More from Shiso
Coming to you from Bokusho-san`s Temple, Wednesday evening. We are at the tea ceremony again - just as good a second time ^_^.
Anyway, since the last update; weve had a lot more practise/training at the Shiso care home. Mostly taking certain residents to the toilet, cleaning at bath time (before dinner every day) and attempting to entertainas much as possible. Our activities involve crafts most days, and also pottery, cooking, going for walks, flower arranging,trampoline time and music. It varies, depending on whom I am looking after at the time, and whether or not they decide to run off somewhere else in the home. Actually, to be perfectly frank, so far its been a difficult time. Not so much the duties such as bathing the residents, which I thought would be the challenge, but because everything is so s-l-o-w and tiresome. The food is generally good, but I`m not sure if the change in diet has anything to do with my lethargy. Really, almost falling asleep doing some tasks on certain days…
Enough with the gripes though, I hoping Ill adjust after a couple more weeks and the days wont drag. Maybe my poor Japanese will start to improve as well. At the weekend, Kyunai-san took us to Mitoku Nageiredo; which was a long drive from 6.30am to Tottori prefecture followed by an interesting climb to se a really cool 1200 year old Buddhist Temple embedded within a mountain wall. Afterwards we went to the sea and ate cup ramen. We also saw a bizarre method of drying seafood and squid - spinning it around it on cuboid stands quite fast! After that we went to see some new friends of hers, were shown around a traditional Japanese inn (like the ryokan, but much better, with a garden and waterfall in the centre, really elaborate woods and tatami mats and generally just a great design. Our guide also gave Jessica and I each an 80 year old antique sake cup as a gift! o.O. They take gift-giving very seriously in Japan, so it`s going to be difficult considering the gifts I have brought are fairly cheap ;/.
I must go, as I`ve been using the Internet a fair while here. I would hate to exploit their generosity ;/.