I spent the first week organizing an ILC/SOS which focused on reviewing and amending the Sustainability in Prisons Projects compost certification programs. This was an ongoing non-academic project which began Spring of 2017. After studying several composting methods in depth and cultivating the beginnings of a big-picture view, I pieced together a project aimed to asses the potential in combining bokashi and biochar. I had already learned a great deal about bokashi but knew very little about biochar, which is where Avi, a biochar expert in the makings, came in. I figured together with the rest of the biochar enthusiasts we could do some awesomely novel science. Fast forward to Sunday, the final day of Week 1. I’ve just worked 22 hours of hard manual labor in 2 days with no more than a few hours sleep and completed a 2 hour drive back home. Not long after dropping into bed I realized, I’m going to China in six months and I don’t really know much about it, besides they rock the tea game. So beginning Monday of Week 2 I set out to figuring out how I can prepare myself for my Chinese expedition.
Why China? A great question posed to me by Sarah Williams. To be honest, I had been planing to learn Japanese during the 2018-2019 school year and visit Japan to soak up some composting and moss cultivation knowledge. When Sarah offered this very structured and immersive opportunity to go to China, I was intrigued, though concerned about a few things. In particular, pollution levels, how much the Chinese know about the composting and agriculture that interests me, and I have some biases that tell me the Japanese have a more respectful culture. It turns out, I don’t know shit about the Chinese or Japanese people that I would be interacting with, the part of China that I’ll be visiting has very low pollution levels, and China’s overall pollution and overpopulation problems have lead to a wealth of research into composting and agriculture.
I haven’t yet figured out what all to expect, but for Week 2 I am planning to have a more solid language learning curriculum for myself, beds prepared and planted, and to have read further on pu’er and/or other teas.