アンナ・レポート1

Why I came here:

              I decided to go WWOOFing because I wanted to explore Japan in an authentic way (not just sightseeing, but living with people and experiencing daily life).I especially wanted to visit the Tohoku region, because I heard it is very beautiful. This place is close to Yamagata, so it fit with my travel plans. When I looked at the photos I knew I wanted to come here. I love mountains – there are no mountains where I live so they are exciting to me! And I love that there is so much art here.

 First impressions:

              I got to try so many new things today! In the morning we pulled weeds and cut grass around the grave area. In the afternoon I used an electric saw to cut wood; sand-papered a marble statue; and laid cement, all for the first time. It’s been fun so far! I was glad that I got to try a variety of work already. I have stayed at 2 other WWOOF hosts and the work was pretty much the same every day at both places (working in the rice field or working at a café), so I think this is more interesting. I am not used to doing a lot of physical labor, but the work here so far hasn’t been hard, so I think I will be OK!

 Why I am vegetarian:

              I became vegetarian just 1 year ago. I think I am vegetarian for 4 reasons. I will explain them from least important to most important.

1.    Many of my friends are vegetarian

I first considered becoming vegetarian because of my friends. I went on a trip with 3 vegetarian friends and they showed me that it wasn’t that hard to stop eating meat. We cooked vegetarian food and ate at vegetarian restaurants, and it was all very delicious. So being vegetarian doesn’t seem like a burden, but something fun that brings me closer to my friends.

2.    It is healthier

I think animal products don’t have a very good nutritional balance – they are high in fat but don’t have a lot of vitamins or fiber. Also, meat produced on big farms has a lot of added chemicals and hormones. Personally, eating too much meat or dairy products makes me feel sick.

3.    I want to live without hurting animals

Most meat production farms are very cruel to their animals. The animals live in small, dirty cages - they don’t really get to live before they are killed. In general, I don’t think eating animals is wrong. But if I myself can live a happy life and eat good food without causing an animal to die, I think that is better.

4.    Environmental reasons

Animal agriculture is much worse for the environment than vegetable agriculture. It uses many times more water and space. Modern factory farms use practices that are not sustainable. I don’t want to support an industry that is destroying the earth, so I never buy meat unless I know it came from a responsible farm.