5/4 Group 2 Rice planting by Robert

5/4: Group 2 rice planting

Today was our final lesson. Rice planting was a new addition to the itinerary, and in my mind, maybe the best. We learned about the entire "life cycle" of rice, from tilling the field to making rice flour. The amount of work that goes into the process made me much more conscientious and appreciative when I was served a bowl of rice at our lunch. 

First, we were introduced to Se

Which Noah evolved it to buffalo surfing (like the Bob Marley song, which no one recognized and had nothing to do with my poor singing)

We learned to move the water from the irrigation canal to the rice field in the traditional way

And then how to smooth out the soil for planting

The evening meeting focused on connection - to our own authentic self, to each other, and to the world. I shared a student reflection from a few years ago about the meaning of global citizenship, which presented a powerful image of connection:

Student reflection on the meaning of Global Citizenry

 “A global citizen is someone who identifies with being part of an emerging world community and whose actions contribute to building this community’s values and practices.”

https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/ron-israel/what-does-it-mean-to-be-global-citizen

To me, global citizenry is the feeling that you are part of something bigger than just your neighborhood or your state or even your country. It’s the feeling that you are part of this world and that everything belongs to you in a way. Because you are doing your part by “…contributing to build this community’s values and practices,” you are connected to everything.

You might never have thought about any of this before and you might just be randomly walking down the street when all of a sudden something really beautiful and real strikes you, like a flower-bud on a tree or a sunset. Then all of a sudden it occurs to you that you are part of this world—it is your world too, from the biggest most dramatic sunset to the littlest, sweetest flower-bud. You realize that you will try as hard as you can to do your part and “…contribute to building this community’s values and practices.” When you realize this, billions of invisible arrows with billions of invisible strings attached to them shoot out and you become connected to everything. You become a global citizen.

We use the evening meetings to share different learning experiences, from appreciation to practicing being present in this moment. Evening meetings are also used as a time for the students to share their ideas and reflections, which create bonding opportunities with each other. 

We now say goodbye to Hoian and head to Hue.