Our final stop on the first day of our tr
ip away was a chance for us to do a bit of study while also having a nice, relaxing evening. We stayed at a couple's house who is also involved in the "Green Tourism" organisation and so effectively we were doing a homestay at their house. The wife is an amazing cook so as soon as we arrived we were fed and fed and fed some more (oops no photos... too busy eating!) and then after dinner the husband took over the entertaining and plugged in the karaoke machine for our children to try karaoke for the first time - yes they are very deprived Japanese children! After lots of embarrassment and lots of searching for the perfect song both children and Tom sang a couple of songs followed by the husband who had a pretty good voice.
I found it strange staying in someone's house and not having the freedom to fully escape when I wanted to. But having said that it was nice to be waited on for a change and be able to just walk away from all the dishes, the dirty sheets etc. It was also interesting
listening to their stories of coming from a bigger city, settling in the countryside and then trying to get the locals enthused about trying something new and trying to rejuvenate the dying community. I found myself nodding away and thinking "it is the same all over Japan"!
Fortunately the kids haven't been asking to go back to karaoke again, but I'm guessing it will only be a matter of time....
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