#also one of our supermarkets (ah) has 'to go' supermarkets on train stations

[darcyolsson]

i'm from australia not england but our self checkouts also have The Bagging Area and it's weight-sensitive. it's meant to prevent theft but the problem with that is that it assumes that the thief is going to not scan the item but will put it in the bagging area instead of just... in their pocket. which i guess makes sense for bigger items but you could still just complete the whole transaction and then move it into the bagging area without paying idk. you also have to tell the machine if you've brought your own bag or else it'll UNEXPECTED ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA you.

omfg in the netherlands it's so different you just scan stuff and put it in your own bag immediately.. and then sometimes you get random checks but they just have to scan i think 5 items you scanned? which does not work because if you guy 8 items and then steal 2 more just just hand them 5 of the items you did pay for. and then you have 3 you also paid for and 2 you didnt pay for also in your bag???? so i literally don't get how it's supposed to work 😭 it's honestly that i'm too nervous to steal but otherwise i would

[wwoofing-japan]

I stayed in Hayashima, Okayama for 5 days at a special place called Igusa Guesthouse. Igusa is the plant that tatami is made of, and the guesthouse used to be a tatami workshop. It was in a residential area, just a short walk from the train station.

Loom to make tatami

Igusa was small, but I met a lot of interesting and friendly people. Staying there was like staying with a multicultural family. The night I arrived I had dinner with 2 couples, from Holland and France. All of the restaurants were closed, so we got food from the supermarket and ate in the kitchen. The French couple was middle-aged with stylish glasses that looked almost like they were upside down. The wife kept turning to me and smiling affectionately. The Dutch couple ate thick slices of buttered toast with salad for dinner. The woman worked at a residency for mentally ill patients in the forest. It has 150 people, and they all work and share life together, like a commune.

My roommate for one night, K. We had breakfast together and couldn’t speak each other’s languages. She had been backpacking for a few months

The guesthouse workers consisted of Tatski, Ishi, and Takahiro. Tatski and Takahiro were my age, and knew each other from college. Takahiro had just spent two months walking across Japan and sleeping in parks, pulling a handmade cart that folds out to cook on. Igusa was along his route, so he was going to be working there for 3 weeks.

On my first day I went to Kurashiki, a historic city with a canal that runs through it. It was simple and beautiful, and the cloudy weather made it even more so I think. There were many streets of old storehouses converted into shops and eateries, and it was nice and quiet. By far my favorite place I’ve been to as a tourist.

I had some trouble finding the bus stop to get home, and asked a boy leaving the convenience store for help. He was young but with his mannerisms and clothing he was like a small man, with an an ice cream waffle in hand. He asked two different store clerks where the bus stop was, walked me all the way there, and even offered me bus money. People here are so, so kind..

I got back to the guesthouse and we all had nabe (hot pot) to celebrate Takahiro joining Igusa. It was me, the Dutch couple, Ishi, Tatski, Takahiro, and two girls that usually worked in a guesthouse of the same owner in Kurashiki. There was a mix of Japanese, English, and Dutch around the two bubbling pots of soup and sake. Eventually we all managed to have one conversation in English.

On the ferry to Naoshima

The next day I went to Naoshima, also known as art island. It has many art museums, eateries, and charming hostels. It rained the whole time, so maybe it wasn’t as nice of an experience as it could have been. I also kept getting lost. But ah well! It was still pretty cool. I went to Minamidera, one in a series of abandoned houses turned into artworks. It was a minimal wood constructed building on the outside, and inside was complete darkness. Only 15 people could go in at a time, and once inside we felt along the wall and inched our way to a bench where we were told to sit down. Bathed in (almost) silence and blackness, after about 15 minutes our eyes adjusted and we saw a rectangle of very dim light in front of us. It looked like a screen. We walked up to it and found that it was not a screen, but a hole in the wall. You could put your hands out into it but see nothing, just a purple-grey haze. It was quite surreal.

Yayoi Kusama

Waiting for the bus

Cats at a closed café

I booked an extra night because of the typhoon. It poured all day, so I stayed in on my last day. I made a coaster out of igusa and Tatski taught me how to braid it too. I ate dinner with a new French couple, Francoise and Dominique, two retirees that used to be high school teachers in a part of France that many refugees and immigrants come to. They had many Haitian refugees come, who would have outbursts of anger and get into fights everyday. One time a boy came in with a huge knife looking for someone. There was also a lot of voodoo, and they would find chicken heads and feet on the ground. Sometimes kids would come to school and say they couldn’t see, because someone blinded them with voodoo. Woah.

Francoise and Dominique were funny. I could tell they knew each other very well and enjoyed being together. They met in that school and later taught at two other schools, alway sticking together. At one point Francoise made up a word, to which Dominique said, “Francoise is crazy, always making her own language. A life with Francoise is always an adventure!”

I made a lot of miso oatmeal here

The next morning I packed up my things and left for Okayama station. I had to check out at 11am but my bus to my next host was at 5:40pm. So I put my backpack in a locker at the station and wandered around the city till then. I got a bowl of cold udon and it was so, so good.

And finally I took a 3 hour bus to Hiruzen, where I am staying with Eiko san, Jiro san, and their daughter, Kotowa san (9). She is kind of annoying so far. Eiko san is a tiny woman that is always smiling, while Jiro san is completely expressionless. Only Eiko san speaks English, and very basic, so I’m not able to have much conversation with them. I wonder how living with them will be ?