一連串的偶然，我來到日本當WWOOFer

私のお名前：牧風 

滞在時期、期間：2010.09.28 - 10.28.  

是夜，我在敦南誠品翻到了一本書，上面寫著兩位台灣女生去北歐當WWOOFer的事情，從這刻起，我的手機裡跟我的心上，都記下了「WWOOF」這個名詞。就在雲林參加過七天的有機農業營之後，我愛上了時時刻刻親近土地、親近生命的有機生活，於是種下了我想要去日本當WWOOFer的因。然而為何我選擇了2010年的四國呢？理由很簡單，因為坂本龍馬。但是我卻選擇了離高知市較為遙遠的蕃茄農場，只因為從資料上看到host本身喜歡音樂、跟去過的WWOOFer都有不錯的互動、而且還剛好在整修房子，加上膽子很大的我想要在一個地方好好待上一、兩個月，於是，我來到了四國的海邊。

One night in June 2009, I saw a book at the LSC Eslite which was written two Taiwanese girls who went to North Europe and became WWOOFers. From this moment, my cell phone and my mind have recorded the "WWOOF" terms. After participating at an organic farming camp for seven days at Yunlin in Taiwan, I fell in love with living a life close to land. I decided I want to go to Japan and become a WWOOFer. I chose Shikoku in 2010 just because of Sakamoto Ryoma, but I still chose the tomato farm more distant from Kochi City, because the host wrote that he loves music, and seemed to have a good interaction with the WWOOFers. He was renovating the house, I wanted to stay in one place for a month or two, and so I came to the seashore in Shikoku. 

一開始來到農場，第一件做的事就是刷油漆。有機會可以看到木造房子的整修真的很特別，而且有機會可以跟水泥工師父及木工師父相處、聊天，看他們對自己的工作相當喜愛、而且專注、負責，總會讓我一再地思考，現今台灣社會多數人一生都會有不只一次的職業交替，這樣是好、是壞？過了幾天，農場陸續來了更多位 WWOOFer，在這麼短的時間內、在同一個地方遇到這麼多不一樣的人真的是我以前從來未曾有過的事情。因為在台灣，我總是下意識地來到自己熟悉的地方，尋找一絲絲自己熟悉的事物，想找尋一些認同。所以在離開日常生活的環境中，我就會敞開心房去主動接觸更多嶄新的人、事、物，這也是我覺得所有的人們偶爾都應該轉換的思維方式。在農場作事、煮食自己摘種的辣椒、大蒜等蔬菜，讓我深刻體會到人是由大地萬物所滋養成長的，也難怪有一群都市人，即使平日再忙碌，假日也一定要抽時間去親近大自然，不然，好像沒有元氣去面對未來的工作挑戰。尤其，我特別興奮於夠看到並參與農場房子的整修及工作室的逐步建設、自己可以親手種下蕃茄及大蒜，而且，親眼見到一顆顆的大蒜一點一點地成長、茁壯，那種生命力的散發一整個感染到我，使得我回國後就像個信徒般地不停告訴親友們去當 WWOOFer的滿滿收穫。  

On the farm, my first job was painting the floor. It’s really very special to see the refurbishment of wooden houses, and to work alongside a professional Carpenter and Mason, and to feel how much they love and focus on their own job. It made me think again and again, that it could be good for a person in Taiwan (or even any other country) often to change his/her job more than one time? A few days later, there were more WWOOFers. I never met so many different people in one place in such a short period of time, because when I was in Taiwan, I always went to a familiar place subconsciously, looking for the slightest things they are familiar with, just for want some identity or something else. During this month, when I left the daily-life environment, I could open my mind to contact many brand-new people and things, and I thought everyone should change his/her way of thinking sometimes just like this. Doing anything on the organic farm, like cooking the peppers, garlic and other vegetables (which the host planted and we harvested), let me finally realize that humans are nourished by the earth, therefore, there are many city people who always want to be close to nature in the weekend to let himself/herself have enough strength to face the unknown challenges of the future work, even when they are busy and tired in the week. In particular, I was DEFINITELY EXCITED to see and participate in the renovation of the farm house and step-by-step building of the studio, and I directly planted many garlic and tomato plants, and witnessed the daily growth of these garlic, the strength of their lives affected me deeply, and let me become a fanatical believer and keep telling my friends and family my full and wonderful gains from being a foreign WWOOFer in Japan.   

如果要說當WWOOFer對我的影響，我還真不知該從何說起，就像在寫這篇文字的時候，我腦中不斷回憶起起那一個月的點點滴滴：host熱情地接待我們這群WWOOFer，放心地讓我們這群半調子幫他打理農場；水泥工師父及木工師父總是會耐心地跟我們這群老是耽誤他們工作進度的傢伙講解並示範我們可以幫得上的小忙；住在農場旁的鄰居大嬸，即使我的日文破到爆，她總是會開心地喊我台灣人，不時還會跟我聊起關於台灣的一些事情。我真的十分感謝擔任host的農場主人以及所有害羞又熱情的在地朋友們，感受到他們對於我這個陌生人的親切，讓生性膽怯的我回台灣之後變得更為開放，也想分享這樣特別的經驗讓更多人知道。尤其我覺得，身為台灣人很棒也很幸福的，因為我們平日就有接觸蠻多日本影視及在地文化方面的書籍或影視資訊等，加上看得懂多數的漢字，所以即使語言沒有那麼精通，來到日本也不會感覺那麼陌生。所以我希望透過我持續的經驗分享，能有更多的台灣朋友可以到日本去當WWOOFer，去進行比一般旅行更為特別的國際交流，這真的是一個無可取代的特殊經驗，也希望我自己還能有機會再到日本當WWOOFer，如果能去摘我自己種下的蕃茄，那就更棒了！  

But if you want me to describe the influence that 'being a WWOOFer has had on me, I really couldn’t say it totally just by some words, just like when I wrote these words now, I constantly remember each pieces of memory about this month: the host treated us WWOOFers like his own friends, and let us take care of his farm when he was not there; the Carpenter and the Mason were always patient with us , explaining carefully and demonstrating how we could help them just a little bit, even if we actually  delay their progress. The old lady who lived near the farm, was always happy to call me “Taiwanese” and told me somethings she knew about Taiwan from time to time, even if my Japanese was REALLY POOR (and so was my English XP). I was REALLY GRATEFUL to the host and his all shy but passionate local friends, I really felt and realized their sincere kindness to a total stranger like me, so naturally I went back to Taiwan and become more open and would like to share this special experience to more and more people. I think being a Taiwanese is very lucky, because we normally have contact with films, books and lots of other information about the local culture in Japan, and we can understand most of the “Kanji” characters, so even if we are not so fluent in Japanese, it won’t be so difficult for us to be in Japan. Therefore, by continuing to share my WWOOFer experience, I hope that there would be more friends in Taiwan will go to Japan and be WWOOFers, it really is a unique experience more specific than travel to make a brand-new international exchange, and hope that I can go back to Japan and be a WWOOFer again and harvest the tomatoes I planted before. It would be so nice!