<< 2003 Rice Harvesting & Temple Visiting Tour>>
Held at Hirokami on September 27

	Report #1 "Learned a little more about myself" Ejoe Chen
UMEX's Way of Sharing Our Differences For some submerging oneself in a new culture is like learning how to ride a bicycle for the very first time. There is a longing anticipation feeling mixed with a butterfly in the stomach. Others might approach it from a different perspective and plunge into the new culture with a determination to quickly learn and conquer that which is new. And, yet there are those who are indifferent. On September 27, 2003 a group of about 40 IUJ students loaded eight minivans and cars and were hauled to a close by town, where we were warmly welcomed by the head of the town, the owner of the farm, the head of the town's temple, and the community members. Regardless of whatever preoccupied or the absent of feeling we had before being loaded into the vehicles, it was later forgotten and in its place was an unforgettable cultural experience in which only at IUJ can we enjoy this experience. Thanks to UMEX members, a club that infuses the IUJ community with that of the surrounding local Japanese residents. The objective of UMEX is not only to bring the learning experience of IUJ community outside the classrooms, but, also, to bring the local communities to IUJ. The result is two communities learning from each other. Sickle in One Hand Rice Grass on the Other Before slicing the bundle of rice grass with our sickle, the head of the town welcomed us. During his speech, some whispered that this is the very first time that a group of foreigners of this size planted foot in this town. After the head of town gave his speech, we got an express rice harvesting lesson. Strapped on his rice harvesting boots that were a little short of knee high and slipped on a pair of comfortable white cotton gloves, the local farmer was determined to teach us the rice harvesting technique and the way of the rice field. With his feet planted into the mud, he sliced the first bundle of rice grass with such skill that he brought out the harmony of his bodily movement and the stroke of his curved sickle. With a bundle of rice grass held on his left hand and a sickle firmly grippe on his right, he explained how harvesting rice is done. "Just like that!", he explained in Japanese. After understanding his English translated instruction, like a group of eager teenagers going shopping in the mall for very first time, we headed into the rice field equipped with white cotton gloves and armed with a razor sharp sickle. We walked with such confidence as if telling the rice grass that it is today that we will master the Niigata Rice Harvesting Technical. It is today that you (rice grass) will taste the new blood's stroke of sickle. Before slicing my sickle blade through the grass, I, like everyone else, thought that it would be a piece of cake. It would be no more difficult than using fork and knife to eat a New York Sirloin steak. All one has to do is grab the grass and slit it with the sickle. It is all in the motion of the wrist! Boy, I have terribly underestimate rice harvesting. After harvested about 100 square feet of rice, my dress pants were dirty and I was dead tired. In addition, I discovered that I have neither bodily harmony, nor the skilled ability to maneuver between the rice grass. Because of my inability to maneuver through the rice grasses, the grass blades poked my forehead and scratched my arms. The grass, when come in contact with the skin, caused the skin to itch. At this point, I admitted defeat. I am ready to sit back and sip a bottle of Coke. I was convinced that I should not drop my MBA program to pursue farming. Considering how much money the Japanese farmer roles in, the idea did flirt with me. Even though I was exhausted, I greatly treasure the experience, because for the very first time I was away from the crowded and chaotic New York City lifestyle. More importantly, I felt "one with nature" for the very first time. While I was standing in the rice field with both hands planted on my hips and sweat dripping down my forehead, I felt a pulse of Zen. I can not begin to explain why this happened, but only to admit that it did. My mind was calm and quiet, which had not happened in a long, long while. I appreciated the sweet sense of rice grass. I was one-hundred percent aware of my breath and bodily movement. In addition, I can feel the mud welcomingly caressing my boots and transmitting the therapeutic coolness to my feet. It was through this rice harvesting experience that I realized what I have been missing while I was living and working as a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York and Boston. The quality of life or rather the state of mind which has long eluded me is the feeling of "Oneness". At that instance, I felt the absence of countless voices which summoned me to complete endless tasks. For the very first time I feel a sense of deeper meaning in life. Through my exchange program and the rice harvesting event, I have learned from my colleagues who are from more than forty different countries. In addition, I have understood more about the Japanese culture and how closely knitted the IUJ and the Japanese communities are. But, more importantly, I have learned a little more about myself. -Ejoe Chen October 4, 2003 (Exchange student from The Lally School of Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
	Report #2 "Smile to a Child!" Mike Isacovici
Smile to a child! (�cor a special report on an exceptional day) On the 27th of September, UMEX has organized one of the most important yearly event, the Rice Harvesting Day. We, students and UMEX volunteers, could enjoy and have a LOT of FUN in experimenting the Japanese traditional way of rice harvesting. But it was not all about harvesting. After the hard work, the mayor, Mr. Sakurai himself invited all of us to have lunch with him and with all the people who helped making this event make true. For me, the most important and rewarding part of the day was the visit to the temple called Eisyo-Ji located near town. I was impressed by its simplicity that revealed in every of its corner an entire philosophy of living and hoping, of enduring and facing the hardest time of history, of nature and divinity. It is very different to what I am used to see back in Romania, where the larger the church, the greater the faith. Instead, here, the simpler the more meaningful. One idea made me think a lot that day and more often afterwards. During his lecture held in the temple, Mr. Keitoku Imai, said that the Japanese people consider every new person they meet with the same joy and good thoughts, as they do when a child is born. In fact, he said: �gwhen we meet a new person, we smile to him as to a new-born child". This idea made me think�c Made me realize why the locals are so happy when saying hello (even to a stranger). It made me see that in the eyes of every person, here, in Japan, we ? foreign students and not only ? we are seen as children and treated like ways. It gives you a sense of security and peacefulness never encountered in any other culture or society. Now I am thinking, what if every person on this planet thinks in the same manner? What if we all are embracing the new person we meet with the same happiness and good feelings as we do when we see a child? Would not be a better place for us? This is my question for you�c and the answer lies only in your HEART!