Life (the entirety of) in rural Japan- May 28, 2008 In Tokyo, we went to work with people around our own age. If someone retires, we hold a party for them and say our goodbyes. We never witnessed what happened to these people outside of our office setting, people around us get old and move on. Usually, we don't see them die unless we are old as well. Every once in a while ours, or a co-worker's parent or grandparent dies, and we feel sympathy for their loss. Still, for someone in their 30s, really knowing someone who dies is a relatively...http://www.bastish.net/2008/05/life_the_entirety_of_in_rural.html Sold Out- May 25, 2008 This morning we set up a booth at the local sansai (mountain vegetable) festival. To our surprise, we sold out within two hours, and are kicking ourselves for not picking more. The problem with most unprocessed sansai however, is that it is really only good to sell the same day or, in some cases, two days after picking. If we had taken too many bamboo shoots and were not able to sell them, we would have no idea what to do with so many leftovers. I think we were the first to sell all ours..http://www.bastish.net/2008/05/sold_out.html July Bike Trip (advertisement)- May 24, 2008 July 19-21 is a three day holiday here in Japan. Why not spend it riding in the mountains We are trying a new, more challenging trip that will start closer to Tokyo, ending in Sakae Mura, near our home. Along the way we will ride over 2,000+ meter passes, off-road, on-road, even carrying our bikes - anything it takes to get from Kusatsu Onsen Village, over the only highway in Japan that can only be navigated by foot, into Akiyamago. Its cheaper if you bring a friend of two, so If you or...http://www.bastish.net/2008/05/july_bike_trip_advertisement.html |