A Successful Homecoming

I concluded my WWOOFing on the 29th, about a week ahead of schedule.   Around this time, the cherry blossoms reach their peak, and things begin to warm up on the farm.

Kyoko-san!

It was tremendously difficult to part with Kyuushuu and the Umeki family.  Before leaving, they paid for and arranged my luggage delivery, and left me with homemade jams, sauces, herb tea and rice.

 So life is scaled down a notch from sweet to a little less sweet (I am still in Japan, after all!)  The knowledge that I could have enjoyed a sweet life in Kyuushuu all year leaves a somewhat bittersweet taste in my mouth, but then again, life is better with a more complex flavor.  And when it's not so hyped up on sugar.

Accidents allow for new flavors to emerge.

After taking a bus to Hakata, a northern point in Kyuushuu that is famous for ramen, I ended up buying last-minute souvenirs and caught my first train about an hour behind schedule.  As a result, I wouldn't get to my planned destination of Okayama until after 10, so I opted to spend the night at a net cafe in Hiroshima.  It turned out to be a good idea.

I got the idea to stay at an internet cafe this time around from the French WWOOFer.  Internet cafes, like manga cafes and karaoke boxes, are frequented at night by those who miss their last train and need a place to crash.  With this kind of clientele in mind, these places offer night packages, which include free beverages.  However, they are often a little sketchy and aren't recommended to women traveling alone.  The net cafe I had in mind in Okayama looked sketchy and appeared to be difficult to access from the station without a bus.  Instead, I ran into this net cafe that caters to women and was only about 3 minutes from the station.  I actually found it ahead of time as a backup in case I didn't make it to Okayama in time.  "Apurecio" is the largest net cafe in Japan.  It was finished in 2000 (10 years old already?) and features 4 different styles of rooms in the night pack for around 2500 (2200 if you are already a member).  I chose a nice cushion-y floor to sleep on.

Complimentary snacks (and breakfast from 6AM) were provided

Racks of manga!Free beverages and ice cream!

I was excited to catch the first train at 5:53 the next morning, although I considered staying for free onigiri breakfast.  And then I didn't make it to the station in time, realized I should have stayed at the net cafe longer, and got on a train that put me about an hour behind schedule (again!)

Fortuitously, I had also arranged a train schedule departing from Hiroshima at 8:18, which ended up coinciding with the new time I left at, so I already had all of the individual train times worked out. But that didn't stop me from asking if I was headed the right way at almost every station.

Hakata's eki-ben!  Onigiri, sweet peas, sea weed, mountain potato, fish cake and other delicacies in a bamboo box.  I thought I would give the novel experience a try, although I wasn't sure if eating on the train is taboo.  I later found out that eating noisy food is taboo (hooray for eating an apple twice).  However, that doesn't stop small children from crunching on chips rhythmically to produce synchronized entertainment.  Before arriving to Osaka, I was surrounded by a mother with 3 or 4 children enjoying snack time.  However, before they ate, they had asked permission, and afterwards I listened to them chat (they are the only ones on the train who do) about when and where the next transfer will be, what stations are coming, which ones have passed.  Japanese children are super inquisitive, as I noticed others doing the same afterwards.

A little bit bummed by my inability of making up for lost time, I chose to snap some pics of interesting flora at one of the stations.

 

Farewell rural Japan.  Until we meet again!

I managed to return to Inage less than 10 minutes before my ticket expired

Last night I stayed up until 4 to register for classes on Testudo, and will soon register for courses here.  Today I went to the international center to find that I had passed all of my classes, including composition and kanji (with an 84).

Today was windy and warm, and the sakura are just about in full bloom.

いい感じ。Life is good.