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Help with gardening, restaurant; or artistic painting

4.5
(23 reviews)23

The experience

We need help maintaining my garden and serving in our restaurant. We also need an artistic painter to help with mural work. If you can paint then you do not need to do garden work. Depending on your interests, we can potentially offer various places and activities where you can experience traditional Japanese culture and manners, such as kendo or tea ceremonies. We will provide ingredients that you can use for cooking every day.

What you offer

20 hours of help per week

Kitchen Hand: Help prepare, finish and serve meals.

Gardening: Help grow plants and cultivate gardens

What you get

2 days off per week

Shared Dorm: You will have a bed in a shared room, which means you will share the same room with other travelers.

Lunch: You are entitled to a free lunch, every day of your stay.

Free Laundry: You can use our laundry room freely.

Free Tours: We’ll take you on tours and rides around town. For free!

Free Hiking Tours: We’ll take you on excursions and hikes around town. For free!

Free Events: Get free entrance for the best events in town.

Bikes at your disposal: You can use our bikes any time you want.

Pick Up: We will pick you up when you arrive, and take you to our property.

Use our equipped kitchen: Feel free to use our kitchen and make your own delicious food.

Basic Internet Access: Basic speed internet for you to work remotely

Requirements

Beginner English or Beginner Japanese

Between 18 and 40 years old

Welcomes solo volunteers, couples, and partners of volunteers

Be from outside Japan

What's not included

Flights, Travel Insurance, Internal Transportation and Visa

Program Details

Our restaurant is open 3 days a week from March to May. We open from Friday to Sunday 11 AM to 3 PM. From June to December we open a local community cafe on Friday instead of the restaurant. The restaurant will then be open on Saturday and Sunday. A lot of elderly people will visit the local community cafe, you will be expected to talk with them. Japanese is appreciated but not necessary. Please only apply if you would like to talk with them.
In the restaurant you will be helping with taking orders by using an order list and serving the customers. The other 2 days, you will be helping me with the garden.

Activities & Shift

You can decide your own hours for the garden work, but the goal is to keep the garden beautiful. Friday to Sunday, the shift is 11AM-3PM (or shorter).
We try to maintain a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere.

Our restaurant is open 3 days a week from March to May. We open from Friday to Sunday 11 AM to 3 PM. From June to December we open a local community cafe on Friday instead of the restaurant. The restaurant will then be open on Saturday and Sunday. A lot of elderly people will visit the local community cafe, you will be expected to talk with them. Japanese is appreciated but not necessary. Please only apply if you would like to talk with them.
In the restaurant you will be helping with taking orders by using an order list and serving the customers. The other 2 days, you will be helping me with the garden.

There are a lot of traditional Japanese cultural activities that you can potentially experience. However, it is necessary to follow the basic Japanese manners while participating in the classes, especially kendo. You might not be able to participate in the classes otherwise.

You can have a look at my Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/tousuibo/

Rules

This is our home, not a hotel, so please consider the following.
・Make sure everything and the entire area you use is cleaned before you leave.
・Be quiet when you are walking about inside the house.
・Close the doors quietly with consideration.
・Be sure not to smoke inside the house.
・Consider the cost of electricity and water. Use them wisely.
・Make sure you take off the futon and pillow cover before you leave.
・Please, do not damage the house.
・Due to the very moist air in the countryside you have to air out and dry your Futon once a week at least. Otherwise, mold might be spreading, and you would have to cover the expenses for the cleaning.


・Please, remember if you do something bad or hurt us on purpose we will ask you to leave right away.


Additional Information
★We don't accept couples, but pairs are okay.
★When applying for June to December, you need to apply with a video, either in your profile or the application. In this video you will need to give answer to this question: On Fridays, our restaurant will become an intercultural community cafe. Most of the customers will be elderly. Are you able to communicate actively with them?