On July 18 we came together as the JDPSR students and staff – on a blueberry-picking and pear-thinning experience in the foresty grounds of the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. It was a hot day, offering a joyful time to chat with friends.
Followings are some impressions of the day’s activities by students.
“The experience of visiting the orchard was great！” (Wang Fei)
“Being a Ph.D. student is stressful and the pandemic made things very difficult, severing the social connections that we developed over the years. This event was a much-needed activity, we remained safe, and we bonded over gardening activities, sharing snacks, and blueberries picking. I encourage other students to attend next time and I will wait eagerly for the next activity, if there is none, I will hope for the arrangement of another one 😊.” (Mohammed Abdulati Teeba)
“I participated in the work of picking pears from the afternoon. It was a lot of hard work on a sunny summer day, but it was a good experience. It was a great pleasure to meet my classmates face-to-face.” (Noboru Otsuka)
“The event was great and blueberries were delicious. I learned a lot about blueberries and agricultural picking. I would like to express my gratitude to all the organizers and participants.“ (Baoligao)
“It was first time for me to do fruit thinning for pear, it was quite interesting. I hope remaining fruits become bigger and more sweet. Thank you for great experience ” (Kenichi Sato)
“A delightful introduction to the Sustainability team by way of blueberry picking and a day’s work in the pear orchards of TUAT. The taste of blueberries were sweet and the memories of the day – even sweeter. This was a great opportunity to meet like-minded people, I look forward to the start of something special!” (Brandon Bodenstein)