Rice Paddies and the slacker duck

We returned to ARI for three more days with a group of students from the Reformed Church in America (RCA). They flew to Japan for a summer mission trip, and it has been part of our job for our internship to be their hosts while they are here. Sort of like the blind leading the blind, but so far I think we are doing okay. We brought the kids to ARI for their first three days (and by kids I mean they range from 16-19), and we all worked very hard. The day starts at 6:30 and ends at 6:30, with lots of weeding, cleaning, harvesting, transplanting, and sowing throughout the day. But also lots of good Asian food, fellowship with participants from around the world, and occasional trips to one of the nearby onsens.

This trip we had the chance to work in the rice paddies. Because ARI is all organic, they have an interesting system for the rice paddies. They keep a duck in the rice paddies to eat the weeds so that they don’t have to use pesticides or chemical fertilizers. But this means they have to build a fence to keep the duck in, and put up several strings over the paddy to keep hawks from trying to eat the ducks. In the rice paddy we were at, however, the duck decided to eat one too many rice paddies alongside the weeds, so it was bye-bye duck and hello dinner for this belligerent feathered foe. Thus it was our task to take over the role of the duck – to weed the rice paddy. This is a very muddy business, full of frogs, snakes, spiders, and bugs. But I think we all did alright – I was proud of our group. We then took down the fence and string, since the duck was no longer present. Despite being covered in mud after 2 hours in the rice paddy, I think we were all grateful for this thoroughly Japanese experience. This is literally the job that thousands of Japanese have done over the centuries before modern technology, and even then a job that many are still required to do even today.

At ARI we eat rice every single meal – breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I do like rice, but I have to admit I like bread better. Thus the first thing we ate after we got home from ARI tonight was burgers and fries from McDonalds. Yes, tragic – I know. But I was happy to allow these teenagers to convince me that it was a good idea to eat from the Golden Arches in a foreign country. Alright, sayonara for now.

Here we are with some co-weeders, James on the far left and me on the far right.

man, I look good here. Better looking than the duck, I imagine.

Work it James. (I think this job might be easier for people half of James' height)