Feed the soil, and it will feed you

Trip Start Sep 23, 2008
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Trip End Dec 21, 2008


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Flag of Japan  ,
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Good evening. I am relaxing and listening to Radiohead (faust arp) and reflecting on my day. Perfect time for blogging! This morning started out with group exercise, as usual. I don't think I've mentioned this before. Every weekday morning at 6:30 everyone stumbles out into the common area in front of the dining hall (basket ball court area- there are pictures in previous entries). Anyway, for about 7 minutes we follow the directions in Japanese to Radio Daisoo; jumping up and down, doin the windmill, and touching our toes. It is a very traditional program and I don't know how many Japanese citizens tune in every morning, but I heard people say that when they were kids living in the rural towns, they had to take a notebook to the field where they met. If they participated they received a stamp. Isn't that funny? No one ever breaks a sweat, and it is too quick for decent stretching, therefore I find it pointless. The one thing that is for sure is that the radio exercise makes one out of bed, so that their absence is not noticed
morning activities: cleaning and caretaking
morning activities: cleaning and caretaking
. After exercise and general cleaning of tools and supplies (30 minutes) there was a typhoon! Lots of wind and rain made our morning jobs difficult and prevented the community rice harvest from happening today.. which was a dissapointment because this means that it will move to friday. If I'm lucky I will be able to help the community harvest rice for 30 or 40 minutes before my taxi arrives and sweeps me away. ARI has 8 rice paddies that have regular white and black traditional rice. Rice grows out of mud all year and is harvested once a year (this week!). Harvest has been put off for weeks now because the rice was not mature, and then there has been a few typhoons- harvesting is impossible in the rain. We are all praying a every chance for clear weather.
Also, in the mornings we have morning gathering. This takes place after morning activities and breakfast, and before afternoon work (i've been baking during the afternoon time the past three days!). At gathering, everyone on the farm meets in the chapel-downstairs of dining hall- and we sing a hymn, someone reads a passage and gives a presentation on themselves or the organization they represent, and announcements are made. This morning, David from Reutlingen, Germany gave a quick intro about his family and beautiful homecity! I would love to travel to Germany, among many other places. I took some very good pictures (i think) at the meeting and at other random times today. David also read a story about time, called "The Present." It was very thoughtful and made me want to make use of every hour of my day
ze duck pond! (is SO smelly)
ze duck pond! (is SO smelly)
. So much can happen in such a brief amount of time, why not use the time we are given to be productive and nurture relationships with strangers, friends and family?
The typhoon that I previously mentioned only lasted a few hours, and when it passed the sun came out. I love seeing sun and blue skies after a very wet and semi-miserable few hours. I recieved an e-mail about starting school in Tokyo yesterday. This coming Monday I will take the train early in the morning for the Entrance Ceremony. yay! welcome to tokyo... after the ceremony we get to take a 4-hour placement test! Pressure is on- I already know what I'll be doing this weekend: cram! I am very nervous excited to meed the couple I'll be living with for the next 11 weeks.. hope we like eachother :)
what else.... well I'lll explain my pictures in the captions. Thanks for spending your valuable time reading my silly blogs, I hope they aren't hard to follow.
Peace,
Meaghan
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