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!!!!