I feel like so much has happened in the last three days that it is overwhelming me, so if I don't put it down now it will never escape the recesses of my mind. I finally made it, I am in Japan!

The travel was long and arduous, I won't bore you all with details but it involved 3 planes, a train, a bus, and a van and totaled almost 24 hours. I arrived in the evening after dinner worn out but excited. The first night was hard because I knew I should sleep but my internal clock was broken, so I stayed up with several of the other guys from my dorm talking and getting to know one another. The next morning I had the option to sleep in until breakfast but I was scared I would not wake up on my own. So, I decided that the best option would be to wake up at 6:30 and work a full day with the rest of the group. The ARI schedul is pretty consistent and follows this pattern:

6:30 Morning Exercises
6:45 Cleaning the buildings
7:00 Food Life Work 1hr
8:15 Breakfast
9:00 Group Meeting
9:30 Morning Activities (read work)
12:30 Lunch
1:30 Afternoon Activities (see above)
4:30 Food Life Work 1hr
6:30 Dinner
9:30 Night Patrol (Community Buildings locked)
repeat

The guys in the dorm usually have an impromptu gathering upstairs talking late into the night with classic rock playing from one of several laptops.

So, my first morning at ARI I was cleaning toilets at 6:45 then feeding chickens at 7:00. It was a great start. However it got better after that. I arrived in time for the Rice Harvest when the whole community comes together to harvest. It was great fun but very tiring. This gave me an opportunity to meet a lot of community members that I might not have met so soon had we all been working under the normal schedule.

I am going to have to cut this short, they are closing up the computer area for the night. I will add more tomorrow. I love you all, have a great day, and don't forget to leave your love in comments, they make my day.


Peace and Love
Mike