My Special Experience at AIU: Shen Bing Rou, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan

Shen Bing Rou (right) with AIU students and one of the farmers at the apple orchard.

The most memorable experience that I have had here at AIU was to join the Apple Camp. Before I came to Akita, I had never expected that I could have such an amazing experience.

Even though Akita is a rural place, I am really thankful that I could have the opportunity of being here. Since the time we joined the Apple Camp was still not the harvest season, during our stay at the camp, we helped the farmers to prune leaves from the apple trees. We could get free apples and it is free to stay a night in hostel. The farmer said pruning the leaves is for better appearance of the apples, and maybe only farmers in Japan do that.

During a break, we drank the apple juice prepared by the farmer. It was very fresh. After picking the leaves for a day, I ate Akita’s famous きりたんぽ鍋 (kiritanpo nabe) with the farmer at night. This was my first time of tasting the famous hot pot in Akita. I never thought that I had the opportunity to work on a farm, experience how hard the farmer works, and communicate with the local residents. Although my Japanese is still not fluent, I am still very happy that I could come here and experience farm life. It was the best night that I ever had. The next day we went to another apple farm to help to pick the leaves. At noon, the farmer prepared a delicious Japanese lunchbox.

I am really blessed that I could participate in apple camp. After two days of hard work, I decided that I would never waste food again. This experience will definitely stay in my mind forever.