WWOOF in China Part 3: Life on the Farm

Just as I thought...this place is HARD work! My first week at the farm has definitely been a test to myself to see just how much I can handle and to be honest, I don't know if I can do this for a whole month. The weather is a big factor on my mood and no matter if it is sunny or overcast, I am in a constant state of sweating-my-butt-off! Raking, weeding, planting, lifting, digging, it goes on and on. Meanwhile, my sweat continues to drip off the tip of my nose as I bend over trying to stay low enough so that I don't ruin the spider's masterpiece of a web, yet high enough from the ground to not let jumping insects attack my face. Is that an insect running down my back or is that just sweat? Whatever, just hit the spot and it will die or soak into my shirt regardless. Ugh, I anticipated the hard work but these insects are from a different planet. They are huge and loud! And the spiders, oh my gosh the spiders. Working in the tents that protect certain vegetables is the worst because there is a canopy of spiders that just hang in their web and stare down at you (advice: don't look up). I am trying to envision the point when these things will no longer bother me but I don't think that will happen, ever. All I can do is accept that we exist in the same world and that's about it.

After the first day of trying to appreciate and listen to mother nature I had to throw my iPod on for both motivational purposes and sanity (gets rid of the buzzing insects). It's strange, I've noticed that the things that give me satisfaction on a typical day at the farm come from moments that I would not normally think twice about if they were to happen anywhere else...and I appreciate every second of it. They are times like;

LUNCHTIME: Mr. Woo cooks me lunch with fresh vegetables from the farm and fresh meat from the market every single day. Always tasty, hearty and he even goes out of his way to set some aside for me to take home for dinner.

THE WALK HOME: When Mr. Woo goes, so do I, and so does Lucky, Leo and Hakjai. During the day these three dogs are tied up and when it's time to close up the farm, they walk me home then head back to the farm to guard it. It's amazing. CONNECTING TO YOU: After a long day, I shower and hop on 52B mini village bus to go into town to connect to you. I then sit outside, in front of the 711 where I can get signal with my 30-day Wi-Fi pass. From this point, I get about 1-2 hours of web surf, then I'm back on the last mini bus back to my village at 8:30pm to relax and well...do nothing. The journey that I have to go through just to get Wi-Fi is what makes this time mean so much. The life I live here is simple and without a doubt an experience of a lifetime.

Mr. Woo and I set up this electric fence...

and this is what we caught!!! Gross!!