すぐ近くに right around the corner

こんな素敵な場所は歩いたら１０分に行けることで驚いた。
to think a place this awesome is a ten minute walk from where i live.

ジャングルへようこそ第 ２ welcome to the jungle 2

ok...so i'm not scared of spiders. i don't want to pick them up and let them crawl on my face, but they don't bother me...or they didn't.
クモはあまり怖くない。まあ、持ったり、自分の顔を這わせたりするのはいやだけど、それはあたりまえやろ？でも。。。でも。。。めっちゃめっちゃ怖いものを自分の目で見た。

we were moving a bookshelf and found this little lady hiding behind it, holding on to her eggs for safe keeping. of course it was a huge deal and we were all snapping pictures. i got my hand close enough to take this picture when it bolted. eika screamed and ran to other side of the shelf, when we realized that just above her head, clinging to the shelf was another monster sized spider! this place is craaazy!
本棚を別の部屋に持って行こうとした。本棚が壁から少し離れたら、後ろに隠れてるところで卵を握ってる女性を発見した。もちろんみんなはびっくりしてカメラ持ってきて、いっぱい写真を取ったよ。僕はこの写真を撮ろうとして手をクモのすぐそばに近づいて、クモはバッと逃げてエイカさんを（まあ、僕も）すっごいびくりさせた。エイカさんはきゃ～～と悲鳴を出して、本棚の横に隠れた。その時、エイカの頭のすぐ上にはもう一匹のでっかいクモが待っていた。こわっ！




i'm sure you're wondering...so, did you kill it? nope, just tossed it outside :) i can't kill something that magnificent.
「で、何ばしたと？殺したやろ？」っと皆は思っとーと？違う！そんなに立派なものはどうしても殺せない。外へ出した。

i never thought i'd be on a boat

まさか船に乗れるなんて信じられなかった

お疲れ様松永さん

matsunaga san worked more than anyone else today, cutting down the forest of weeds in the yard.　here she is enjoying a nice cold iced tea in the shade.
今日は皆より松永のほうが頑張って働いた。庭の雑草の森を完全に切ってしまった。アイスティーは美味しいそう。お疲れ様です！

焼きそば！

焼きそばを作った！
まあ、って言うかエイカさんを手伝った。。。




じゃじゃ～ん、出来上がり！

ジャングルへようこそ。welcome to the jungle

このカマキリをキッチンで発見した。
Found this little guy in the kitchen.



ムカデ！！！！
毒が持っとるばい。
「触るな！」ってよく言われとる。
I guess these things are poisonous.
I have to be reminded constantly to not touch them.



見て見て！
こいつは蛇のような大きい！
この山みみずを見て、写真をどうしても撮りたかったけん、２階の部屋にスルスル走って、カメラを取ってきて、が～ば気持ち悪い写真を撮った。
このようなばけものは見たことがあると？
ないやろ？
dude. so check out this earthworm. it's a big as a snake!!! when I found it, i had to take a picture so i ran up to my room and grabbed my camera. have you ever seen a monster like this?

まだこの家に住んでるクモの写真は撮ってないね。
いっぴきのものすっごい大きなクモはおる。
仲良しになりそうけど、現在はただ敵でも友達でもない。
お互いに尊敬してるらしい。
I've yet to get a picture of the huge spider that lives here. We're not quite friends yet, but I think we've developed a mutual respect for each other. you don't bite me, i won't crush you kinda thing.



ほら、見て。
この所で蚊に食べられてる。
I'm being eaten alive by mosquitos out here.

the dog whisperer

my name is taro.
i'm a little scared of people, so please don't pet me.
if you want to pet me, wait just a bit more...
-taro

matsunaga san, the woman who owns the restaurant i work at, has turned her land into a sort of foster home for neglected or abused dogs. in the few days i've been here i've already seen 5 dogs come and go. she brings them here, and people on a waiting list come by to see if the dog would make a good match for their family.

the other day she took me along to pick up one of the dogs. i expected to show up to some old run down shack, the dog owner screaming at us as we stole the one thing they could use to take out their anger on.



instead we show up to a house with a kind elderly couple, the man helps us load all the dog food and such into the car, while the woman sits in the doorway sobbing, eyes red from probably hours of crying. im thinking, why are we taking this dog away? he looks healthy, loves people, and he's still just a puppy.

i find out that japan has a law, where when someone reaches a certain age, they are no longer allowed to have a dog, simply because they can't care for them anymore. now i understand that...it really is best for the dog to be with a family that can take him for walks and all that junk, but in japan, after they take the dog away to the pound, if no one claims him in 3 days, he's killed. doesn't matter how wonderful a dog he may be.

so now tomu chan is the newest member of this ever growing family. this guy LOVES to go for walks. we're already best friends.

my new home away from home

so i was pretty nervous about my first experience as a volunteer worker. there's all kinds of people out there, and what if i got hooked up with the crazy ones who would make me work 12 hours a day, and feed me only if i pleaded?

i lucked out like you wouldn't believe. look at this place!

the family that owns the place treats me as one of their own. i'm given an endless supply of delicious food, work about 5-6 hours a day, with 2 days off, get my own room, and use plenty of clumsy, awkward japanese.

its crazy to be working at a restaurant in japan, helping cook the food, serve the customers, the whole lot. SWEET!

manly love

being fashionable always a concern for girls and guys alike over here, mizuki styles gucchi's hair with the curling iron.

for the first time really ever, my japanese was good enough to have a real conversation with my good friend ai. great to see old friends again. had a wonderful dinner with her family, and it was like no time had passed at all.

JAPAN!

been in japan for almost a week now! heres my first day of quarantines, airport showers, riding the train into tokyo, and grocery shopping with my displaced fukuoka friends, sachiko and wataru.

3rd times a charm?

take a good look.

soak in its beautiful simplicity.

(yeah so i'm quite proud of myself)

this is everything i'm carrying on my shoulders for the next 3 months while i wander around japan, helping out at farms and such here and there through wwoof.

what's wwoof?

just click here, they can explain it better than i can.

so after my glorious packing job, i thought it would be smooth sailing from here out. i was dead wrong.

challenges and setbacks are a part of travelling. you gotta just roll with it or it'll drive you crazy. the real bummer is when those setbacks start from day one and don't let up (not even a little) on day two.

so here was my itinerary:

alaska airlines:
san diego - portland
portland - vancouver

air canada:
vancouver - tokyo

it all started with a delayed flight out of portland. when i get to vancouver for my connection to tokyo, ive got about 20 minutes to get through customs, find my bag, recheck it, and then get RUN to my plane.

my sandals are just gonna slow me down so i rip em off and run barefoot, as fast as i possibly can. flying around corners, jetting up stairs, barely missing a few collisions with slow moving passengers. i show up at the air canada ticket counter, out of breath, head throbbing (running and me don't mix well), only to find that i missed my flight.

so now i gotta lug my junk alllllll the way down to the alaska airlines desk.

then the complete asshole at alaska acts like its MY fault. i tried first to be the calm, but still irate customer, but this guy just pissed me off so now i'm yelling at him.

after i explain everything to him, asshole says to me, "sir, this is not my problem, go talk to air canada, its their flight you missed."

ryan:
"what? not your problem?! not your fault maybe, but it sure as hell is your problem. the airline YOU work for got me here late, and i missed my connecting flight, so now what?"

asshole:
"i don't know what you want me to do. you had plenty of time to get to your plane. maybe you were just too slow..."

ryan:
"so you're really not gonna help me? this is how you're gonna be? can you atleast call air canada? see if they need anything from you?"

asshole:
"no. we cannot call air canada. this is not our problem. you have to go back and talk to them."

ryan:
"%^#$WtfiyuhT*^&56d4srCTVbgu876f&%!!!!!"

thank god for michelle, the next rep i talked to, who without question booked me a hotel room, food, got me on the flight the next day, and took care of my bags.

BUT WAIT. the next day...i get on my plane. i'm stoked, rested, well fed, and so ready to get to tokyo. but of course, that's just not gonna happen.

40 minutes into the flight, the pilot comes on the radio.

"we're having a computer system malfunction and need to land the plane, so we're heading back to vancouver."

perfect.

as the plane is approaching the runway, he comes on again.

"everyone, please take a second to locate your nearest emergency exit."

is this it? am i really gonna finally get to use one of those slides and feel like i'm fighting for my life?! AWESOME.

no such luck. it was a very rough, but safe landing. good job mr. pilot sir.




the flight is cancelled, and i am once again sitting in a hotelroom in vancouver, when i should be in tokyo.

oh well. really nothing i can do except take this opportunity to relax. there's a japanese supermarket right across the street, so i can still feel like i'm KINDA there, even though i'm still thousands of miles away.



maybe tomorrow will turn out a little better?