The Japan Experience...

January 28th - February 8th in JAPAN!!!

What a time!  We embarked on our journey with my teammates, our coaches Ms. Jill and Ms. Durham, and the FFA Foundation Director, Mr. Rob Cooper.  Before we took off, the 26^th and 27^th were spent getting all of our stuff together and some to do lists knocked out of the park.  The morning of the 28^th came and I was on the earliest flight so we all decided to stay awake all night so that when we got on the plane, dream land here we come!  This was also supposed to help with jetlag.  We landed in Tokyo after the 14 hour flight and had a slow afternoon and evening so that we could hibernate early.

It seemed so surreal to be in Tokyo…talk about FFA taking you places.  There were four main events that took place that changed and challenged me.

1)       One day we were able to visit one of the ports that ships arrive at and earlier that day, a ship carrying United States corn was on board.  As we walked onto the ship, I began to understand much more about the reality of trade and the aspect of ‘Globalization.’  It made me see how important the movement of food is.  In Japan, there is really no corn grown anywhere!  Coming from South Dakota, that fact was pretty amazing to me and understanding that the every person in Japan depend of the US for corn consumption and by-products from corn.

2)      There were two nights that we spend with host families.  My family consisted of my Ogii-chan (grandpa), Obaa-chan (grandma), Obaa-son (aunt), Oto-son (father), Okaa-son (mother), and my little brother Tyoshi.  It was a bit intimidating loading into the van with my host mom and brother to go to my home for the night.  We were able to communicate in the very basic level and they could speak about 20 words in English which we used to piece thoughts together along with charades and pictures from home that I brought.

What amazed me the most about my time with my family was the fact that people from very different backgrounds and cultures could still communicate and understand each other because down deep, people has many similarities.  One instant where all barriers were down and we were able to completely enjoy each other’s company was when we went to play table tennis (ping pong).  I quickly learned that I was not nearly as skilled as I thought maybe I was.  Throughout the epic battle that we played, the walls of culture and awkwardness gradually faded and by the end of the night we were literally laughing on the floor and having a great time.  People are people!  I must show respect and love to each person regardless of their backgrounds.

3)      The Tea Ceremony that we experienced was a really great way for us to understand so much more about the culture.  We saw right from the start that everything had a purpose and its own place.  Apathy was not an option here.  There are four main characteristics to the ceremony: Respect, Harmony, Purity, and Tranquility.  

4)      One blissful morning we left to go visit a local farm near Tokyo.  We stepped off of the bus and walked onto about a four acre fruits, herbs, and vegetable farm.  One thing that really was a mind-bender for me was the massive amounts of variety that was offered.  He raised 150 different types of food products.  Some of these foods that we saw were orange cauliflower, purple broccoli (which was AMAZING), and pointed cauliflower.  Plants are amazing!

       

Big picture, it was so awesome to see how the people that we met are just as incredible as any other person that I have met.  I see more and more that it doesn’t matter what background a person has or where they come from.  What matters is that every person that we ever meet has unique experiences and perspectives that we can learn from and we are able to give something unique and special to help each of those same people.  People are incredible!

Time in the White House (okay it was just a hotel, but it was white:-)...

Wednesday 1/19/11 – Tuesday 1/25/11 at Washington D.C.

There is something about looking out the window and seeing below you such a big part of our nation’s history.  This was only my second time to Washington D.C. and I was super excited.  I knew that the week would be filled with meetings, some touring, and finally the National FFA Board of Directors meeting. 

                Thursday morning and early afternoon was spent mostly at the American Farm Bureau Federation.  They gave us some basic training on the lobbying process, some hot topics in agriculture, and also some media training.  After lunch there, we went to the Sponsor’s Board Meeting where Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack spoke to us about rural America and the positive role that the FFA plays in agriculture.  A big concern of his was that the number of young people going into production agriculture is not exactly increasing.  He also recognized how the FFA is an organization that is built on agriculture and service.  One thing that really surprised that he shared was that 16% of our population lives in what is described as “rural America” yet “rural America” contributes 44% of our military.  Now that is an attitude of service right there!!!  In addition to making some remarks, Secretary Vilsack signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the USDA and the FFA.  It felt great to see how two groups could come together and support each other through agriculture!

                Later in the evening, we went to dinner with many people on the Sponsor’s Board, Alumni, and other stake holders where we were able to mingle with them and get to hear their stories.  Thought of the nigh…people are fascinating and have so many lessons to teach me.

                Friday brought more work at AFBF and we also were able to meet with Dr. Kanter, Undersecretary of Education.  She is a neat woman that has a passion for education and a passion for youth…hey, her and I are a little alikeJ  We discussed what the FFA is doing with her and why finding our knew “Dr. Case” was so important to our organization.  She was very receptive and was impressed by the caliber of members that we have in the FFA (thanks right, she thought we were pretty sweet stuff)!

                After the meeting we went back to have lunch with President Stallman (Pres. of AFBF) and the department managers there.  Then it was time to say our good byes and have a bit of relaxing time and work time for ourselves before dinner.

                That night we met with three past FFA members that now worked at the National Farmers Union.  We ate at Founding Farmers, a restaurant that focused on where food comes from and how it is prepared.  It was cool to see many people that wanted to know how their food was being produced.  It made me happy to see that people care about food and hopefully getting the understanding that food comes from farmers across this country.  Yay for farmers!!!

                Saturday we had the day off to do some sightseeing and have an all-around great time with the team.  Our adventures started off at the Holocaust Museum.  What a mind-bending experience!!!!  We saw what one man can do by leading others.  It was a bitter-sweet time looking through all of the pictures, artifacts, and watching some of the video clips.  How could something like this happen?  How could one man (and his close companions) have so much hate in their hearts?  It really made me think about how I viewed others and if I truly love those around me.  Sometimes I get caught up in what I am doing or what I want or having so much drive to achieve and still…I often lose sight of what is truly important; showing the love of Christ to every person around me!

                As we walked and thought about what we had seen/heard, we made our way to a nice little soup and sandwich type stop for lunch with Travis, the national FFA president about five yours ago.  We shared in stories about the year, he gave us advice, and we all had a great time.  James and I left early from lunch to meet Cory, another past FFA president that now works and lives in the area.  He was going to take the two of us to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  We saw the changing of the guard and then we were able to go underneath to see the room where the soldiers get ready and then have a tour as well.  It was amazing to see and learn about how much discipline it takes to learn all of the steps that they must go through each time.  As I stood looking at so many names of soldiers that have truly given everything, I couldn’t help but feel that I am much too ungrateful.  I usually never think about how much sacrifice people that I don’t/didn’t know gave just so that I could have what I do.  It made me think about ‘service’ and how hard it can be.  I mean, service to others is a much respected idea but it is one that doesn’t get much thanks or is repaid.  I hope that I will do more to show thanks for the service that has been given me!

                The day came to a great close with us getting to visit with Dr. Steve Brown and his wife!  We had fondue, learned more about the Department of Education (DOE), and just had wonderful conversation for a few hours before heading back for some rest.

                Sunday morning started out with a nice little metro ride to a local church in the middle of D.C.  It was great to spend time with brothers and sisters in Christ to worship such an awesome God! 

                I returned back to the hotel where we all checked out and ate a quick bite to eat before moving to the other side of the city where we would meet up with Dr. Brown, and Dr. Armstrong where we went over the agenda for the next couple of days and got to understand more about what the board meeting would be like.  Many different state staff, the Board of Directors, and a few other state holders were in the city so we went to eat out with all of them before Dr. Case’s final going away party at the DOE.

                Monday came quickly and we went to the DOE to have a meal, say goodbye to Dr. Case, and listen to several speakers from the DOE and one from the USDA.  I always think about how much Dr. Case means to us in the FFA but it was amazing to see how he touched lives at the DOE as well.  Many of the staff there came out, not in their normal business attire, but in t-shirts with Dr. Case’s face on them!  It was pretty sweet!!

                Later that afternoon, we heard the announcement that Dr. Steve Brown was appointed Interim Advisor and that Mr. Christopher Browne was appointed Interim Executive Secretary.  This was good news for us and I was stoked to hear that we have two highly qualified individuals step into this role.

Tuesday morning brought with it the first Board of Directors meetings that my teammates and I ever experienced.  It was very professional while still being laid back and conversational.  I had a great time seeing how our organization runs and how everyone works together.  We had a great time talking with all of the adult leaders that were there.  The next time we would see many of them would be for state conventions…BRING IT ONJ

Coloring is my favorite...

Monday 1/17/11 – Wednesday 1/19/11 in Indianapolis.

                We spent a few days back ‘home’ in Indianapolis where we could work on 'to do' lists, have some Japan training, and finally have some team training at Elanco before catching the plane for Washington D.C.  We had one day of cultural training for Japan.  Some people came in that had either lived in Japan or grew up in Japan.  They talked to us about basic phrases and some of the customs that the people have.  Overall, we were all super pumped for it and ready for the real thing and to have some new kind of experiences.

                The morning of the 19^th was spent at Elanco for some team training and to go over results of a personality test that we took.  It was called “Insights Personality Test” and measured many different aspects about each of us that went into showing how we naturally approached most situations and how we thought.  The basic way of explaining it would be that there is a grid and your responses to a variety of questions will determine what quadrant you are in.  Christain, a past state officer that works at Elanco now, was our trainer.  We started the morning by discussing perspective and perception and what those two things mean to individuals and then what they mean when we come together as a team.  These two concepts really hold so much truth in how people interact; especially in a how they approach various situations.  To demonstrate how perception is different for everyone, take a look at this picture and count how many faces you can find in 30 seconds…

                How many did you find?  I can’t find them all but I guess that some people have found up to 18 different faces!  Anyway, we all perceive different things and to us that is the reality that we experience.  The key here is that everyone else has a bit different perception so their reality is varied as well.  When we work with people, on a team or just as friends or even our own families, we need to understand that just because we are looking at the same situation; it doesn’t always mean that we see the same thing.  Communication is huge on a team so that we can be ‘on the same page’ so to speak.

                We then dove into the results of our test and we were all a little surprised as well as in complete agreement with what they results said.  I mentioned earlier that there are four different quadrants.  Each of these quadrants is a different color that represents four unique personality styles.  Now the grid basically looks like this…

               Understanding more about ourselves is huge if we want to improve and grow.  Christian shared two quotes with us that really made me think about how aware I am.  They go like this…

"Unawareness controls me.  Awareness empowers me." – John Whitmore

“What we do not understand in ourselves, we do not understand in the other person either.” – C.J. Young

                We all have and use each of the four quadrants.  Yet, we have one or more that we naturally slip into.  For me, I have three that I more naturally use.  That is the blue, green, and then yellow.

What this means for me is that I am more introverted and typically more of a thinker.  Now all of these are good and all of these have some negatives with them.  For me, I tend to gather as much information as I can to make the “RIGHT” decision while still thinking about how my actions make others feel so that they know that I care about how we feel “TOGETHER” as well as searching to have a good time with it and having “FUN.”  The big negative (and believe me there are so many more) to me is that I am slower at making a decision because I will wait so long to make sure that I make the right decision that it can be too late and will often over-analyze. 

               Another step in our training was for us to create a poster with how we communicate and what we bring to the team.

This training really helped me to understand more about myself as well as understanding more about my amazing teammates.  When a team comes together, I am learning more and more that it takes more than just amazing individuals.  It takes time, patience, and a passion to understand each other and work with each other more.  Teammates provide perspective and perception that one person will never get on their own. 

Values/Mission - Climb On...

Wednesday 1/12/11 – 1/16/11 at the Soderquist Center in Arkansas

This was an incredible few days where we were challenged as individuals and as a team with how we lived.  The Soderquiest Center has one mission: Equipping People with the transforming power of ethical leadership. I had no idea going into this just how deep and hard I would look at myself.  We started our time at the Soderquist center meeting our presenters and soon to be new friends.  Five days that would encourage us and focus us.  Check out a short clip about the Soderquist...

The first steps were surrounded around “me.”  I learned more about my own strengths, the shadows to them (negative tendencies), my way of handling conflict, and my basic way of thinking.  Taking a brutally honest look at me was much needed and showed me that I often try to control everything around me.  Instead of focusing on myself and the things the Lord has put in my realm of influence, I try to control things around me and “fix” them to become perfect in my mind.  God has given each one of us specific talents to be used for His glory and I pray that I will use myself for His purpose instead of being selfish in trying to “fix” people.  I go into conversations with the temptation of what I can teach the other person or how I can help them…instead, why don’t I look to the beauty within each other person and learn from them, their experiences, and also how God is using them?!?!

After taking that look at me, we took the next step to determine and search for what we hold as our own personal values.  I have identified five key values to my own life..

·         Faith

·         Joy

·         Love

·         Trying

·         Learning

We then combined our own values to develop our team values, create a mission statement that captures what is in our hearts, is clear, provides daily actions to live by, and defines why we get up in the morning, and finally writing our legacy platform for the rest of our year.

Once we identified all of these things in our team and as individuals, we were taken through a series of tasks and challenges that really put our values to the test to see if we lived our values.  A big part of these tasks were a high ropes course that physically and mentally made us check our attitudes when we were faced with challenges that we sometimes failed at in front of our teammates.  Things that I learned…zip lines are EPICJ

To wrap up our time at the Soderquist Center, we had a dinner/reception with the presenters and Don Soderquist himself.  He is the founder and has been a very successful business man with Wal-Mart.  He is a great person and envisions leadership and leaders that are continually grounded in ethics.  He shared his story and encouraged us with our role throughout the year.  We all walked away a much stronger team and a team devoted to serving others and to live out our values and mission each and every day!!!!

A Little About Me:-)

For those of you who were at the 83rd National FFA Convention, you understand the relevence of the "and a goat" portion of this note. For those of you who were not in attendance, please bear with me as I attempt to interest you with 25 facts about Wyatt Nick DeJong. 

1)      Both of my nieces were born when I was at FFA events (South Dakota Leadership Retreat as the State Secretary and when I was in Zambia, Africa this past summer for FFA GO: Africa).

2)      I know how to crochet.

3)      I finished a half marathon this past September (didn’t quite run all 13.2 miles, I walked 2.5 of it).

4)      Kip Littau and I made the champion cold pie at the county fair (Watermelon Pie)!

5)      My home is 15 miles away from the nearest paved road.

6)      I was homeschooled K-8th grades.  Then I went to high school in Winner and stayed with my Beppa (that is Dutch for grandma) during the week because we live 28 miles from town.

7)      I love Maine-Anjou cattle.

8)      One of the first pigs that I ever showed would laugh if he was tickled.

9)      I love chess, cards, and puzzles.

10)   I have never been on a roller coaster.

11)   I have never broken a bone.

12)   I have never had a nickname.

13)   In high school, I was named the best supporting actor.

14)   Tuba…enough said!

15)   Between my three older sisters and me, we have been to 6 continents.

16)   This last year I was on South Dakota State University’s livestock judging team.

17)   I used to love stuffed animals (like the toy kinds) and would always want another for Christmas.

18)   I still have so many toy horses that I keep hidden in my top dresser drawer.

19)   Woodworking is one thing that I really enjoy but don’t ever seem to have time to do it.  My senior project in Ag Structures was a cedar chest.

20)   I love collecting things.  When I was younger I had a variety of collections (rocks, bouncy balls, paper, even Smokey Bear pencils, ect…)

21)   Neck ties are awesome!

22)   Laughing is a lifestyle.

23)   When I was roughly in the third grade, most of my family members had eye-glasses and I wanted some too.  So, I complained that my eyes hurt, when the really didn’t.  When I was at the eye doctor, I purposely chose some of the more blurry lenses so that I could get glasses (yeah, I was a brat back then).  Now I do not use or even need to use glasses.

24)   I do sing Christmas songs all year round (but only to myself:-)

25)   Basketball is my favorite sport.  MARCH MADNESS IS THE BEST!!!!  But I really don’t have a team that I go all out for (if I would have to pick one…it would be Gonzaga!!!! Go Bulldogs).

Experience Week in Tennessee = Truly Amazing People/Friends...

Sunday 1/2/11 at South Dakota and Indy

                Loading the plane again back to Indy after a great break with family and friends.  I was able to be at home for two weeks were a great Christmas was had and 2011 was brought in with my two of my sisters (one in California and the other in China)…I love webcamsJ  It was really cool being in the Sioux Falls Airport because I was able to see several friends from SDSU that were on my same flight to Chicago.  They were on their way to Argentina.  I also saw one of my professors that I had this last semester and she is doing very well. 

                Shannon and I both had long lay overs in Chicago so we were able to see each other in the airport for a while (crazy that we both have the same destination but we were on different planes).  We both landed about the same time in Indy so we road together from the airport to the hotel…which turned out to be a little more adventurous than we first thought.  So I started driving like normal and things were dandy to say the least.  We were catching up on what each of us did on break and what not and then we had to make a decision, 465 South or North (we could not remember).  We both had a gut feeling to go on 465 North and as we took the exit ramp there was a whole bunch of construction and things just didn’t look right.  We made the decision to turn around before we got too far. Yes, I know that we both had access to a map but we wanted to try and figure this out on our own.  We drove for a spell and this didn’t look right at all and after a multitude of discussion and U-turns, we finally navigated our way around the entire city because 465 goes around the city in one big loop.  This gave Shannon and I some great bonding time…she is one amazing individual!  We finally made it back to the hotel and grabbed a bite to eat before bedding down for the night.

Monday 1/3/11 at Indy

                We spent the entire day gearing up for Experience Week.  This is one week were all of us national officers travel across one state (this year it is Tennessee) and we basically do everything that we would every have to do throughout our year in this one week and we get some great feedback and coaching.  It did take us the whole day to finish flip charts, gather supplies, go over some brand new curriculum, develop a greetings and a close, work on our keynotes, complete some odds and ends (like business expense reports and such), and also write some thank yous-always need to make time for those!

Tuesday 1/4/11 at Indy and Nashville, Tennessee

                Today was very similar to Monday in that we worked and prepared as well as focused on packing once again for the next trip.  It was nice to have two full days to hammer out all of what we needed to get done.

Wednesday 1/5/11 at Indy and Nashville, Tennessee

                Once again the day started with loading up on the plane…I loved Big Bird growing up but had no idea I would be spending a year one my life with big birds!  We landed in Nashville Tennessee and were picked up by Mr. Mosley and Mr. Lannom who are state staff for Tennessee.  We had one large van and let me tell you, we have become expert packers with suitcases and people.  The van ride was short and we checked into our hotel then were on our way to eat dinner with some of the state officers.  It was amazing getting to meet Julie, Emily, Caycey, and Heath.  For the first time ever I had fried pickles; they are great! 

Thursday 1/6/11 at Columbia, Ellington Ag. Center, and other areas around Tennessee

                We started out the morning at the Tennessee Farm Bureau which is the largest state Farm Bureau in the nation.  After some greetings and workshops we hit the road again for some more time with FFA members and visit the state department of Ag.  It was a beautiful facility and we then toured the agricultural museum.  It was a neat setup and very educational.  They had an old tree saw there and Heath and I as well as James and I tried our hand at being a lumberjack. 

Friday 1/7/11 at the Wilson Central HS (James’s school) and Tennessee Tech

                Another day filled with workshops and speeches.  We arrived at Wilson Central HS which is James’s home chapter and they provided us with breakfast before the day’s events.  We met another state officer:  Todd (which it was kind of crazy to learn that he was in South Dakota two years ago with the Red Angus Jr. Nationals and sat in on a workshop that I did for it in Sioux Falls at Falls Park).  I gave my keynote to several of the students there in the auditorium.  It was fun to talk about becoming a superhero…”GO GO POWERANGERS!!!!”   

                We then traveled to Tennessee Tech where many FFA members from around the area came to visit with us and attend some of our workshops and we also met up with another state officer:  Marissa.  It was a lot smaller audience than we were expecting because many schools had called off school for the day for snow and bad weather.  It was still a great time that is for sure. 

                We then were able to go change and relax at Dr. Frazier’s home.  I have heard so much about Dr. Frazier and it was a pleasure to finally meet him.  Another of the state officers also met us there:  Westlee.  Later on that night was ate again with the state staff and officers and has a great time where I ate alligator (I have had it before but I love it).  After our meal, we traveled to Camp Clements which is the state FFA camp.  We spent the evening setting up for our day conference.  Also, the state officers and all of us had a nice litter dance party to bring the day to a close…

Saturday 1/8/11 at Camp Clements

                Today was the start of something great.  We started the day off with a very great breakfast and then geared up for “CSI Agent Tennessee.”  We met the eighth and final state officer:  Syrena.  Again, the weather turned out to keep some from making it to the camp but we had about thirty super cool members that were ready to investigate themselves and make some great decisions.  One of the decisions was a commitment that a group of us made.  Heath, Lauren, Gina, Peyton, Lindsey, Chelsea, and I made an agreement to try to write one thank you note a day.  This team is focused and driven to try our best at doing this and to keep each other accountable.  I am very thankful for these friends to help me become better and more appreciative of the people and blessings in my life. 

                After goodbyes, we had a great evening with the state officers that remained at the camp and would be with us throughout the next few days.  Before some of the officers had to leave, they introduced us to Moon Pies and Sun Drop pop (like Mountain Dew on steroids…you can just imagine what caffeine like that did to me for the rest of the nightJ).  Those who did stay were Emily, Marissa, and Westlee.  We had a great time playing four on a couch and just hanging out.  If there is one thing that I love, it is late night conversations about life and what makes people happy.  I was blessed to have such a conversation with Westlee and was very impressed by how driven he is for service and others (two things that make me smile).

Sunday 1/9/11 at Camp Clements and Greenville, TN

                The alarm did not go off near as early this morning and I was very appreciative for a little R&R.  We spent most of the day traveling, eating, and chatting it up (three things that I am a huge fan of).  Traveling much further east in Tennessee was beautiful.  The mountains and tree make me see God’s AWEsome power.  There is something about seeing the beauty of nature that reminds me of God’s greatness as well as His love for people.  I totally understand why so many farmers and ranchers love working in with nature…so much for the eyes to behold.

Monday 1/10/11 at Greenville, Chucky-Doak HS, and Jonesboro, TN (the International Storytelling Center)

                The night brought with it more snow which caused some cancellations in the schedule but we were still able to go the Chucky-Doak HS and visit with several members over breakfast.  These members came to school in Official Dress even when school had been cancelled…that is dedication for success.  After a couple hours with these members, we blazed a trail to Jonesboro which is home to the International Storytelling Center!  A couple of my teammates gave their keynote messages and James gave a workshop to the members that once again braved the weather and the roads to get there.  I was pretty excited about a comment that was given to me and two members that I was sitting by over lunch; Julia and Jessica.  One advisor sat down at our table with a couple other gentlemen and she said that she wanted to sit at the adult table…I think that means that I am growing up and maturing?!?!?  Maybe…

Tuesday 1/11/11 at Knoxville and Arkansas

                Our last morning in Tennessee was bitter sweet.  I have really enjoyed my time here and have really made some long-lasting friendships with many.  That is one thing I am learning as a national officer; it is always hard to leave the people that I have already grown to love and appreciate but I know full well that where we are going, I will meet even more great people.  Stay amazing Tennessee!!!!

         The plane ride was delayed from bad weather but we were able to get to Dallas, TX and get a different flight to Northwest Arkansas still that night.  I sat by Rita on the plane ride to Arkansas and she is one of the sweetest people that I know.  Not only was she very encouraging to me but she was very interested in learning more from me.  She and her husband are now retired but they have lived in so many places (including North Dakota) in the US and overseas as he was in the military.  We talked about finding the value in each person that we meet and to never have stereotypes.  We arrived late into Arkansas but we made it to the hotel with all of our bags.