NYC

Short Post:

I made it safely to the United states, Will Ferrel was on my plane from LA to New York, it was hard to leave ARI, I am going to central park tomorrow, and I am trying to get some sleep right now even though it is lunch time in Japan. I hope you are all well.

Peace and Love

Mike

The day before departure

It hasn't hit me yet that I will be gone tomorrow. Everyone keeps reminding me of my lasts, my last lunch, my last working day, my last weekend, my last foodlife, my last night, etc. etc. I gave up on lasts back in high school, everything is a last until you do it again.

I am taking the afternoon to pack and wrap up loose ends before my flight. The weekend was full of last minute trips and get-togethers with friends, and I am notorious for last minute packing so I have my work cut out for me today.

It will be hard to say goodbye tomorrow, but I will do my best. I like it here, despite some of the pitfalls of a community life, an "it's not perfect but its mine" kind of thing, I guess you could say I have grown comfortable. I will come back sooner rather than later, but maybe just in a visitor role.

To add some color to this post I have added a few of my favorite pictures, some may look familiar from the last slide show but I thought they deserved some individual attention. I misplaced my camera a few weeks ago so I have not been able to add anything new but this should tide you over. I hope you are all doing well and eating good food. This might be my last post from Japan (but it might not) so I will see many of you soon.

Final Morning Gathering

I have about 10 days left at ARI. My flight home is scheduled for September 29th at 4PM. By home I mean the US, I will fly to New York for about a week and land in Texas on October 9th. Next week I will be in Tokyo for a few days to visit friends and attend the 150th anniversary of the Anglican Church in Japan.

Yesterday I had my final morning gathering where I summed up my experiences at ARI and talked about the future. This is a slideshow I made for the morning gathering. It includes pictures from my year at ARI.



During my sharing I read my answer to the question "what do you do at ARI?". Here is an excerpt:
What do we do? What do we do? Where the hell have you been? We create change, we educate the educators, we share food (for a fair price) we plant we grow we harvest we learn. What do you mean what do we do? 1100 graduates in 50 countries across Asia and Africa, 36 years. What do we do indeed. We bring people, smart, educated people, pillars of their communities, leaders in their own rights, and we bring them to this little corner of the world. We invite them to come and live and learn with us for 9 months. We all live and learn about life, food, community. We learn about the three pillars, love soil, love neighbor, love god. We learn about appropriate technology; biogas, wind energy, biodiesel, bicycles, incubation. We learn about agriculture (organic and otherwise) , aquaculture, animal husbandry. We learn about the dangers of an unchecked global marketplace for small, ill equipped rural farmers with governments that don’t care for their welfare. We learn about pesticides and chemical fertilizers. We learn about bokashi and compost, why to spray milk on aphids, and why ducks and rice are such good friends. We learn about butchering and the true cost of meat, castration and egg hatching. We learn about the connection between food and life. And sometimes, we even learn how to laugh again. Sometimes, yes sometimes, we even dance.

What do we do indeed.

And with that I will leave you to get back to your lives. I hope you are challenged and happy.

peace love and good food

Mike

Hotel California Music Video

My friend Te-chan here in February and came back to work for a few weeks. While we were talking he told me about a video he posted on Vimeo and said I should check it out...he was right. And now for your viewing pleasure I bring you Mike Young and the Lonely Wintertime Acapella Dinner Singers and their rendition of Hotel California.

one day　raughty dinner at Asian Rural Institude in winter 2009 from tetsuaki on Vimeo.

cuts and bruises

Sometimes, the best way for me to gauge how active I am being is by checking to see how injure dI have become. For instance during my luxury years in later college I rarely had muscle pain, or cuts or scrapes or bruises, but in the earlier years I was generally sore and occasionally came up with some type of injury. Towards the end of college when I start running more and kayaking a lot the soreness and cuts came back, consequently I was busier, having more fun, and feeling challenged. Currently I have cuts on both feet, one on my thumb and a bruise on my neck and collarbone from riding my bike into a sign... and my other thumb hurts from a wrestling match with the baby calf. All that to say, I am having fun and staying busy. I have three weeks left at ARI and am making plans for my return home, if you have a place for me to crash and want to get together let me know.


peace and Love

Mike

Summer, guitars, and community life

Sitting still when you need to move is a bad idea, just ask that squished turtle in the road. Sometimes in a person, organization, or species life they have to make a choice to move, I just hope they make it is time. It is wonderful to work with people who are willing to make changes to their lives, their organizations or the future of their planet, I hope you are one of them. If your vocation has been effected by the winds of change that are sweeping the world now is a perfect time to change something and find a new way to serve the people you are working with or for, I hope you get a chance. If you have any questions, email me at myoung4142 at gmail dot com, or check back more for more thoughts later.

I hope everyone is eating well, I am going through the slow realization that I will be leaving my friends in a month and just how much they mean to me. I have so many great memories and friends here and will be drifting into the realm of those who have left soon. I hope to be able to do as much for ARI and my friends in the coming weeks and months as possible. For now, I am going to rustle up an adventure, I think we are going to find some ice cream... go get some food, talk to your family, forgive one for something and smile at a stranger. Hugs are important and so is food.


LOVE and PEACE

Mike