Listening 2 TranscriptRadio Host: U

Listening 2 TranscriptRadio Host: Ushi Okushima is a typical woman from rural Japan. She lives in Okinawa, on an island in the south of Japan, in a traditional house. When we visited her five years ago, she was working on her small farm and growing food for herself and her family. Since then, she has stopped farming. Now she has a job at the market, putting oranges in bags. What’s unusual about Ushi? She’s 103 years old! There are many other amazing people like Ushi in Okinawa. More than 700 people there have celebrated their 100th birthday. Ninety percent of these people are women. Now scientists are studying them to try to understand their secrets for a long life. They think it’s because of three things: the healthy food in Okinawa, the clean environment, and close relationships with friends and family members. Ushi’s life is a good example of all of these things. She wakes up at six o’clock in the morning. Then she makes a breakfast of vegetables and soup and goes out for a walk. On some days, she goes to her job at the market. Every afternoon she eats lunch with her daughter, and her grandchildren and friends come over to visit. In the evenings, she eats a dinner of mostly vegetables, drinks a cup of rice wine, and goes to bed. When we asked her how to live to be 100, Ushi said, “Work hard, drink rice wine before bed, and get a good night’s sleep.”