乐土日记 | 我是一名来自新加坡的特殊教育教师

1、Going to Letu

A Special Education Teacher from Singapore looking to do some volunteering work during my block holiday, I started looking up teaching opportunities on Workaway.

Long story short, to avoid paying registration fees for a one-off (to be confirmed) volunteering opportunity, I tried hunting Alain down on Facebook (and succeeded!). She was sowelcoming and accepting (despite my stalker-ish approach).

However, she explained that she had just taken up a job at a sustainable farm where she will help develop education tours in sustainable farming. That marks the start of my 2-week stint at Joyland Farm!

作为一名新加坡的特殊教育教师，我在暑假期间想做一些相关的志愿工作，于是我开始在志愿者网站上寻找教学机会。

虽然个中曲曲折折，但简单说来，为了避免支付一次性（且有待确认）的志愿工作机会的注册费用，我试图在Facebook上与Alain直接沟通，并且竟然成功联系上了！

Alain欣然接受了我的申请，完全不介意我这种略显“打扰”的沟通方式，但她解释说，她也刚刚到一个可持续农场工作，将帮助发展这个农庄的自然教育。这意味着我在乐土农庄的两周时间即将开始！

En route to Letu 在去往乐土的途中

2、What I did at Joyland

My volunteering days were simple and enjoyable. We made plant labels by writing their names on old wooden blocks that we collected and smoothened. To label smaller flowers we did the same on rocks. Other times, we helped with simple manual tasks around the farm such as putting up a bamboo fence or ferrying fresh picks.

做志愿者的日子简单而快乐，我们把植物的名字写在收集起来的并打磨过的旧木块上，以此来制作植物标签，在石头上也做了同样的标签。有时候，我们在农场帮忙做一些简单的体力活，比如搭一道竹篱笆或运送新鲜的果子。

3、Life at Joyland

Born and raised in a city my time at Joyland had put me through a lot of my ‘firsts’. This includes my first time eating ‘柴火饭’ where each meal was cooked and served in a huge pot and every one took their share to their likeing. I also loved how everyone would gather around the table and have evey meal together, accompanied with chats and laughter.

思颖，快过来！小鸭子来了！

在城市成长的经历让我甚少接触到乡村生活，所以在乐土的时光使我遇见了很多人生的第一次，包括第一次吃柴火饭。这里的柴火饭每顿都是在一个大锅里煮的，每个人按自己的喜好来挑自己喜欢的菜。我也很喜欢大家围坐在桌子旁，伴随着闲聊和笑声一起吃饭。

我在乐土农庄的住处，农场主人很好，提供了一间客房用来休息。

Can you spot the baby watermelon?

Alain’s friends came to visit one day and we lunch at Joyland’s in-house restaurant! I miss the food already.

有一天，Alain的朋友们来了，我们在乐土农庄吃了午饭，我已经开始想念那些食物了。

Although I only had a short 2-week stay at Joyland, my phone gallery definitely suggests otherwise. The clear skies, sceneries and florae there are all too beautiful and I just couldn’t resist taking photos. When I shared details about my time atJoyland, my family members commented that it seemed more like a holiday retreat than a volunteering stint and I couldn’t agree more. I am so thankful for the hospitality received and accommodations made.

虽然我只在乐土待了两周，但这段时间却带给我不一样的手机相册。这里晴朗的天空、风景和花丛都太美了，我就会忍不住拍照。当我分享我在乐土的时光时，我的家人说，这似乎更像是一个假期，而不是一个志愿者工作，说得太对了！非常感谢热情款待和提供的住宿。

On my first day at the farm,何叔showed us around and introduced us to the farm’s ways of organic and sustainable farming. As a cynical consumer whenever it came to ‘organic’ produce, I was both surprised and impressed atJoyland’s emphasis on genuine organic and insecticide-free crop.

In fact, despite their huge farmland, their produce ratio was much lower as they insist on using organic compost and refuse to introduce pesticides to their crop. It was very different to the ‘Chinese business practices’ I was exposed to on the internet.

During lunch, 何叔recognized my confusion and said, “Because of your field of studies, our ways may not make business sense to you. But maybe and hopefully, after your time here, you will come to realize that sometimes, some things come before making money.” And I did.

记得到农庄的第一天，何叔带我们逛了一下农场，并介绍了农场的有机和可持续农耕方式。作为一个愤世嫉俗的消费者，每当谈到“有机的”农产品时，我都对乐土农庄强调的真正有机和无杀虫剂作物感到惊讶和印象深刻。

事实上，尽管他们的农田面积很大，但产量却比较低，因为他们坚持使用有机堆肥，并且拒绝对农作物使用杀虫剂，这与我在互联网上接触到的中国商业惯例非常不同。午餐期间，何叔看出了我的困惑，说：“因为你的研究领域，我们的方法可能对你没有商业意义。但或许你在这里待了一段时间后会意识到，有时候，有些事情应该是放在赚钱前面的。”

当然，现在我意识到了。