Land of the Rising Sun

OK, I have a lot to catch you up on! So, let me get started with one of the most eye opening, and memorable events of this year - Japan!

After the longest plane flight I had ever been on, our team stepped off the plane in Tokyo. It was here we met up with our tour guide/interpreter/comedian for the week Chieko Tsuruta - who was amazing! The next ten days were packed with everything from a Japanese drum and tea ceremony to school visits and learning about international relations at the US Embassy. I don't have enough room to share everything that happened, but here are the major highlights for me.

By far the most memorable part of my stay was the three days I spent with my host family in the Aichi Prefecture. I'll admit I was a little apprehensive at first; however, from the moment I met my host mom and brother at the school I knew I was in for an awesome experience. Although they spoke no English, they welcomed me into their family like one of there own. I went to the supermarket with them, arm wrestled in the living room with the brothers (and yes, got beat every time), tried new foods like fermented soybeans, watched fishing shows (they loved fishing!), learned some Japanese, and spent a lot of time just sitting on the floor getting to know each other. I quickly found that long legs cause some problems when you have to sit on the floor for extended periods of time. They were an extremely close knit traditional family, and I felt so fortunate to have been able to spend time with them. It was a good reminder of what it truly means to be happy with what you have, and to value the relationships in your life.

During the week we were able to go on numerous tours to learn about the culture, religion, and history of the country. I love architecture, so I was continually fascinated by the temples, and shrines.

The bombing of Hiroshima is something we all study in our history classes. However, to us it is just that - history, a fact. Well, having the opportunity to visit the sight of the first atomic bombing in the history of the world, made that history lesson much more real. From the moment you step off the train, you feel deep inside the immensity of what happened. At first it was pretty sobering, and yet the cool thing is that the entire site is now dedicated to world peace. It is tradition for visitors to fold paper cranes and hang them by the children's memorial to represent a prayer for world peace. Our team brushed up on our origami skills and contributed our own set of paper cranes.

Last, but certainly not least...the FFJ! Many people don't realize this, but we actually have a sister organization across the ocean known as the Future Farmers of Japan. Our team had the opportunity to interact with many of the members, chapter officers, and take a tour their programs. It was also our first opportunity to practice our introductions in Japanese...which was down right funny.