WWOOFing: Ski Resorts and Suprises

Trip Start Dec 10, 2007

Trip End Nov 27, 2008

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Where I stayed

Nikko Park Lodge

(Nikko hotels)

Flag of Japan Nikko, Japan
Wednesday, March 26, 2008

WWOOFing is an accronym for World Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming (although opportunities are not limited to farming). Basically it's a volunteer program for people to work abroad, and in exchange, their host will provide food, lodging, and hopefully, some cultural experiences. Aaron and I WWOOFed at two different places, and had two very different experiences.

WWOOFing at Numajiri Lodge

This was a dream come true. It was an experience that we hoped for, but it was better than we could have hoped. Our hosts were Hiromi and Shinya, a young couple in their mid 20's managing a lodge at the foot of a small ski resort. They were also hosting three other friendly and interesting WWOOFers (Jessica and Chou from Taiwan and Toshka from Tokyo).

Aaron cleaning

The fact that we were ON a decent ski resort was a thrilling surprise to us and better than we could have hoped!! Not only were our hosts friendly and willing to teach us about Japanese food (yum!), language, and customs, but they also gave us snowboarding gear and lift tickets and let us use the onsen (outdoor hot-spring bath) whenever we wanted. So between our chores at the lodge (cleaning the Japanese style rooms, cooking Japanese food, shoveling snow off the porch, walking Figo, the black-lab), we would hit some jumps at the terrain park. The snow was pretty slushy spring conditions, so the park was perfect for our few hours per day of snowboarding.

Our week at Numajiri was relaxing and educational and we came away with a deep understanding of our new friends and a traditional Japanese hotel. Saying goodbye was so sad!

A short break from WWOOFing

We had one week before our next WWOOFing commitment. Aaron really wanted to check out the snowboarding way up North in Hokaido, while I was hesitant to go that far and spend so much money on sub-par snowboarding conditions

Moving Sushi

. So for the first time since early December, Aaron and I spent a few nights apart! He had fun learning new tricks and enjoying beautiful volcano views from his resort in Hokaido, while I enjoyed hiking and temple viewing at an island village called Matsushima.

WWOOFing at Nikko Park Lodge

This lodge was in a cute mountainous town called Nikko. The lodge attracts many young travellers and it has a very comfortable and home-like environment. However, it was not traditional Japanese in any sense. The owner, Ken, is a laid-back Japanese man who has lived most of his life in the United States, so his English was great and he provided many comforts of America (rock music, American food, etc.) This meant that we drank a lot of beer, forgot all the Japanese we had learned at Numajiri, and didn't eat as adventurously as we did at Numajiri. (No tiny shrimp for breakfast, stinky fermented soybeans, crab brains, or teriyaki grasshoppers. I never thought I would miss these things!)

One other "WWOOFer" was also staying at the Lodge. Monte was from Seattle, had been living in Japan for 4 years, and was currently transitioning from a career as a stunt-jet skier working at Japan's Universal Studios Theme Park to a new career as a web designer

Numajiri

. Monte wasn't actually signed up to be a WWOOFer- he was supposed to be doing web-design for the Lodge's while staying there, but he somehow got stuck with WWOOFer-like jobs (cleaning, cooking) plus more. So Aaron, Monte and I are all learning the ins and outs of this lodge.

Suddenly, Ken had a family emergency and had to leave for 3 days... and he assumed that we would easily run the lodge! After some discussion, we agreed to help him out. Crazy.

So, with poor Monte doing most of the work and Aaron and I helping out where we could, we had a blast running this lodge... I look forward to the day that I'll have my own lodge/hostel to run.

With the spare time we could find, we enjoyed Nikko's amazing number of ornate temples in the beautiful cedar forests. Huge temples comprised a huge sacred village for Buddhist monks and pilgrims since the first century. Stunning. We also saw a bunch of snow monkeys in the mountains above the town.

This WWOOFing experience was quite an adventure. I didn't learn much about Japanese culture, but I learned a lot about running a lodge.

Click here for photo slideshow (click "i" in middle of photo for descriptions)