Farming in Japan

I want to share what I know about farming in Japan.
First of all, Japan is a small country and there is less space for farming.
So, many farmers don't use machines to grow crops. It is one of the major characters of Japanese farming style.
Actually, farmers are getting fewer and fewer in Japan.
Japan mainly depends on foods that were imported from other countries, and many farmers are have troubles to survive in this situation. Therefore, I would be able to say Japanese farmers are facing serious problems now.

Japanese main crops are rice.　
Almost all Japanese people love rice, I think.
Actually, it is said that there are about 300 kinds of brands of rice in Japan.

My favorite menu using rice is onigiri, rice ball.
You may think this is made by just pressing rice into shape, however, it's not so easy to make a delicious one.
When you press it too tightly or too loosely, you cannot make it good.
It's simple meal but I never lose interest in it.

This is a picture we took today!

COTS shelter

Today, we went to COTS shelter in Burlington.

First, it was cleaner than I thought before visiting there.
The space to sleep seemed to be a little small, but it was organized that a lot of people can stay.
The first impression of homeless people was not so clean, so I could understand how the volunteers and the staffs are trying hard to make a good condition of the shelter.

In Japan, maybe there is no place like this. As a result, there are relatively many homeless people at riverside and on the rode. Even if there are facilities like this in Japan, it seems to be hard for homeless people to stay long. So, I was surprised that COTS have no limits to stay and people can save money for their future housing.

Before I visit COTS, I did not have so much questions about it, but a lot of things came up to my mind when I visit there. It was a really good opportunity to learn and think about new things.

Questions about COTS

Today, I would like to write three questions about COTS.

First, how did they prepare the first funds before there are not so many supporters?

Secondly, the first purpose of COTS Walk is to raise public awareness about homelessness in their community. So, without raising money, what are they aiming neighbors to do for people who are homeless?

Thirdly, how was the situation of homelessness before the first shelter was opened? I want to ask this question because I heard it is so cold in winter in Burlington, and was it possible to live without house? 




This is the URL of our today's presentation, "Homelessness in Japan".
http://prezi.com/trpd4erhrq4u/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Lake Champlain Chocolates

Today, we went to Lake Champlain Chocolates factory tour.

Soon I arrived there, I was excited of various kinds of beautiful chocolates in the show windows!

In factory tour, I could know a lot of things about chocolates that I have never heard.

For example, white chocolates include less ingredient than others, and by adding stuffs, the color become deep brown and tastes bitter. Also, it was the first time to see a real cacao and it was larger than I thought.

I had a chance to eat 70% cacao chocolates for free, but it was little bitter for me.
However, all the chocolates I tried were really good taste and I wanted my family in Japan to try them.

Information about myself

Today, I'd like to introduce myself.
First, I am from Japan, Tokyo and I have lived there since I was born.
I live in an area called Adachi and it is a old part of Tokyo.
Next, I want to study development studies in my university, and after graduation, I plan to study nutrition. Also, I wish I could connect the both studies to help starving people in developing countries.
I am a freshman now, and I started playing ultimate, which is a kind of sports using Frisbee.
 I had been in a jazz club when I was a high school student, so to start ultimate in university was a big challenge for me.
This is the first time to go abroad and I want to make my life here more wonderful !