It makes me happy to say that Couchsurfing is not dead. I’ve been grateful for all the friends and experiences that Couchsurfing has brought me through the years and it was unpleasant to think of it as becoming irrelevant and a dying platform. It still might, but for the moment at least, my faith is restored in its ability to bring like-minded friends from different cultures and places together and allow them to share the world.
As such, it’s really an honor to finally be able to host and to share this beautiful city of Otaru and some of the things that have made me fall in love with it. My first guest was Thein, a Burmese man living in the south of Japan. Cool guy and as with so many couch surfing experiences of the past, an instant friend. He said he found his room to be cozy and comfortable (which was a relief to me) and was also able to find the house after dark on his own (which was also a relief to me). I warned him about racket of the crows in the morning and I swear they heard me and there was not even a peep from them yesterday. This morning after he left, they showed up as usual, cawing, banging the roof, making a racket. I guess their racket is just for me.
Yesterday, I took the day off from any of my usual work on the house, writing, painting or studying and the two of us went up the Tenguyama Ropeway to hike a bit and enjoy the autumn colors which are in full bloom. We met a roving gang of Japanese women hiking in Waldo costumes (pus a minion and Robinhood). There was a cruise ship in port and a couple of ladies having coffee next to us at one place were from Hawaii! It was a happy coincidence and a nice conversation followed. After that we came down the mountain and wandered around Otaru.
I’m sure that I won’t always be able to play tour guide with guests, but I have to admit, I really do love being a guide. It’s nice to have the money eliminated from the equation.I was able to share a few of my favorite hidden spots and we checked out the big tourism areas. It’s great to be able to share some of the things I love about this place, hang out, explore, and even discover a new ramen shop with a new friend (who treated! Thanks) . Back at Satoshi Manor, I introduced Thein to my all-time favorite card game, Mad Dutch Bastards (he soundly whooped me).
Before he left this morning, I had him sign the ‘guest closet’. I know other houses have a guest book, but I decided that since Satoshi Manor is actually a book, I would turn the closet in the guest room into the part where guests can leave their mark. I’m looking forward to more guests here in the future. And below a few more pictures from a lovely autumn day in Otaru
