Before I even arrived in Japan I knew that they were efficient beyond belief, now that I have arrived I know that is very much the truth. I wanted to learn how to farm fruits, vegetables, make soba and run a hostel from the Japanese.
As soon as I got my holiday working visa I was ready to register to wwoofing Japan and start applying on farms. $50 for a year subscription gives me the opportunity to go almost anywhere in Japan and do a full on culture exchange. I got some odd replies, from places stating that they were full (which seems typical), one from a gentleman that didn't speak a word of English and sent me a reply in romaji (Japanese translated into English phonetics) that I couldn't translate and so had to reject the possible offer due to communication failure, and one that had accepted me and my friend onto their soba/potato farm.
We arrived in Tokyo July 5th and started sightseeing, it was like a dream come true all I knew at that point was that we were going to the farm on the 10th so we had some time to kill. The day finally came for us to purchase our tickets and head out of Tokyo on our first adventure; the train was about $25 and a 4 hour journey. The express train which would have costs a lot more money and would have cut our travel time to an hour and half. Since we we wanted to save some money and time wasn't an issue we took the cheaper route. It was a bit of a battle to get the tickets and get a full print out at the Ueno ticket office.
We finally made to the station 45 minutes late due to a faulty transfer. Seriously, how can anyone do a 5 minute transfer, with luggage, in a station that you have never been to before? FYI: All the stations in Japan have a lot of exits, transfers points and different directions on the same line. It only takes one false move to send you back the way you came or out in the total opposite direction you needed to go.
We were picked up at the station by a little old Japanese lady with a baby strapped to her back in a wee white pick up truck. When she pulled up as soon as we threw our things in the back and she started driving away from the station not only did I feel anxious but felt a terrible gut feeling inside. Her English wasn't as good in person as it was in the emails.
Our first stop was at her soba shop where after a 4 hour train ride Asia and I hauled a fridge onto her truck whilst getting bit by mosquitoes. Now during the next 25 minutes is when things started going downhill, she mentioned that we would be staying at the Potato House, breakfast was at 7am and it takes 20 mins to get to the potato farm and when we go out there we wouldn't be able to come back. What does that mean? It means that we would be stuck out in a potato field until 6pm before we would head back for dinner. She says that they get a break to eat lunch which I assume that she would prepare for everyone, I doubted very much that she would be picking potatoes herself.
Okay so I have to mention something here during our correspondence, we were told many things like:
1. We would only have to work 4-6 hours tops. Now it has suddenly become 8am-6pm, somehow has became 10 hours working in 30 degree weather that we weren't prepared for. (Japan's heat is quite intense)
2. There would be cultural exchange, tea ceremonies, learning how to make soba, etc. She mentioned that it was a very busy time and we would work everyday unless it rained. So we would work indefinitely?
This wasn't even the bad part. I believe that most places have staff housing and I myself have stayed in many different kinds of accommodations in the UK due to moving around and landing jobs where accommodations were included. (A really nice 2 bedroom house in Scotland where we faced the tall peaks of the Hebrides and one lonely pier, a place called ‘The Wacky’ in Birmingham shared by 12 other people with the most disgusting kitchen I have ever laid eyes on, and an upper flat on the top floor of a pub that we shared with 6 other people.)
Sorry that rant got away from me. We drove past the desolate farm lands far from the nearest city. On arriving at the Potato House we quickly discovered that there were 8 bunks to a room and that the girls dorm hadn't been cleaned all year. My socks turned black instantly. We were told to wipe down the floor -which was filthy - the bed frames - which were extremely dusty - and then asked set up our beds with a tatami mat and some very questionable sheets and towel blankets.
Instantly we started to panic, there was another 8 bedroom dorm for the guys and a large barn type room and a conference room where they talk about productivity and ate their meals. Now yes some of you might think that isn't too bad, but after we talked to the only other English speaking person there we found out that everyone but him was getting paid because they had been properly hired, instead of coming as wwoofers. We didn't fit the scene, so we told the lady that we wanted to find paid work back in Tokyo right away. I know that we would be saving money by working here but it just wasn't worth it and we should cut our losses for coming out and head on back to try our luck in the big city.
She offered us 3000yen a day, which is $3 an hour, then 4000yen, then 5000yen for us to stay because they were so short on workers. Now I have worked for minimum wage more than once since I quit my job at the hospital back at home but this was the lowest I had ever been offered. On top of that I wouldn't be able to see any of the sights, practice Japanese like I wanted to or have the time to explore the surrounding areas as everything was at least a 30 minute bus ride away.
We ate dinner, told her we were heading back to Tokyo to find work the next morning, she protested and tried to keep us there but failed. In the morning we apologized, she tried once again to persuade us to stay, fed us breakfast, packed us both a lunch, and tried one more time before giving us directions to the bus stop.
I hope to try wwoofing again in the future, but I will ask a lot of questions, do a lot more research and not waste anyone else’s time.
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