background
WWOOF (link here) stands for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms; farmers who own organic farms are able to register to be part of this community if they meet the stringent conditions set by the organisation. As WOOFers (as they call volunteers like me), we pay a flat fee of US$50 for a year long membership and we gain access to the hosts. Thereafter we contact the hosts on our own to arrange the stay and when we arrive at the farm, we stay on the farm and help out on the farm wherever we can and some hosts would provide for your meals as well.
I dont know how I came across this platform years ago, but I'm so glad I left it on my tab for years. The 9 days on the farm were special to me in so many ways. After being away from home for 4 months, this was probably a nice stopover, or rather a nice conclusion to my exchange in Korea.
what i did
The short version: pluck blueberries, sort blueberries, pack blueberries, watch over kids as they pluck blueberries, watch students who came over to make wooden mechanical pencils, eat Korean food (the most delicious i’ve had had in 4 months), learn by watching, talk to grandmothers who spoke Gyeongsando dialect, struggle with language barrier, live as if i was adopted by a Korean family.
The long version:
| take-aways
on my 9 days there, I sometimes only knew what I had to do on that day itself, or just had to offer my help wherever. Living in a society where you are constantly in control of your time, it was uncomfortable initially to wake up not knowing what I had to do that day or just wandering helplessly around the farm not sure where to go or what to do, but I guess this unknown soon came to be something I learned to enjoy.
It wasn't just this lack of control I had to get used to, I had to also get used to doing nothing. Or rather, doing less. Back in Singapore, I felt I had to constantly fill my time with something to do. If I'm not doing anything, I'm wasting time. Even if it means meaninglessly scrolling through social media, at least I'm occupying myself. And i aint a big fan of social media, if I do occupy my time by browsing social media, I would feel guilty because its not really something I define as meaningful. So on the farm, I told myself to touch my phone as little as possible, after all, I'm working. There were so many instances when the host family were all busy and I just couldn't be of help anywhere, this made me really uncomfortable initially as I felt quite useless. But soon I came to appreciate how I could contribute to this family in other ways, ways that were not intended initially. I may not be able to tend to customers as well as the hosts, I may not be able to converse with the older ladies as much due to the language barrier, but with whatever Korean I knew, I tried to maximise it. Actions speak louder than words right, so just being around the ladies, eating with them, napping with them, plucking blueberries with them allowed me to form a unique relationship with the grandmas and random people who visited the farm.
Le boyfriend shared this article (about learning/thinking) and I related well with the content. They were things that I was already doing or wanted to start doing.
... first get comfortable with being bad at stuff, in the presence of people who are good at that same stuff. Get
comfortable with being uncomfortable. And then learn from them. …instead of learning to be comfortable with being uncomfortable around them? Why don’t you stop trying to impress them and let them impress you? I am already impressed by them. Not fully. You haven’t seen the best parts of them. If you want to say something meaningful some day, shut up…and stop talking.
When you enter a new environment, aim to be a zero. This isn’t easy. Find out all the ways you can mess
things up. Then do none of them. Get in no one’s way, but make it clear you’re available to help and eager to learn. Stand in the corner but make eye contact. Listen quietly. Agree silently (by nodding and smiling) not loudly (and breaking their flow with your vehement appraisal).
Your sentences are unnecessary. They know they’re right. They don’t need your confirmation.
Ask questions instead. Intelligent questions. Never ask someone to explain something you could easily look up on your own! That’s lazy and narcissistic. If they use a word you don’t understand, write it down. Ask them to spell it and write in front of them. They will love it. You’re proving to them you’re actively engaged in an unobtrusive, independent manner.
You can learn from the best without reminding them you exist. They don’t need to teach you for you to learn.
You can learn more by silently paying attention. Most skills worth learning are learnt in the most unimaginative way possible: copying the masters. I learned this as an artist. Want to think like Michelangelo? Stop trying to think like him. Work like him. Copy his work. Meticulously. In the process of working like him, you will automatically end up thinking like him.
There were so much memories to look back upon and I really value the bonds formed. No matter how temporal those were. Each time I was alone with the grandmas or the kids I would attempt to strike a conversation, yet only to realise that I could start but could not follow the conversation.
Me: *notices grandma using a cute outdated phone* Ohh can I see your phone? It’s so cool!
Grandma: Yes, of course! + a whole lot of Korean that I did not understand.
Me: mmm…
Me: Oh, I’m going to Jeju after the farm stay, you went Jeju? (bad grammar intended because this was probably what I said.)
Grandma: Yes + a whole load of Korean.
Me: mmm… what Jeju food… nice?
Grandma: xx, xx, seafood, xx soup, xx
Me: mmm…
Or with kids, that’s the best. They just go on and on and on and on, if you are unlucky, you get a question here and there, otherwise, you just act fascinated and they would just be glad to share whatever. Well, it wasn't that hard to be fascinated actually (:
So on this stay, the guests who came to the farm, the grandmas who worked on the farm, the random friends who came by to help out at the farm, they all made my stay really meaningful.
| host family
The host family deserves a whole paragraph of their own. They were soooo hospitable. They not only fed me, but the food they served was always more than enough and so so delicious. I am not a big fan of Korean food but boy was I thankful for the food I had there. When I was kinda tired from the work/sun, they gladly let me have a longer break and gave me so much freedom on the farm. The host kindly brought me around while running errands too, it was really nice going to the supermart, the town, a cow farm, bakery and local market. Okay basically, I felt like I was adopted into a Korean family for those 9 days.
I was constantly amazed at the host’s father. He not only built the wooden houses without a blueprint, he picked up those skills on his own. The builder in him made ridiculously load of beautiful architecture, furniture and stationery. The farmer in him made really yummy blueberry juice and blueberries. 아부찌 (ahbujji - what I call the host’s father) was tough on the outside but he jokes around a lot and though we couldn't communicate much, we communicated via actions instead. He would demonstrate how to do certain things and I would offer my help just by approaching him when he was working. He would also tease me from time to time and that was nice, reminded me of own father who jokes a lot too.
Host mom, 어머니 (eomeoni), was really really nice. She cooks amazing food and was so so loving. I remember we had so much fun this day after a meal because I was learning some phrases in their dialect. She had such a good laugh, she laughed till she teared. ah, good times.
Host himself was just like an older brother haha. He would bring me around and am really thankful to him for starting this up.
| blueberries
Blueberries now mean so much more to me than just sour fruits. In fact, I now buy blueberries and critique them. In the past, I would diss blueberries, but now they hold much more meaning. Also, they are expensive relative to other fruits, but when I think of the hardwork behind each blueberry, each cent is worth it.