baby bamboo

i was in a bamboo forest at 5am on wednesday, wondering how to find the baby bamboo shoots.

i'm with the mori family again. last week, mr mori invited me to come over and see him and his family. they said they were having a barbecue on wednesday. i said i'd love to. after i accepted they told me i would have to wake up at 4am and go to the bamboo forest and look for baby bamboo, so i would be best to come over on tuesday and stay the night. i said that sounds fine.

i go to their home town, karia, after work on tuesday. mr mori picks me up from the station and we go to a korean restaurant and eat meat. in the restaurant is also mr mori's work friends and some of their family, maybe 12 people in all. they all say hello, and i say hello back. one guy stands up and starts bowing. i just wave my hand and grin. i get seated at the children's' table. they help me decipher the menu, with is all different kinds of beef, or different kinds of pork, so i just point at random things. if they say no or shake their heads, i choose something else until they agree with me. they also order me some soup, rice and salad. after the meat, they ask me if i want dessert. i point to ice cream. the waiter comes out with 3 bowls of ice cream, one for me and one each for the 2 little girls. it's the youngest girl's birthday: she's 13.

after the restaurant with go to a bar which looks like someone's house. we all crowd around the biggest table, and the mother behind the bar brings out the big brown bottle of sake with a name written on it. the youngest member of the work friends starts to mix drinks for everyone. the little girl leads me outside to a vending machine and recommends i buy the melon soda.

there is a tv i the corner of the bar which doubles as a karaoke machine. they ask me if i know the beatles. i said yes. this is an indication that i want to sing beatles songs. i decide to sing twist and shout and the whole table joins in at "ah, ah, ah" part. they all clap during the instrumental and they all clap at the end. then i'm press ganged into singing happy birthday for the little girl. they all clap again and ask me if i know queen. i end up singing we will rock you and (you know elvis don't you?) love me tender. they all smile and clap after each rendition and i start to feel my face go very red.

the next morning i wake up at 4am and get into mr mori's car in the black night. he drives around to pick everybody up. these are people from the neighborhood. they bring with them shovels, hacksaws and gloves. we also pick up the 2 little girls from last night. their mum bows as we drive away. we drive around the near empty streets as dawn begins to break. as we reach the bamboo forest, up a hill and off a dirt track, it is light.

we split into 2 groups: the neighborhood guys form one group; and mr mori, the 2 girls and me form the other. we go to find baby bamboo with a shovel. we walk around the forest as the bamboo sways above us, like long grass. the width of a trunk is about the size of a beer can. i ask how tall the bamboo grows. they said about 8 metres. the ground is covered in slippery leaves as mr mori leads the charge and we follow. we only find one baby bamboo shoot. everyone is a little disappointed.

meanwhile the guys from the neighborhood have hacked down 3 bamboo trees. they were now cutting them into three metre sections so we could fit them into mr mori's car. i wondered why we need all that bamboo.

on the way home we drop by a fish market, where mr mori buys fresh eel and prawns; and a convenience store, where we buy tea and coffee.

back home they start unloading the bamboo. there are about 10 three meter pieces. they take the hacksaw, and cut half way into the bamboo. then they get a chisel and hammer and use it to split the bamboo down the centre, until they reach the cut. they repeat this with another piece. we end up with 2 troughs. they get out a 3 step ladders, a hose, a pump and a bucket. they fix the 2 troughs so that there is a down ward gradient; one trough slightly higher than the other. they attach the hose to the top end and place the bucket at the bottom. they place the pump in the bucket and attach the hose to the pump. they then fill the bucket with water. they switch on the pump and the water flows through the hose, up to the top, down the trough, into the bucket then over and over again. we use the rest of the bamboo to make simple bowls, chopsticks and tinder for the barbecue.

the bamboo water feature is used to separate the noodles. the pump is switched on. the bowls filled with soy sauce, ginger and spring onions. everyone stands by, chopsticks raised and ready. the noodles are put at the top and the water runs down and drags them out. as the noodles run pass you have to grab as much as you can and put it into your bowl before slurping them down.

mr mori handed me a cup of beer at 10 in the morning. the sun was getting warmer and people started coming over for the party. the kids were in high spirits and they all gasped when they saw the bamboo troughs. the noodles were nearly ready to be separated. i drank the cool beer in the sun. it was going to be a hot day.