Day Labor

Last week I accepted an invitation for an 'outing' without really knowing what I was going to be doing. I had met a very nice Japanese lady at a Meet and Greet one afternoon. The following day she called me and asked me to join her for an outing. Her English is pretty good, but she was not able to articulate exactly what we would be doing. With nothing to lose, I decided to blindly accept. After meeting her at a station close to my house, we rode the subway to the end of the line. Then we changed and got on a train and went another 4 stops. In the parking lot of this station there were about 10 other Japanese ladies. A couple had cars and they also had a couple taxi's waiting. I was  introduced to everyone (don't ask, cause I can't tell you all their names and roles within 'Garden Club') and my hostess, Yumiko, apologized about a dozen times, for inconveniencing everyone by bringing me last minute. (She later explained to me that no one was really inconvenienced at all, but it was 'the Japanese way' to apologize for any changes and unexpected situations.

This Garden Club is an arm of CCEA (Cross Cultural Exchange Association). There were actually a few other foreign women that arrived shortly after the mass introduction. Their names I can easily remember, Kathy from Hawaii and we will call her Lisa, a Boeing wife, from well, everywhere. She has been on about 5 different expat assignments to Italy and France and now Japan. By her accounts, she has been everywhere and done everything. She might have been interesting to talk to, if she wasn't so loud and truly crazy, (but that is a whole another story).

We went to a hibiscus farm and learned how this particular farmer was being innovative with the plant. By nipping off the bud and coring it, he is making hibiscus teas and jams. The buds can also be used in salads and cooking. To me, they had a sharp and bit sour taste. Not a big fan. overall, but the jam is tasty. Then again, you can make jam out of just about anything, right? Prickly pear cactus comes to mind.

Hibiscus Plant

Me pruning away.

Baskets of Buds

CCEA Garden Club

We 'worked' the field for about an hour by cutting the buds off the ripe plants. Then we washed the buds and used a tool that popped the seeds out from the bud. I am demonstrating below. This took about another hour or so. For some reason Gary found me attending this outing somewhat comical and is now referring to me as his "little hibiscus picker" all the time. : )

Me enjoying a refreshing Japan-sized glass (mini-size me!) of hibiscus tea.

After all the hard work, we went to a lunch at a lovely organic french restaurant. They served an 8 course meal that took over 2 hours! These ladies like their lunches out.

The name was Na No Uta meaning "Song of the Vegetables".