Back to basics ... Good Cludgie (if you're Scottish) ....how to use atoilet.

There is nothing more important than the basics of life and one of the first things I noticed about Japan were the array of toilets and the very many instructions of how to use them. 

They are like Temples to the art of doing the business.

And here's a wee selection

Sit down 

You can flush and wash your hands at the same time with many of them.... handy.

Always be polite

This one is not for sitting on.... enjoy washing your hands though.

Or enjoy this one with it's cosy velvet seat, many seats are heated.

But most importantly learn how to use it !

At first I laughed at this amount of instruction, but it didn't take long before I needed to ask how to use one.
It was in Mino in the Japanese Alps in Gifu Prefecture, the couple who owned the guest house were very lovely..funny and generous and spoke very little English( better than my poor grasp of Japanese of course) but it didn't stop them trying to communicate and make jokes.

I had to ask how to use the toilet, I meant flush it. The wife came and sat on the toilet and acted through what everything did, how it cleans both front and behind and what you have to do. It took some while before I found out how to flush, but I was happy to know about the other things and have been enjoying them ever since.

Not sure what this is trying to say, but I don't think it's a game.

But there is most definitely an etiquette to toilet paper use.

When I first arrived every toilet I went into the paper looked like this, either someone was rushing in to fold it this way, or each person must do this when they leave. It's not as easy as it seems though. I tried the one above which is why it is wonky. 

I don't know what this says, but i'm sure any Japanese readers will, hope it's worth it.

Visiting a 'restroom' in Japan is a whole new experience, much more interesting than in Europe or the UK.

Where do we come from ? What are we ? Where are we going ?

I've just 'borrowed' this title from a Gauguin painting, after reading Geoff Dyer's essay about his unsuccessful trip to view said painting in Tahiti.
(if you don't know him Geoff Dyer's writing is great )


Perhaps they are THE questions for life, but the question right now is .......
What am I doing in Japan ?

Cultural tourist, visitor, performer, artist, nosy git......?

I am here because i want to know more, about the culture, the people, the land.

Our Western understanding of Japan seems to consist of two strong but seemingly contradictory elements.

Are they true or are they just cliche.

In the past I was not interested in visiting Japan, as my only experience was the game show Takeshi's Castle, shockingly hilarious and seemingly cruel, it did not enamour the Japanese to me, making me think of Samurai's and Hari-kiri, it didn't make me want to visit.

There are other questionable tv shows such as Orgasm Wars, Gaki no Tsukai, Sing what happens, Candy or not Candy or Team fight, I've not watched them, but I would say humiliation is a feature.

But after hearing about an Artist residency one of my fellow Skammdegi ( Iceland ) artists did in rural Japan ( this blog originated from that residency in 2016 and you can read it here )  I became more and more interested in finding out more.

I'd like to know what are Japan and the Japanese really like. I'm only here a short while and my itinerary leans towards the traditional, the heritage and the rural, but for my first visit I hope to learn some things and enjoy this rich and unique culture.

Hopefully as with all life's experiences, I will come closer to finding answers to the above questions.

WARNING!
There will be many pictures, some likely philosophising and points of views and facts that may only be half true.....please enjoy

In Celebration of Women

February 1st was Kvenfelagskonunnar - a day in Iceland to celebrate women's organisations.

To celebrate Rita decided that she would meet and honour some women in Olasfsjordur. 

Here are some that she met. 

Here is Lenka, she is very clever as she is always in the library doing some administration, I think her work involves reviewing the Icelandic education system. She is originally from Slovakia but she has a husband who is from the area and two young children. She is funny and she speaks excellent English. 

This is Rachel Beetz she is a Skammdegi Artist. Rachel is a musician and composer from California.

She is also performing in Reykjavik during her stay here. For Skammdegi she is making a 30 hour long composition, each hours score is composed from photographs taken each night over 30 days. She is also knitting hundreds of balls like this, which will have lights inside. 

Her show is on in the Natural History Museum in Olafsfjordur Sat 13th Feb 9 am - Midnight. 

This is Hadla ( that is probably not the way to spell it ) she was covering for Loa in the supermarket, because Loa was ill. Hadla usually works there at the weekend, I think she is probably a student.

Here is a young woman - I'm afraid Rita has forgotten her name, but she is originally from Poland - she is definitely a student at school.

Here is a young Lady who you might have seen before, Ellis O'Connor an Artist from Dundee in Scotland.She is a painter and photographer, she is funny and her English is not too bad. She has work on at the Listhus gallery and also a solo show in Akureyri. Although Ellis says she loves Dundee she is never there as before she came to Olafsfjordur she was on a residency in Skagastrond and next winter she will be Artist in residence in the Shetlands.

This is Snowluhr ( I have no idea how to spell it ) she is the Yoga teacher , she teaches yoga in Olafsfjordur on Mondays and Thursdays 5 - 6.15 in the yellow building ( the back of the fish factory ) I haven't been because I only just found out where it is.

It's in here. 

Iceland has the highest gender equality in the World. 

Across the Globe during the last decade the number of women who work outside the home has risen to 250 million. In 98 countries there are more women graduating at university than men. In Iceland women make up 64% of graduates. This increased level in education is not reflected in wage increases. 

In Iceland for every 100 Euros a man earns a woman will earn 86. If Iceland is the best country in terms of the gender equality gap what does this say about the rest of the World. 

According to the report taken from the global gender gap index, the economic gap is not predicted to close till 2133. 

When I read that this morning I thought it said 2033  - not good enough for my daughter, but maybe any granddaughters I might have - but no 117 years before there is no pay gap. 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   Excuse me ?

Eat, Drink and be Merry

Now in Iceland it is the month of Porri - a traditional Norse/Viking month that starts the Friday after the 19th Jan. The month begins with Bondadagur (husbands day) and ends with Konudagur (wife’s day.) During the month Porrablots are held, traditional feasts with singing,toasts and general merriment ( sounds a lot like Burn’s night ) 

Traditional foods are eaten such as svid or sheep’s head - singed,de-brained and boiled with ears,eyes and tongue. hakarl - putrefied shark, which everyone talks about here and some of the other Artists have eaten, as you might imagine it has mixed reviews. Supposedly if it were not fermented it would be highly toxic, once fermented it is regarded as extremely beneficial to health. The taste is so strong that it is traditionally washed down with brennivin a traditional strong alcohol also known as black death, which is made with potato and caraway.

Apologies vegetarians - but this is Iceland

One story says that in the old days farmer’s celebrated the return of daylight by jumping half-naked on one foot around the farmhouse to welcome the month of porri and were then rewarded with a feast. I read somewhere else that farmers took off their trousers and sat on the ground to see if the ground were warm enough to farm !! It cannot have been this early on in the year - no body need take any piece of clothing off to see that the ground is pretty cold right now.

Quite a lot of snow today - keep your trousers on. 

Both Lamb and fish are in plentiful supply here.

 Liz was in the supermarket today, she often goes before it closes at 6 when it is busy, she likes to find out what people are having for tea, tonight the majority were having lamb with potato or sweet potato and veg, one couple said they were having horse and they showed her big fat sausages that looked like huge saveloy’s filled with horse !

Here are some Icelandic goodies I have purchased.

Skyr is an interesting thing,it’s a cheese tastes a bit like yogurt but creamier full of protein and fat free, it’s pretty yummy - today i bought coconut flavour. It’s a very traditional food, at one time
it began to be unpopular and outdated, an angry man went to the parliament and threw it at the politicians which received a lot of interest and now it is extremely popular once again. 

But today was an excellent day on the food and drink front as Kaffi Klara was open !! Yo - because of our festival, There were cakes and coffee and old -fashioned telephones as it used to be the post office and telephone exchange i suppose.

Liz was in her element.

There is so much to say about food and drink, that i’ll need to say more another time.

Some Artists enjoying cake !