Country Life Living

Recently, I have found myself back to the same inner conflict of living in the countryside of Japan. Is it for me?? These thoughts come every so often living here in a small town and I dream of the hustle of city life . I think about my Japan experience and wonder would I feel better in a city? Dancing, clubs, easy access to shopping, public transportation, coffee shops, Japanese lessons...PEOPLE, maybe even a better chance of meeting more friends who speak English. These thoughts of a more convenient Japan life usually come after a trip away from Nagai. So after an amazing time with Mandy in Tokyo last weekend I wonder if the country is where I am supposed to be. It must be or how else did I get here? Still it is a challenge therefore, I find myself on the internet reading up about country life living trying to seek out advice or just understand what other foreigners are up to in countryside Japan. Today I came across something really interesting about rice farming in Japan and living the slow life. The article and news clip hit home in many ways. One because I am living in a rural area with rice fields all over, two: my boss is a rice farmer, three: the story compares city life and rural life which I often do myself and alas, the story connects to an idea that I have about someday living off the land.

Check out this link to read up on this topic and watch out the video as well!
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2005/11/japan_the_slow.html#

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaCyPHTLY_o

Finding this is a funny coincidence because just yesterday in the car, I was comparing the farm life of Japanese people to the farm life at home in Saskatchewan. It just seems that there are so many rice fields out there but I don't really know anything about who or how it gets done. I asked my friend Robin a concerning question about rice farming: is it losing to the big city and eventually die out kind of like farming is at home?