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!