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Tea Farming: Sylvia Newman ’16 at Never-Ending International Workcamps Exchange (NICE) in Wazuka, Japan

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<p>Hi, all. I'm Sylvia, 2016 graduate of Antioch college and media artist. My interests include (but are not limited to): Animation (primarily 2D, though 3D calls to me), <em>Les Misérables </em>(in literally all of its forms)<em>,</em> vidya games, Japan, feminism in all its forms, To-Shin Do (the martial art I practice), movies (and the deconstructing thereof), and writing. I'm not particularly fond of writing writing bios, so bear with me as I muddle through this one.</p> <p>I've completed all of my co-ops at ol' Antioch, so I can give a rundown of each. In Spring 2013 I worked with the Admissions Office here on campus; filing, giving tours, setting up for Admitted Students Weekend, etc. It was an office job made something I was passionate about due to its locating and focus being Antioch College. I lived in town for that one.</p> <p>Next, Winter of 2014 I travelled back to my home state of Colorado and worked as an "Office Ninja," for the Boulder Quest Center dojo in - you guessed it - Boulder, CO. That was an amazing experience in that I was training every day twice or thrice a day, expanding my To-Shin Do community, and getting a lot of hands-on experience with retail, desk work, scheduling, and communication. I also opened the dojo each day and cleaned the mat at night, which connected me to that place very keenly.</p> <p>Thirdly, Fall of 2014 I flew off to Scotland, where I self-studied meditation primarily in Edinburgh and a brief trip to the Highlands. That trip was self-designed, self-funded, and I found myself a place to live - with the family of an Antioch alumna.</p> <p>And finally, Summer 2015 I travelled to Japan, to a small town named Wazuka in the Kyoto Prefecture where I and one other international volunteer worked with a local tea farmer to tend for and harvest almost 30 tea farms. This experience, found through Volunteers For Peace and their Japanese partner NICE (Never-ending International work Camp Exchange), allowed me an insiders' view to rural Japanese farming culture and the problems they face due to climate change, an aging population, and general lack of interest of the younger generations in farming. This final co-op has deepened my desire to return to Japan and live there, perhaps working with the connections I've made or simply finding other intentionally-designed work to assist in the global issues all of humanity is grappling with. It also strengthened the five years' Japanese language experience I have, and furthered my desire to continue furthering my education.</p> <p>Well, that gives a wee rundown of my co-op experience, some of my interests, and perhaps gives a bit of an idea of who I am. Please feel free to reach out with any questions you may have or simply to chat about experiences or interests I have. I'm always to have deep conversations regarding the lives and deaths of old French men who either adopt children or have an unusual obsession with Justice.</p> <p>Enjoy, and thanks for your visit!</p>

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