My name is Anna and I am from Sweden. My mother is Japanese so I have been in Japan many times before. Usually I spend all time in Tokyo where my relatives live. This time I wanted to do trips and see other places. I wanted to get out of city life, that I normally live at home as well, and spend some time in nature.

 I thought about woofing in Japan and started to look for suitable hosts. My wish-list was as follows:

•                         A small place surrounded by mountains and forest

•                         vegetarian host (I mostly eat vegetarian food, and wanted to know what Japanese vegetarian food is like)

•                         older couple/family (I am interested in how Japan was like before I was born and how it has changed)

•                         a place that makes rice (I really wanted to see how rice is made and work in rice fields)

•                         a host that would accept a person without much experience in farming

After searching for a long time a found one host that met all my wishes. I got a very good impression when I read the page and looked at the pictures. I sent a message and got accepted. I have now been here for about a week and tomorrow is my last day.

 It feels both like a short time and a long time. Short because I dont want to leave, there is still many things I want to do. Long because I feel comfortable being here. Kentaro-san and Makiko-san are very nice people. They are caring, generous and easy to talk to. They are also surrounded by nice people. These days I have met and talked to new people every day. Usually I am not the type that feels too comfortable in crowds with strangers but everybody have been very friendly and I have enjoyed being a part of their social life.

 Every day have been different from the other. I have done far more things on my stay than I expected. Everything from painting, working in the fields, cooking, cutting trees and grass to doing interviews with local news and going to “onsen”. Everyday I have fallen asleep smiling at something funny that happened during the day. For that feeling I am very grateful.

 What I will remember most is the time we spent together while eating delicious and healthy food. Kentaro-san and Makiko-san are curious people and we had many interesting conversations. They listen carefully with patience even if it takes a long time to explain something in Japanese. They always made an effort to understand, kindly corrected my Japanese and answered my many questions about various language and culture difficulties.

 I hope I will get a chance to come back.