MY SELF SUFFICIENT LIFE

Sue introduced me to WWOOFING - a self sufficient way of being. The system is simple: you go to live in a family, receive food and shelter and in return do chores on voluntary basis.

I am the only WWOOFER in the Shimoyamada family. I have my own house with two swings, a garden, a garage with bicycles. I also have a family of wasps sleeping just under the ceiling so I can not have the house warm - it will wake them up. Two pieces of coal in a box (a peculiar but efficient heater) and a special "warm table" keep me warm in the night. I get a good sleep.

I have a temple to go to each morning at 6 AM. I am still quite bad in meditating. My feet hurt and my mind goes wondering. "Not to think of anything, become one with nature," says the priest. Maybe for a minute or three out of the 40 I can actually do that, the last 10 definitely not - then I can only think of my feet. I am stubborn and do not want to quit, so each morning I get up at 5.30 to try again. Maybe this is not my thing, maybe my feet will never bend enough to sit in a correct position, still if I practice I will become better, I thought to myself today...

It is an hour ride on a bicycle from my house to the Shimoyamadas. I leave my house at 8AM and return around 9PM every day.


In three weeks that I have lived here, I feel I have become an organic part of the family. It is not only food and shelter that I receive, but the circle of friends, a library of interesting books, the magical family moments and much more that money can not buy. In return I give my two hands to help mother of the family - Katsura Shimoyamada to clean, cook, do laundry, watch the baby and anything else that she needs. Sometimes I help the father dr Yoshinari Shimoyamada to make remedies. It is winter so we rarely go into the field.

I like my self sufficient life, I like the taste of real Japan and I feel good to serve someone as well as I can. On the road I am the one to receive. Now I want to give back. I will stay here until I will have to leave. My Japanese visa expires in March.