Miscellaneous

Here`s furious George, the cup I drink from every day. So-named because of his resemblance to George Bush.

I never really finished (or started) my point about Matsumoto and frogs. Matsumoto is full of frog paraphernalia- can`t remember the full reason why but it`s something to do with the words for frog and returning safely being very similar. Anyway this is a pretty original statue and one I visited last time I was here.

Sign for a supermarket.

A encouraging sign, don`t know what for though.

A really beautiful morning- one thing I really like about this place is how different every morning looks.

Accepting an Oscar for best supporting role.....sorry.

One more field of apples to harvest and then we`ll be moving onto other jobs- probably indoor stuff like bean-sorting given the cold weather should be coming in next week.

My favourite apples are the ones with the goldy-brown sheen, though its probably psychological I could swear they taste better than the regular Fuji apples.

Did I mention Toa-chan is bowling mad? He`s regularly found looking through this book of bowling techniques.

I realize I`ve not mentioned much of life here actually.
I live with the Matsumuras in Ogurayama farm just outside Azumino city, Nagano prefecture.

The Matsumuras are Akio-san and his wife Terumi-san, his mother who we all know as Oba-san (grandmother) and their 3 children, Fuwa-chan (9), Wara-chan (6) and Toa-chan (2).

The days are pretty easy going, we wake up at 6.40, eat breakfast and do a few household chores then start work at 8. November is the month of the apple harvest so its mostly picking but also throwing fertiliser (which in this case is a waste product from a local mushroom farm- a kind of mushroom-laden soil) on the trees that we`ve finished picking from.

There`s one non-wwoofer who works with us, Hide-san who is from Osaka and incredibly helpful and funny.

Work finishes at 3.30pm and then I usually study Japanese, which I find a lot more draining than the farm work. Dinner at 6pm and I usually manage to stay up about 2 or 3 more hours studying and reading before sleeping the sleep of the physically and mentally tired, full-stomached farmhand.