So Saturday morning began with introductions. I met all of the people who would be helping that day (this included two children). And then, we ate a big breakfast! Oishii!! (That means "delicious", in Japanese, if you were wondering).
Then we went to the first field. I was given my tools:
And basically, I jumped into the field and started hacking (I mean "cutting") at the rice stalks. It was easy enough. But I have to admit, I don't think this kind of job is for everyone. I am lucky that I grew up liking bugs and insects and mud and dirt (yes, I was a real lady growing up;-) because the rice crops grow in the mud. So you are getting yourself dirty, there are rice husks sticking to your clothes, there are bugs, spiders, frogs, and other things crawling around you. IT WAS AWESOME!
Even when we finished, I had tiny spiders crawling around me. They were more of a nuisance than anything. You're trying to talk to your friend and you see this little spider hanging in front of your face. You get a drink of water and your arm itches and you realize that your friend, the itsy-bitsy-spider, is trying to make a web on your sweatshirt. Here are some of the pictures of me "cutting" the crops and some pictures of the critters:
I don't know if I'd be smiling so much if I had to do the whole field...
Spiders everywhere!
There were snails and snail eggs everywhere, too! These pink things are snail eggs.
The frogs are so bright and vibrant! And easy to catch! I had this one sitting on my hand but he hopped away when I got my camera out. I guess he was camera shy:-)
This isn't a very good photo, but the grasshoppers can be up to 10 cm long. Cool!
This is my new friend, Timothy. He looks really happy in the rice field...a little too happy...
Now, I didn't have to hack (again, "cut") the entire field. Just the corners. You see, my friend's parents own some farm equipment that basically slaughters (cuts...I mean cuts) the field quickly and efficiently. The only thing is that this machine can't reach the corners of the field. That's where me and my friends do our part by cutting the corners (insert obvious joke here;-) of the field. Our job would take basically ten to fifteen minutes, and then we sat there in the field talking to each other, picking spiders off of each other, and observing the real farmer...which was my friend's father or brother (and in a couple of cases, nephew!) as they rode around the field in the farm equipment. Oh yeah, and sometimes the machine would get completely full of rice and we had to help hold the bag in the truck as the machine dispensed the rice into the bag. When the bag was full, we'd ride the truck back and put the rice into the drier. And...that's about all we did. There wasn't too much too do. We did have to do three fields, and the last field was HUGE. Boy, we worked hard as we watched the tractor go back and forth, back and forth. It's hard work, but by golly, somebody's gotta do it! (By the way, my friend's Dad is not just a farmer. He has a second job; He's a full time Vice Principal!! Did I mention that the Japanese people work really really REALLY hard? It's kind of funny when your "hobby" is another job!!)
Anyways, here are some more pictures of the day:
This is a picture of the tractor. Isn't it cute? I find all of the "big" vehicles in Japan are tiny and cute compared to their versions in Canada. The fire trucks, garbage trucks, etc are soooo small! Our machines must be on steroids!!
The foreigners already messed up! We have to fix the bars that hold the rice bag.
The kids were the ones who actually figured it out. Go figure!!
Putting the rice bag onto the truck.
This was the first row that was cut that day. Nice!
The tractor doing it's job. (By the way, the tracks in the background of the picture are actually the Shinkanzen (bullet train) tracks. Cool!)
I was secretly and quietly freaking out to myself as this boy kept "play fighting" with the tractor when it was parked. It was parked, but the blades were still cutting. I seemed to be the only person who was nervous about this...
(He was fine, at the end of the day. He only lost a pinky finger and those little digits are just useless. j/k!!)
The tractor is full, and the rice needs to be transferred to the bag in the back of the truck.
Dispensing the rice.
mmmmm, rice!
Moving the bag of rice closer to the "Drier Machine."
This machine is the "Drier."
Thank you, to my friends, who allowed me to witness all of this. I had a wonderful time and an unforgettable experience! And also, thank you for the breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack, too! What a great day!! (I should have taken pictures of the food! Next time...next time...)
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