My Coco-Rin adventure (Part 1)

It took me a while to finally find the time to sit down and do this, but hey “better late than never”, as they say.
It also feels fitting that I’ll be the first to write a blogpost on this website, as I was also the one that created it. I’m not a professional in any way (this was my first time working with a certain CMS), so please I encourage you all to notify me if you find any problem or bug (just tell Yuki-san or write me through the “Contact us” form).

With that said, I will now start talking about my almost 3 weeks journey at Coco-Rin. I took notes every day on what we were doing and some thought I had in my mind, exactly as Yuki-san asks her volunteers to do. What I didn’t do, however, was actually send it to her 😅 (ごめんなさい、ゆきさん!)

 

February 19, 2025

I arrived at Ona station around 18:00.

Little advice for everyone using the Tenryu Hamanako line from Kakegawa: use the restroom at the station before boarding the train! You will be travelling on a single carriage that doesn’t have a toilet, which can be a little inconvenient for an almost 2 hours train ride 😬.

I think they tried to make up for it by having the most beautifully Unagi-themed public restroom I’ve ever seen😂.

I was picked up by Yuki-san, together with her son and Tanjia, another volunteer from Switzerland.
We arrived at Coco-Rin shortly after, had something to eat, and then I moved into my room and went to sleep. Travelling can be very tiring sometimes!

 

February 20, 2025

I got introduced to the restaurant and the various activities by Tanja. She’s been here quite a long time and she knows where everything is and how things work around here. In the morning I helped in the kitchen and serving customers, while in the afternoon we started making miso. I didn’t know at all how was the process and I actually never even asked myself somehow, so it was quite cool to try it first hand.
While me and Tanja were busy making miso, Yuki went to pick up Ronny, a girl from Israel, that would stay with us for the next 5 days. As soon as she arrived, she joined the miso-making experience.

 

To whoever is going to eat our miso when it’s ready: Enjoy it 😁! It was the result of some laborious, but fun few hours!

 

The day ended with a beautiful sunset by the lake and a traditional Swiss dinner cooked by Tanja 😋

 

February 21, 2025

In the morning we went to the bakery where Tanja and Ronny helped make some delicious food, while I was assisting Yuki-san with one of her websites. After this, she asked me if I could make her a website for the volunteers that come and help her (this website where you are reading this!).

I did something related to website making in one of my university courses, but never actually done one in practice. We both decided though to give it a try as I’m going to stay for the next 3 weeks here and I think I could make something decent out of it.

Later on Jumpei arrived, a guy from Japan that was planning to stay at Coco-Rin for a long time.

For dinner , it was my time to cook something traditional from my country and I tried to make some risotto alla zucca (pumpkin risotto).

I have to be honest, it wasn’t my best risotto, but the final result was alright. I don’t usually cook risotto often, and certainly not with Japanese rice 😅.

We then slept at the bakery as some guests were staying at the main house.

 

February 22, 2025

Our first task of the day was painting the new Coco-Rin door, which a previous volunteer had made. We also had to find a way to improve it so that it would be easier to open, so we considered installing a handle or something similar.
While we were painting, it started snowing out of nowhere for a little while: it was really unexpected, but nevertheless beautiful.

In the afternoon I then started researching the best way to make the Coco-Rin website.

For dinner, Ronny cooked for us a traditional dish from Israel called shakshouka 😋.

 

つづく