Come and help me and my daughter with our organic garden in Hagi, Japan

Details

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  Description

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  ! I won't be available from January 30th to May 16th and probably won't be able to host anyone before May 20th (few days to adapt from the time lap after coming back from France). Also our life is going to change and I can't guarantee right now that I'll be able to host you, though I definitely want to and need help with my garden and my daughter. I will know more details around beginning of May just before coming back.
  In any case don't hesitate to write to me, ask questions about our life here and more details about the situation and introduce yourself and skills and reasons to come to Japan and Hagi :)
  Thank you very much everybody!
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  Hi, I'm Lulu, 34, a French mom married to Toru, a 43 years old Japanese artist, and we have a 2 years old daughter, Yuni, but we call her Pompon so we became the Pompon family.
  
  I am a musician. We are living in a quite deep countryside small house in Japan, Yamaguchi prefecture, and I have lands where it is possible to grow veggies, have animals... not as a business but to feed the family and friends and workawayers! For now, I can't manage anything: compost, veggies, gardening small house, animals... I am way too lonely with my baby , because my husband is not really into veggies and he is too busy at work to help me, as well as my few friends (some are moms with young child, some are not often in Hagi, some just too busy or not into it...).
  
  So I am looking for helpers. Not just help to grow veggies in a permaculture way but also to build small garden houses for tools and animals, fences... as well as help with my daughter and musicians to play together!
  
  Our small city, Hagi, is really nice by keeping many historical places and the countryside is very beautiful though abandoned like so many other countryside places in Japan.
  
  The main land where I throw the compost and tried to grow veggies for 2 years, is in the city itself closed to a school and surrounded by rice fields. And the house where I live is a bit outside from the city, next to a very beautiful river with many different kind of wild birds. The house is 2~3km far from the land, it is possible to cycle there, the ride is really nice.
  At home we also have a very small garden and we can use the neighbour's orange tree garden as we want.
  My husband will be living to the next house from March 2024, for now I live alone with my daughter.
  
  Lands are big but living places small so if you stay at my home I don't have a room for you. You can sleep in the living room or I can give you my room and I sleep in the living room with my daughter.
  I have a compost dry toilet but there is also a normal toilet (countryside style though, don't expect the electric Japanese toilet with many options ^^' ).
  
  I would love to cook for the helpers as I enjoy cooking a lot, generally raw food with many salads but also steam and fried veggies, tofu, eggs, fish... I don't eat meat so I don't cook it.
  
  We are a small community at a friend's guest house where we often go to spend the evening and share meals, and there you can also eat (for free or any money you want to give) any kind of food and Japanese specialities.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  I can introduce you to my friend's guest house community and my neighbour's community too. Here nobody speaks English (or very few), and every contact is in Japanese. It's quite deep countryside so your experience will be totally different from Tokyo or any big Japanese city. We can also cycling or driving around to see the area which is really beautiful. Hagi is an historical city and famous for pottery. Old buildings have been saved and little neighbourhoods are very typical, like in a samurai manga.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  I mainly wish for help to manage my land for growing organic veggies in a permaculture way, with compost and good soil. And to be able to have animals, so building animal small houses and fences.
  
  Not as a business but just because I love nature and animals, I care about earth and the quality of the food my daughter and I eat, and I love sharing with the people. I want my daughter to grow up close to a natural way of life.
  
  I need help to keep clean the land especially at the summer time when grass grows as a jungle.
  
  As much as possible, I'd like to build the things with recycled materials such as the left over wood our neighbour doesn't use, bamboo from the forest, material from abandoned house going to be destroyed...
  
  There are 2 places where I'd like to have help: one is my garden where I throw my compost (kitchen and toilet). It is not at home but 2~3km away. It is in the Hagi city next to a school and surrounded by rice fields. I want to build a garden house for tools, and start to seriously grow veggies after 2 years of fail because of lack of time and care. There is also possible to have a goat but it needs fences and small house.
  
  Next place is my home where I'm living, I'd like to grow basic veggies, few quantity as it is small. We can use for free the Orange trees garden next to my house so if you have ideas how to build children games, it is also welcome. My daughter is 2 and I'd like to invite her friends to play here sometimes.
  
  If you are musician as a beside project we can play music together and there are some places in Hagi where we can have concerts.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate
  Japanese: Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  About languages, my daughter is 2 and already started to speak 3 languages. I used to be fluent in Spanish but I forgot a lot since I came to Japan. I can speak to you in French to help you improving. And I can help translating from Japanese to talk with many local people.
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  Accommodation

  If you stay at my home for free, it is small so you can't have your own room.
  
  We can arrange that you take my room and I sleep in the living room with my daughter. That's what we do now as it is too cold in the sleeping room. Don't worry I don't expect you to come in the winter time!
  
  It has compost toilet but also normal toilet. I can cook for you but no meat.
  You could also have a tent in the orange tree garden or park a van or camping car at the parking behind (I don't have van or camping car to offer, bring yours please!).
  
  For now I'm living alone with my daughter but my husband will move to the next house in March.
  
  I don't have Wi-Fi at home but we can go to friends' places to use it (for free) or to the combini.

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  What else ...

  My husband and many of my friends smoke but always outside and far from my daughter. I don't smoke and it is not allowed to smoke inside the house. Otherwise you can smoke any time you want, but for places Japan has weird rules like no smoking while walking on the street for example.
  
  People around here always enjoy meeting foreigners. The area is very beautiful and I can drive you to the far places, like Akiyoshidai or Tsuwano or Kasayama. There is also a fish market and many pottery places. It is possible to rent a bicycle and just enjoy cycling in the city. My Japanese husband knows more than me about touristic places so you can also ask him for more details ^^

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  If you're not driving a bus or truck, you can park just behind the orange tree garden next to my home.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We don't have pets yet but my daughter loves animals and if it is not a too big dog we have space outside too.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 3 hours a day, 4 days a week

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