The Adventures of Alex: Japan...The Last Day

Today was our last day in Japan, but it was jammed-packed with culture and fun! We spent the day touring Kyoto and visited the Golden Palace, a Samurai Castle and a Buddhist Temple.

It was amazing to see the contrast of rich Japanese architecture surrounded by peaceful lakes and waterfalls at the Golden Palace. It is hard to believe that the structure is covered with REAL gold!

We really enjoyed testing the squeaky floors at the Samurai Castle (intentionally invented to prevent stealthy ninja's from assassinating the Shogun).

It was hard to top the Buddhist Temple with 1,001 statues of Buddha. We learned about the tenants of the Buddhist religion and had fun dancing in the courtyard.

Our team spent the rest of the day at two different shopping areas, picking up gifts for our family and friends. We ALL stocked up on Hichu (aka the best candy known to man).

After a long day of tours and power shopping, we enjoyed Korean barbecue as our last supper. We thought our Japanese fun was over until our guide Chieko took us upstairs for the big finale of our trip... KARAOKE!!!!! Our team had so much fun rocking out to Michael Jackson, Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys and Journey. I bet Japan is thankful for sound proof walls ; )

Our last day was bittersweet. We all loved our time here and have come to appreciate the Japanese culture. But, we are all anxious to see our families and post all our pictures on Facebook : ) So stay tuned!

In true Jay Leno fashion, here is the team's Top Ten Japanese experiences! Drum roll please....

10. The Food We learned all about the art of eating sushi (raw fish and rice) and sashami (just the raw fish)

9. Our Farm Visit in Saitama Prefecture We made mochi and played with the farmer's son!

8. Waterfalls We admired the Kegon Waterfalls after riding an elevator 100 meters into the ground.

7. CREPES!!! (my personal favorite)

6. Shrines and Temples We learned about the differences between Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples.

5. Tsukiji Fish Market The largest fish market in Japan where we got to witness a tuna auction!

4. Our Night at the Ryokan We experienced traditional Japanese food and accomodations.

3. The Mitsui Reception We had a blast learning about Mitsui and gettign to know their young leaders!

2. FFJ Reception at the Tokyo Metropolitan Engei High School We spent time playing traditional Japanese games with FFJ members from all over Tokyo.

1. Our Home Stay with FFJ members from Handa Nogyo High School We spent three days and two nights as members of Japanese families being totally emersed in the culture and day-to-day life!

Chelseas Travels: Japan Host Families

We have had such an amazing time with our host families. My family was the Tokemotos. Everyone enjoyed a unique experience in the various households we visited. An agricultural high school in Japan is everything you might imagine it would be: diverse, traditional, and full of pride, which is GREAT to see!

Chase's Adventures

Hey everyone!

Konichiwa!! or hello in Japanese!

This island is one amazing place if you ever get the chance to visit Japan DO IT! you will be so happy you did. From the moment we stepped of the plane just a few days ago we have been treated with such amazing hospitality and kindness.
Today began at a traditional Japanese hotel located in Nikko Japan, this location was way up in the Mountains and was absolutely beautiful. We visited a famous waterfall and experienced the true Japan culture in the historic city. After traveling just a few hours back into Tokyo we had one of the most memorable times thus far in our National Officer year, visiting FFJ members (Future Farmers of Japan) at a local school. The students were great people and gave us a tour of their school, everything from sea tortoises, to pigs to trees was included in the schools farm. All this and a three million dollar tree, yes that's 3 million dollar valued historic tree that the school is preserving along with many others. After a quick tour we had a reception with the FFJ members, they had practiced their English and we did the best we could with our Japanese! It was an incredible time to meet the students and continue to build on our relationship between FFA and FFJ, we exchanged gifts, played a few games that they had prepared, and no question left with some great memories.
Tomorrow we head out of the city to experience rural Japan and stay with our host families! We look forward to sharing more about this adventure with each of you and would like to continue to thank Mitsui for the sponsorship of this experience.

until next time!
Chase Rose

Randa's Journey- Japan Trip! 2/2/10

Hello everyone!!

Our time in Japan has been absolutely amazing so far! Today was full and eventful when we started off at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo. We were able to see tuna auctioned off, walk through the fish market and enjoyed some sushi for breakfast. This was then followed by a stop at Toyota where we made our way to a Japanese farm, here we learned the art of "Mochi-tsuki" traditional rice making! The rice is placed in a hollow wooden log and we each took turns smashing with the wooden mallet. It was quite the experience! The family that hosted us served us a traditional Japanese meal with the rice that we made and was also generous enough to take us on a tour of their vegetable fields and give insight to the different farming practices that they use. By the time we found ourselves back at the hotel we walked across the street to a resturant where we had Japanese pancakes which consist of rice, pork, vegetables or whatever you want to put in them. The owner of the resturant was most gracious and allowed us to practice some of our Japanese! The people here are just phenomenal and kind, they have a been a great example to us and we are all enjoying this opportunity very much!

Levy's Latest (Japan Edition)

Hey y'all it's Day 2 here in Japan and it was a great one! We started off the morning right with some great breakfast at the Akasaka Exec Hotel and from there on we headed to the U.S. Embassy. We met with the folks who work in the U.S.D.A. sector of the Embassy, and discussed issues facing Japanese Agriculture and American Agriculture, also we learned about the internships that are offered to undergraduate and graduate students. After about a 2 hour discussion we went to the cafeteria and had some American food for lunch and caught a bit of the Pro Bowl! The visit to the Embassy proved to be very rewarding and allowed are team to walk away with some more knowledge on Ag in Japan. We headed to the Imperial Palace for a quick pit stop and continued on to Mitsui, one of the partners of the National Officer International Experience. Mitsui is a Japanese firm with it's business in a variety of markets ranging from the auto industry to agriculture. We met with many of the interns (freshman) and learned a little about each division that they represented. This evening we also had a reception dinner with Mitsui and one of their General Managers. At this reception our team had the chance to introduce ourselves in Japanese which was a great/funny experience for all of us! The day went extremely well and we are all so excited for tomorrow as we are leaving at 4:50 a.m. to head to Tsukiji Fish Market and continue on with our Japanese experience! Until next time...

Japan Adventure- Day 1

The Best Parts of a 14 Hour Flight

*Great bonding time with teammates!
*They served Japanese Food.
*Great reading/movie watching time
*Sleeping helps make the time change a little easier
*Nothing like celebrating a birthday the moment you cross the International Dateline!

Best Learning Experiences

*Visited a local shrine to learn about some of the Japanese beliefs.
*While at the shrine we got to see 2 brides and a wedding procession.
*Sitting in a Tea Ceremony celebrating our welcome to Japan.
*Learned the 4 ideas of being the 'perfect' guest, Harmony, Tranquility, Purity, Respect.
*Took a boat ride with the Tokyo skyline in view.
*Got to see the 3rd Statue of Liberty in the World.
*Our tour guide is wonderful! She's continuously teaching us more of the language.
*Experiencing the hospitality of the culture.

New Foods We've Tried

*Jellyfish
*Scallops
*Tempura Eggplant and Pumpkin
*Powdered Green Tea
*Walnut-Sesame Ice Cream
*Grape Fanta (They're famous for it!)


~Bethany

Chelsea's Travels: Pictures from Soderquist

The Soderquist Center for Leadership & Ethics