Yama-age Festival in Tochigi-ken

Yesterday I went with a small group of people to the Yama-age Festival in Nasukarasuyama. The festival has been going on in that town for 450yrs. There were a couple of Girl Scout leaders who hosted us for the day, gave us lunch at their non-profit cafe, and showed us various activities.

The festival is centered around a play performance about a princess seeking revenge on a warrior for killing her father. She tries to deceive him and kill him with magic but he discovers her secret. The story ends with her being chased away by the warrior and we never know how the tale ends. (The Japanese love a good mystery.)

6 villages take turns putting on the performance and the most important part of the whole production is the stage design and how the stage can move to create new scenes. 'Yama' means 'prop' and 'age' (ah-geh) means movement. No one actually cares about the story line so long as the stage design is constantly shifting and exciting. 

Oh, and one of the performers was introduced to me by the Girl Scout leaders because she is also a Girl Scout.

Edo Wonderland

On July 16 I went with Steven's family again to Edo Wonderland. Edo Wonderland is to Japan like Old West Amusement towns are to the American midwest. It's a little cheesy but a lot of fun to pretend like your in a different era. The Edo period of Japan was about 400yrs ago and many current traditions in villages remain the same. Edo Wonderland is just a place that brings them all together...all the time.

Sarah and Ellie posing with the Samurai at the entrance gate.

The Agisai were blooming all over the park.

This is a folkloric character of Edo period Japan. Supposedly he is a sort of demon (like a mystical creature of mischief)  that people make figurines of for their gardens to scare animals and bad spirits away.

The fight scenes in the park were happening every half hour or so and some times kids were allowed to join in and arrest the 'robber' character.

There were tons of activities and lots of good food and it's beautifully nestled on the edge of Nikko Mountain.

Updates...Finally [Wind Family Farm]

I apologize for having not posted in 2 weeks. So now I will post a few updates with some photos of all the activities we have been doing.

July 14th, Rick, Megumi, Sakura, and I all went to the Wind Family Farm. Mr. Wind is actually the man sitting in the back of this first picture. He is the most respected and well known farmer in all of western Japan. Even though we were only working there for a day he taught me more about farming and the organic method than I had ever known before. The woman in the blue dress with the baby is Gussan's (ARI staff) family. Hazeki is only a year old and eats cucumbers and boiled potatoes without assistance. She reminds me of Mia because she never stopped eating for the 2 hrs. we were at Wind-san's house for dinner. The other girl is Megumi, an ARI volunteer like me.

This is Rick and Megumi enjoying the Rainbow trout. Wind-san and his wife served us a four course dinner with Rainbow trout, Stir fry vegetables, boiled potatoes, and Yaksoba fried noodles with pork. It was truly magnificent.

As you can see in this picture of Sakura and I, I got a second degree sunburn that day and the blisters and scars have just now healed two weeks later.

The Purpose of Life

The following is a direct transposition of a devotion I read in "Grace for the Moment" by Lucado. I checked the book out from the church library before I left and it has really helped me to reflect on my experience on a daily basis. It puts my point-of-view in the correct perspective.


Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)

  Mine deep enough in every heart and you'll find it: a longing for meaning, a quest for purpose. As surely as a child breathes, he will someday wonder, "What is the purpose of my life?"
  Some search for meaning in a career. "My purpose is to be a dentist." Fine vocation but hardly a justification for existence. They opt to be a human "doing" rather than a human "being". Who they are is what they do; consequently they do a lot. They work many hours because if they don't work, they don't have an identity.
  For others, who they are is what they have. They find meaning in a new car or a new house or new clothes. These people are great for the economy and rough on the budget because they are always seeking meaning in something they own....Some try sports, entertainment, cults, sex, you name it.
  All mirages in the desert of purpose....
  Shouldn't we face the truth? If we don't acknowledge God, we are flotsam in the universe.

Shrines....and Piglets

Last weekend Rick, Jonathan, and I went to Nikko to see some of the Shinto Shrines. It poured buckets of rain the entire day and I was soaked from the knees down but it was still pretty fun.

Many of the archways are painted red or decorated with gold. Even some pillars are wrapped in glass because they are made of real gold.

Like I said, it rained buckets.

The unique piece about these shrines is that they remain in the old Chinese style from the previous occupancy of the Chinese in Japan. Some have remained the same for more than 400 years. 

There were a few unique fixtures in the park. One was a candelabra and the other was a lamp. 

Have you ever heard of the phrase, "Hear no, Speak no, See no Evil"? Well it originated right here at this Nikko Shrine.  There are many frames of the three monkeys around this Shrine and each one describes different phase of life. This set is meant to describe how parents should protect their children from the evils of the world. Who knew there were so many people reciting Shinto Theology?

These are 6 of the piglets that were born within the last few hours. Many more will come throughout the evening. The momma sow must remain on the other side of this gate so she doesn't accidently kill one of her piglets by laying on it. The last sow had 21 piglets but the usual number is between 12 and 18. I'll try to get some more pictures of them as they grow. 

The Weekend

Last weekend was pretty great. One of the other volunteers went with an ARI missionary's family to see a couple of Shrines and attend the Ajisai Festival. (Hydrangea Festival) It was absolutely beautiful and his two little girls are very artistic so we stayed in the park for over an hour and walked around while they sketched and took pictures. (They are 5 and 8 yrs old.) Their drawings turned out pretty great too.

(That's their Uncle Andy in the background.) 

The moment I arrived home from the Ajisai Festival, I jumped on my bike to join some of the other volunteers for a pizza party at a nearby park. Then we rode our bikes to a Karaoke place for Nicole's birthday party. Then, on Sunday, we rode down to the river and spent fours hours hanging out and swimming. (I of course got a sunburn.)

After I got back to ARI and fed the pigs and piglets I went to Jonathan and Satomi's house (United Methodist missionary couple) for a group dinner to say goodbye to Ban-san and Jean hae-san before they left for a two month speaking tour in the US.

I spent last week helping Ban-san build the new duck pen and Jean hae-san pulled me away from dinner on Friday night to give me a dazzling necklace with a cross and a pearl on it. She gave it to me and said she wanted me to have it because she and Ban-san have been looking out for me and they were impressed with the fact that I attended church with them a few times. These two really reminded me of Grandpa and Grandma Hollern. They were some of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever met. God Bless them, I will miss them dearly.

My mail arrived!

There is nothing better than receiving a box in the mail. Especially from the other side of the world.

So Thank you Thank you Thank you mom and dad. (Let's be honest, mostly mom.)

My favorite candy and some basic home goods that are just not the same as what I use at home. (Hairdryer, socks, rain suit, shampoo, conditioner, peanut butter.)

I am not afraid of the grocery store here but my Japanese skills are so poor I am not sure I could get what I actually needed if I went.

I will post some pictures of the people here very soon.

Thanks again,
Sarah

Interesting and Disgusting

This post is not for children or the faint-of-heart.


This afternoon I joined group four to participate in their Service of Sacrificial Life. Which is just a euphemism for butchering 50 chickens.

Yes, I did say butchering. Uncle Timo, we call him, met us at the chicken barns at 1:30 and we "arrested" (another one of Timo's terms) 50 chickens, including a couple roosters. We stacked the crates of chickens on the front loader and we followed Uncle Timo to Manna House on campus, next to the kitchen. There were several stainless steel apparatus. One was to allow the chickens' blood to drain after we killed them, one pot of boiling water to dip them after they died, one to hot water blast the feathers off, four massive sinks, and three tables. I and one other girl didn't have the stomach to actually kill a chicken ourselves but everyone else in the group participated. Even my roommate, Sakura, killed five of the chickens. She told me she learned to do it in high school so she wasn't queasy about it.

The whole process was pretty gross but mostly what I did was cleaning out the insides and sorting the organs into bowls so we could store them in the freezer accordingly. Here at ARI they use %90 of the chicken. Most of the GI tract and the lungs are thrown away but many other organs are used in the kitchen (including the stomach, head, and feet).

Today I peeled a bucket of onions, handled chicken innards, and during food life we sprayed all the cabbages with wood vinegar to stave off the insects. So to say the least, the smell of my hands is absolutely repulsive.

Oh, and I got another new Buyo bite on my face last night, which made me bleed all over my shirt. (A Buyo is like a mosquito, only 100x worse. It can takes weeks to heal and itches like fire.)

When you face something new and offensive like Buyo or butchering chickens, here, people look at you with a big smile and say "Welcome to ARI!".

So this week has taught me to take the good with the bad and ugly and be grateful for it all... but I won't be eating chicken for a while.

Pictures

The Women's Dorm ^

<My Room>

The entryway ^ (part of Japanese Custom is to change your shoes when you enter a building. Usually slippers inside.) The picture, above right, is the traditional raised living area. It is raised approx. 1ft above the hallway floor and has sliding doors and a heated center table. (the t.v. is all Japanese so I have yet to watch it.)

This building is Koinonia, where we eat our meals everyday.

The upstairs is the only space available to use since the earthquake. The basement has been deemed unsafe.

      The dining area (above). The far left 1/4 has a library, ping pong table, Piano, and lounge area. (below)

  (above) This area is under construction. Previous offices were here but were damaged in the earthquake. Various groups have donated entire buildings. Including the Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, United Church of Christ, and a Buddhist group.  The interfaith mission here is excelling so many stepped up to help rebuild after last year's disaster.

This is the Shrine on campus. The most popular belief in Japan is Shinto. Shrines, or alters, are built at the peak on a hill to honor God in Nature. The bottom of the path has an arch like this one. Sometimes I will see them in the parks around town. Part of the agreement of ARI is that the Shrine at the top of the hill must be maintained and displayed with dignity. Even if you don't believe in or understand Shinto, it makes for a great reflection walk.

 (above) This is the Farm Shop, it is massive and magnificent! My office is on the top floor, and the bottom is a normal Barn style storage for the usual tools (only... there are about 40 of each tool)

This is the Green house in front of the Farm Shop.

These are the Green houses behind the farm shop. (there are also many more in various fields where participants are conducting experiments.)

This is the Rice Mill. The machine in here processes the rice and there are several barrels to store it until we need more in the Koinonia Kitchen.

 These are the Chicken Houses. From what I can guess there are roughly 65-100 chickens in each of these massive barns.

 These (below) are the Sow pigs. There are 5 of them but one is not in the picture because she delivered 21 piglets last weekend. (4 have since died.) Gil, our veterinarian and pig expert, runs a breeding system using artificial insemination (to prevent defective genetics and disease). We have 5 Sow, 17 piglets, and about 30 young pigs. Gil and Gussan ship the pigs at different intervals, once they reach a good weight.

Everything at ARI is pure and organic. There are no pesticides, hormones, or artificial flavors!

Answers

To answer a few questions...
About Teddy:
 No, Teddy will not be joining me this summer. He was reassigned to work with a vibrant Human Rights Advocacy group in Mindadnao in the Philippines. From what I hear things down there are pretty exciting with all the outreach and events they are doing.
The weather here:
So far it is cold and raining, which I love! Everyone tells me it will get hot though, but since we are up in the mountains then I have no idea what to believe...I will wait to see.
Weekend Schedule:
We have regular food life work on all Saturday mornings. Also, the second and fifth weekends of each month are working weekends but there are none for June since they didn't observe the holiday in May.
Sleeping arrangements:
We all sleep with 2 people in each room (I will post a picture soon) with 2 community bathrooms in our staff/volunteer hallway. The bed frame, desk, and shelves are made of Cedar and it smells wonderful!
 My roommate's name is Sakura, she is also a volunteer and comes from Japan.

I love the comments, and emails are welcome as well!

~Sarah

Schedule

After breakfast each day we have Community Gathering in Koinonia (our dining hall). We have a moment of silence, sing, there's a leader who shares a reflection or sermon, and then a closing prayer. Then the daily reports are shared from the Night Patrol, Pigs Leader, Chickens Leader, and Crops & Vegetables Leader. After we have short announcements about the events for the week. This week we have a Flea Market in our Seminar House where residents of Nishinasuno will come to buy used items and part of this weeks harvest including organic vegetables, jams, breads, rice, coffee, and chocolate.

At 10am I head to the office for most of my day.
I work in admissions doing paperwork from 10am-12:30pm, Lunch until 1:30, then work again until 5pm Food Life Work. Food Life Work is an hour and then dinner is the last thing on the schedule at 630pm. Usually this means I am showered and dressed for bed by 8pm. (and mostly asleep at 830pm)

Lots to do here cuz the day is never over too soon.

Lots of Love,
Sarah

Weeds

Everyday the entire Institute gathers outside at 630am to do five minutes of group exercise. It's early but I have been going to bed at around 830 at night so I am managing just fine. After the exercise we have short food life meetings before going to do a half hour of farm chores. My farm chores group is on beautification assignment. That means we go as a group to cut grass and rake leaves. After chores we do our Food Life work, which for me is crops and vegetables. Every morning I go down to the lettuce field and take my garden hoe and pull weeds by hand around the vegetables and use the garden hoe between the rows. It is exhausting but at 815am we finally get to eat breakfast!

It is much different here but everything is done the organic way and that means No Pesticides! (and that induces extreme fits of pulling weeds.)

I will update again this week about another section of my day so stay tuned!

A New Day

I was a little nervous when I arrived at ARI last night but as I woke this morning and went to breakfast everyone was so nice that I was able to calm down a little bit. Not many people here are fluent in English so one of the American girls here told me that they call it "ARI language" because everyone speaks broken English as they struggle to learn.

At ARI there are 2 main groups. The Volunteers and Missionaries. And the training participants. I am labeled as the former. We all do the same work and participate in daily life the same way but there is a chance that I will be leading extra activities. I am not sure of all my responsibilities but I do know I will be doing community outreach. The details of that are still unknown at this point but that's ok, I'll fit it into another blog post. Thanks again for the prayers!

Prayers Answered/ Last Day

This morning I received two pieces of great news! Teddy's Visa was approved(but his flight was already canceled so he still cannot go with me) and ARI is picking me up from the airport so I will not have to attempt Japanese and hours of public transportation. Thank you to everyone for prayers and words of encouragement. I miss everyone dearly but things are working themselves out on this side of the globe. When I prayed to God for patience and the strength to relinquish control I was sullen as I resolved to sacrifice my expectations for a greater purpose.
And my God does not disappoint! I woke with no worries and reassurance that I could do it by staying focused and trusting my gut. As I read the email from ARI a sense of relief and reassurance washed over
me. THANKS BE TO GOD!


These are a few members from our team. (from left)
Micheal, Frederick, Gerald, Me, and Joanna

A lot of Change

First things first...
Tuesday was filled with many workshops and presenters and we spent the evening session discussing poverty and the realities of Globalization and migration. Here in the Philippines there are not many jobs but a high percentage are college educated so many leave to find work to send money home, and if they decide to stay they could face working full time for $1/hr (that is below the poverty line), and with the Roman Catholic influence (%80 are Roman Catholic) that has banned the sale of contraception and thus booming the population, many live day to day in difficult circumstances. That is pretty boring unless you love global economics so here is what you need to know=
 11Million people live in Manila. 6.6Million of those are in Poverty.

There is a very large gap between the Wealthy and the Poor.

Wednesday was spent visiting an organization that advocates for, educates about, and shelters the poor. It is an Ecumenical Council here in Manila. We went to the shelter house and met several families whose make shift homes they have been living in for more than 8 decades were bulldozed by the government last October. When the residences came out to chant, rally, and protest the demolition Police moved in like a blockade and set off tear gas and used automatic rifles to get them out. One young man, who had just graduated from college, was killed by the open fire of the Police force.
 The government here is technically democratic and works much like ours but corruption runs wild and the Gas, Oil and natural resource corporations pay officials big money to eliminate housing settlements for industrial space.
After morning and lunch at the Shelter house talking to residents we went to the shanty town in the nearby neighborhood and walked through the make-shift homes and we were able to smell both the community "bathrooms" and community "kitchens". It was dirty and damp but as it turns out, as bad as it was it was the best of the shanty towns in the area. The place our director wanted to take was too much of a health and safety liability. Smoky Mountain, as it is called, is so bad that people live in the landfill and eat the trashed scraps. The place we visited was at the least functioning as a shelter from the rain.

Today (Thursday) we saw how the other half lives and, after visiting a 440yr old Cathedral and Museum, we went to the Mall of Asia. It is the second largest mall in the world next to the Mall of America. A few people went on the Zip Line as the day was ending and then we ate at a barbecue restaurant. We finished our day back at Shalom Center in our mtg room where I found out some news...

I forgot to mention earlier that 4 interns didn't make it to the Philippines for training. 1 because of personal reasons, 1 because their visa was denied, and 2 more that were detained by immigration due to racism and bad geo-political issues. Even after much determination by our leaders they were deported home by immigration officials. The one who could not attend because of personal matters was named Sina. She was from Cambodia and was supposed to serve on my team in Japan.

So that left me and Teddy to go to ARI on Saturday.

Until we received word today that Japanese immigration will not allow him to enter the country.

So now it is just me. I was told I will have to go to Japan alone. There are others serving missions alone but I will be the only one doing it in a country that is not my own language. There are 3 individual missions in the US all served by interns from the US. Another Intern is serving in Mexico but she is from Nicaragua and knows the language and environment.

I don't know any Japanese and it is a 3hr bus ride, 40min train ride, and 25min taxi ride to ARI. I am a little nervous to say the least. I have a sheet of phonetic Japanese phrases but I would appreciate the prayers both for me and for our fellow interns who could not make it.

Training Day 1

 First, a note: I'm almost a little nervous to post everyday because it might spoil or annoy you but I rather say too much then nothing at all.
 When I arrived it was around 130am on Sunday morning in the Philippines. I slept until 10am and when I woke up there was no supervision in the hotel. So as we received verbal permission we made a plan(5 other interns and myself). Since we are in Manila, a very modern city, we decided to get out of our hotel/mtg center on Sunday because we did not have anything scheduled. We walked two blocks to the mall and ate lunch at this nice restaurant that served local food. It was pretty delicious but everything was either very salty, very sweet, or had little to no flavor(usually soy). I was happy to see coffee and bananas at almost every meal, now that is something I can relate too.
 Yesterday we began training. A woman who was the director of GJV Africa in 2009 started our day with worship and another woman from the Philippines taught us to sing meditations(something every church should do to begin worship). We had several workshop presenters that lead activities which focused on our foundation as an individual. Kendra Dunbar, our director this year, facilitated an identity exercise that helped us to realize our commonalities. We wrapped up our day at 9pm last night and I poured myself into bed.

It's now Tuesday morning at 805am and time for breakfast. Until next time!

Landed

I'm officially in Manila.
  Sorry Dad, if you didn't get my text message when I was in Tokyo, my phone would not connect to service while I was there.
  I didn't have a chance to take many pictures during these last two days due to the fact that I was a little anxious about navigating foreign airports. Everything went pretty smoothly, including my 12hr flight from Chicago to Tokyo. The only confusion was immigration here in Manila.( I spent 1.5hrs in the 'line'.) The officials were polite but there was no organization of lines or any directions. Everyone herded to the front like cattle and eventually found an open receiving window to step up to. (Oh, and no air conditioning in there either.)
  All in all, a simple but exhausting trip. I'll keep everyone updated as I begin training. So until next time, Paalam! (Tagalog for goodbye)

In Flight

I'll be spending most of the next 2 days flying to Manila. I just wanted to get one last post in before I left the United States. Here are two photos of my Japan Airlines airbus.