♪Oh what fun it is to scythe through a field of golden rice!

The theme of the day yesterday was rice.  We began the morning with a trip to the NTU Farm, which is actually right down the street from our conference room.  I had no idea it was there! Anyway, we geared up with traditional hats and scythes and went out into the ripened research field of rice for the harvest.  It was hot and we were all drenched in sweat, but it was a really cool experience.  Of course, nowadays they use combines to harvest rice, but we used the traditional hand cutting method on the small research plot.  After cutting down the stalks, the rice grain is threshed off the heads with an old-fashioned thresher that runs on foot-pedal power.  We were pretty good rice farmers, which inspired someone, I think Yang Fan, to sing the Farmer's Insurance jingle...♪We are farmers. Buum bum bum bum bum bum bum.

NTU Farm

Rice!

Rice thresher

Me and Ivy

After our harvest, we went to the classroom to watch a video about rice production and culture in Taiwan.  Just in case you didn't know, rice is really important.  The Taiwanese don't hardly eat a meal without rice, either boiled or as a main ingredient.  In addition to the video, we had a special lunch of traditional sticky rice dumplings which are steamed in a bamboo leaf, rice noodles, and some other things made out of rice.  It was really good.

In the afternoon we went back out to the rice paddy to experience planting.  Seedlings that are about three inches tall are transplanted into thick mud paddy.  We got into the mud halfway up our calves and planted 3-5 seedlings at each cross on the grid that was marked into the mud.  Everyone did three rows all the way across the field.  It was a little tricky to walk through the mud because it tried to stay sucked to your feet, but it was so much fun!

Mixed in with all of the fun, there was a little bit of sadness because we had to say goodbye to Tom and Robin. They leave early tomorrow morning and couldn't be with us today. :(  I really loved talking to them and am so glad that they were on the trip with us.  Dr. Tom was always good for the typical American dad type of humor and Robin is unceasingly happy, excited about life, and sweet.  Thanks so much for joining us!

Robin, me, Jenny, and Tom