Time to Catch Up

There has been much goings on since my last post. I will try to start posting regularly in order to address things as they happen. As it is for now you will have to suffer with a rough outline of the last week.

The Thanksgiving Celebration went off splendidly with large crowds, great weather, and a lot of food. At final count I was involved in 7 performances including some impromptu country songs to start off the second day. We raised some money for a local library and the profits from food sales are going to help with projects for next years celebration.

As I mentioned earlier we have had several new additions to the farm. Our third sow has had a litter of piglets, apparently there are two more in waiting. I got to see the newest litter when they were only a few hours old. I want one.

Yesterday the Japanese chapter of Second Harvest dropped off some expired food for us to feed to the pigs. Second Harvest is a program started in the US to minimize food waste at restaurants, grocery stores, and farmers markets by collecting the edible left overs and passing them on to less fortunate people who can put them to use on the dinner table. It is a very neat program which I would encourage you to check out.

This weekend we had about 15 Americans at ARI 10 of them were members of the American Friends of ARI (AFARI) which is a support organization based in the states that does a lot for fundraising for ARI, there were two English Teachers and a few volunteers. It was kind of crazy we were almost the majority nationality, second to the Japanese. One of the Americans is a former employee of ARI and is now working with a non-profit in Seattle. We have had some great conversations about non-profits and entrepreneurial management so they can be self-supporting.

I have started reading a book called Small is Beautiful written in the 60's about the effects of our current economic model. I have only read a few chapters but the concepts he discusses seems well thought out and sincere, I might have more about some of those ideas in later posts. I also read a book on American Militarism.

On Wednesday I went to my first Japanese class! It was a lot of information very quickly, but I feel like I can do tis. Once I figure out how to order things to be sent here I think I am going to order Rosetta Stone as a supplement. The native speakers here are also very helpful and work with me in my meager efforts.

The two weeks I have spent here so far have been wonderful. I can't believe all of the activity that has happened. I promise I will update more often. Thank you for following along. Don't forget to leave some love. Peace Love and Godd Food to all.

Mike

Old McDonald

In previous posts I might have made reference to Food-Life Work here at ARI, for foodlife I am assigned to the chicken houses. We have two chicken houses, each with around 200 chickens, and we recently got 200 chicks (minus two that were tragically smooshed in a tragic newspaper accident,) which makes about 598 chickens at ARI. So every morning I am greeted by a face like this: well about 200 faces, and they are all hungry, very hungry. This morning I was in there before the food turning the floor (think compost) and they surrounded me and held me for ransom until the food came. The chickens can be very persuasive.

This weekend is our big Harvest Thanksgiving Celebration and we are all very busy. The HTC is an open house we throw for the community in celebration of this years plentiful food. So we are expecting between 750 and 1000 people to come through each day. All day we have been getting tents ready, cooking food, practicing for our performances, and decorating. There have been lots of new volunteers for the weekend and local community members bringing in food and items to sell. I have now met little old church ladies from Japan and let me tell you, they are the same as the little old church ladies from back home, smiling helpful, burdened with thrift goods and they come en masse.

Tomorrow morning I have a feeling that the top is going to blow off here, it will look like a volcano erupted and we are all going to be running around trying to put on the final touches before the guests arrive. My day will start at 5:30 in the kitchen, someone needs help grinding something and I got to volunteer, as such things go.

On another note, along with the chickens we have two cows and lots of pigs. One of the mama pigs (pictured here) had 15 piglets a few weeks ago, and another mama pig started having babies last night, as far as I know she is done now but I don't know the final count.

So, life is in full swing here and we are rolling along at full tilt. I want to leave you with a few of the thoughts that have been floating through my head, the idea that we are built for work, and only through work can we be truly fulfilled. If there is no toil how then can you appreciate joy? I think at times we feel bored or anxious because our bodies are lacking the satisfaction of work. As I work during the days here I can reflect on the merits of labor. It occurs to me that by growing our food and working this land we are taking part in an inherent act. I try to think about how this could be applied in a normal life back home and can't get beyond the fact that it should be applied back home throughout my life. The gratification I get from working to produce the food we eat is amazing. There is a song here that was written by a volunteer in 1988 I think it speaks well to us, here is an excerpt "Until the day we can feed ourselves, we never will be free." I leave you with those thoughts, do with them what you will. Peace and Love and good good feelings.

Mike

HAHA

Well, this weekend is a big weekend, the annual Harvest Thanksgiving Festival here at ARI. We are spending the entire week getting ready for two days of food and entertainment for the community. We are cleaning the property for an open house, harvesting food and preparing lists for the regional dishes and desserts we will be cooking, and of course rehearsing our singing and dancing for the stage shows. I have been here for 4 days and tonight I was pulled into my fourth act for this weekend. So far I am the vocals for Hotel California, a guitar player for a skit, a dancer in our rendition of Footloose, and an "interactive" curtain holder for a skit. We stayed up until midnight playing guitar in the dorm getting ready for Hotel California, and today we practiced Footloose for at least an hour, I was pulled down there under the impression that we were just going to try it and next thing I know they are talking about stage cues and partners. Such is the life I guess.

I am having a lot of fun. The community here is so welcoming I feel like I have been here for weeks. I am learning some Japanese and hope to go to my first official lesson tomorrow night, it might not be as hard as I initially expected. There is a library in the main building with a surprising collection of books. I met the librarian on Friday and told her that my mom is a librarian and I loved reading. She couldn't believe I love books, who would have thought? Well I checked out a book called Small is Beautiful, a Japanese phrase book, and Addicted to War about our countries militarism. They are proving to be provocative books.

Sunday morning I was woken up at 4:50 and invited to go climb a mountain. I piled into a small car with four others and we drove an hour into Nikko National Park. By 6:15 we were on our way up the trail. As we climbed it was explained to me that we were actually going to climb three peaks that day. It was great, besides being very tired I got to see some amazing views. The area we were in had already started changing colors so the foliage was beautiful. Have you ever noticed how the trees in Japanese gardens always look so manicured? Well, apparently that is how God does things in Japan because everywhere there were these georgeous trees that looked like someone had been tending them for years, it was enough to inspire some magnificent gardens. The third peak we climbed was an active volcano complete with steam vents spewing sulfur into the autumn air. At the top you could very clearly see the 200m (notice the metric system being used here) crater left over from the last eruption. After all the climbing up we rode an air trolley back down the mountain (think James Bond when jaws bites through the cable in Europe.) That day left me very drained, but I have recovered well.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. I am calling it a night. I will keep you posted.

Peace and Love,

Mike

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

And So We Begin

Well folks, the long awaited visa has arrived and is in my possession. Which means I can set a departure date, October 1st. I am talking to the travel agents right now arranging my flight details. I went out and got some important work clothes today and my new camera arrived in the mail this week. It is finally happening and it is kind of scary fast now. My mild mannered meandering has to come to a halt as the pleasant packing and preparations begins. I still haven't finished cleaning my room yet but rest assured that it should be completed before departure.

You haven't left yet?

Nope. I get that question a lot though. It seems like I have been getting ready to go for a while now. The truth is I was getting ready to go for a while, then I kind of zoned out while the paperwork was dragging on, but I am now getting ready to go again.
I just received an email from Mr. Yawata in Japan who has been ushering my paperwork through the system. He told me that my Certificate of Eligibility has been completed and it is in the mail to me. Once I have the Certificate I can take it to the Japanese Consulate in Houston and they will issue me a Visa for Japan. So, this brings me close to a departure date.
In the morning I will be on the phone with the consulate office and our travel agent and I should have an idea of when I will fly to Japan. This is an exciting break in the story and I wanted to share it here with those who suffer through my droughts of communication and actually check what I have to say.
Last week I spent some time in Tennessee visiting Oree. While I was there she took me kayaking on the Ocoee River, this is the one that she guides rafts down and it is incredibly exciting. I made it all the way down without embarrassing anyone and had a great time. The water was huge! There are somewhere around 25 different rapids on the Ocoee ranging from class 3 to class 4 they have names like Table Saw, Diamond Splitter, Double Suck, and Broken Nose. At the end there is a giant wave called the Hell Hole where we stopped to surf for a little while. I had a great time.
That trip has to be the highlight of my summer. I have spent a lot of time traveling around Texas to visit friends, get shots, and go to weddings. I spent a week in Amarillo working at Happy camp. I went to Ft. Worth for a Japanese Encephalitis Vaccine, College Station for a Wedding, Austin for two more shots. During these travels I have ridden 8 different mountain bike trails across the state, visited with some great friends, gone to the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, TX, and seen Austin at least 6 times. I am about done with a car for a little while it will be nice to use trains and my own two feet.
This is all I have for now. Be looking for more updates more frequently as I move into this next life phase. Peace and Love.

That We May Live Together

I have a little bit of information for you here. I warn you it is not much but it has helped me to figure out where I will be located on the island. The main island of Japan is Hanshu. I will be in the Kanto region which also contains Tokyo. There are seven prefectures in Kanto and of these Tochigi is located on the northern end. Inside the Tochigi prefecture is a small city called Nasushiobara. I will be working at the Asian Rural institute on the outskirts of Nasushiobara. I know this is a lot of names but it helped me finally settle where I would be in relation to Tokyo. I found a video on Youtube that shows some of the activities and life at ARI. I hope this offers some more insight.