i was exposed to different cultures, so i don't feel that i should be described as lithuanian or german or any other nation, because i'm a big mixture. I'm open to any income and i form my own ideas from everything i see, hear, feel, smell, realize... Festivals like that, conversations help me learn and grow, even though for some people it's just a random festival, but i can grab one small detail and make it my shining star for the whole evening!

Just before we went back home we stumbled upon a Taiko performance (a certain japanese drumming) which completely took me. Of course i took my time and made some pictures, but then i just sat down and enjoyed the music with all my body. It is actually amazing how the rhythm can get to you and move every cell inside of you. I already wanna try Kendo out, when i come back to Germany, but right now Taiko is also on the list - i would like to try doing that, even though there might be no possibility in Europe. Besides, i've never played drums in my life! But we'll see. I notice, that this year i explore way more new things than before and i'm so open to them, that some of them can completely take me and hypnotize. I think, i am repeating myself, but i'm sure it's gonna be the best summer so far this year. It is really interesting here and i'm gonna go back as a brighter person, but i'm worried a little bit, how will i be able to stay at one place for almost a year before next summer.

When i thought my festival is over, i got another surprise. We decided not to go home immediately, but instead of that, grab a cup of some drink and just sit down and talk. Talking and communicating in general is one of the biggest part of my life, so this just made the evening better. And on top of all those things, on our real way back (we were already at the station basically), i saw the same guitarist from before. He was still playing, so he recognized me and greeted. At that point there were some more people around, couple of them with their own instruments. One of them was playing exactly at the moment and i couldn't keep my hands still, when i heard his guitar's sound - his guitar was tuned the same like mine! This time we stayed for longer, because i could play and sing as well, that guy could speak really well english, so we just chilled for a while. Unfortunately, we had to back home. I was shining brightly yesterday! And when i came back home, i couldn't stop talking about my experiences, everything was just bursting out! This day was a great experience for me and even if it's not getting better for the rest of the trip, it's already amazing! I won't forget this day for long - i'm sure. I'm already looking forward to the end of August, when i'm gonna have my week off in Osaka and Kyoto. By the way, anyone's welcome to join me there!

Hachiouji Matsuri:

Lol.