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Benito |
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Cadmus |
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Jocelyn |
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Joey |
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Rachel |
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Finding Realness and Simplicity in Village Life
Benito, Yr. 4, BEng in Sustainable Energy Engineering
Feeling wise, the experience in Khani Gaun and Ghermu feels very "real", or say down to earth. In trips or day-to-day life in general, I sometimes have this feeling of "surrealness", in which I am not aware of what actually happened. On those days, it feels like nothing happened, time passed in its emptiness and I won't have much memory of those days. On this trip my experience was the opposite, every day feels so full, and lots of memories were created. I think one reason would be the things daily chores we have to do every day, like the chores we did for the meals. For each meal in the village, we would have to set up the venues for dining, moving tables and chairs for a dining hall alignment. After those meals, each group would have to wash the dishes in turns, not in the kitchen sink we see in our modern daily life, but in water basins on a platform just slightly above the ground.
The chores may sound very minor and unimportant, but I think it is this kind of daily routine that creates the "realness" that feels solid. Maybe Miss Pink's mindfulness practice helped created this realness too. That kind of emphasis on the feelings of the body helped me to anchor my thoughts, to be focused on the present moment. When washing the dishes, the senses of coldness on the hands and numbness on the legs are such prominent feelings, that they brought away a lot of distracting thoughts. Perhaps rather than the "realness" analogy, focusing on the present is a better way of describing my takeaway.
I find the simplicity and the purity of village life in Ghermu very calming. During my stay there, I didn't have many worries other than the workshop I had to give. Since there's not much to do, I can focus on the service, as if that is the only thing I need to do. Maybe this is another reason as to why this trip feels so real, full, and fulfilling. I am in Japan when writing this reflection, and the hyperdevelopment here is the complete opposite of Ghermu, the two places are on the opposite end of the spectrum. I enjoyed the convenience brought by the advanced technical development, but it could be overwhelming at times. In public spaces, there were eye-catching advertisements and neon lights everywhere, as if everything is trying to get the consumer's attention. Being surrounded by those dazzling signs and commercialism, I began to realise the value of simplicity. Not saying urbanisation and developments are bad, the convenience they bring is very nice, but perhaps sometimes it is good for the mind to live in places far away from these noises. |
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