skipping
So I'm gonna skip info on ASM, Colombia, and the flight for a minute to tell you guys about my first night in Nippon.
So I arrive at the airport and first taste of japanese life is that the customs guy doesn't understand my english and wants me to tell him about NAIST - he seriously took five mins on me alone!! well no big deal, I guess now he knows "what is IST stand for?" :D always with a smile. and it was hot!!! (I arrived at Osaka, which I think is the 2nd or 3rd largest city here, Tokyo of course being the first).
My PI (principal investigator) Dr. Hirotada Mori, met me at the airport - so I figure he must have gotten there by car right? Not quite...
He explains that we have to travel for about 2 hrs to get to NAIST.. what else can I say but "ok". First, we walk for a bit and reach a train station... we come to a ticketing area and there are these cute machines that look like las Vegas slot machines w/o a handle with a whole bunch of NOTHING on them... I see a map at the top of the machines, very large, with a whole bunch of symbols I can't identify - thank goodness for Dr. Mori. We buy the tickets and go through the little ticket readers to get on the train (which I couldn't tell which one we were supposed to catch either). And Sammy was right, there are vending machines everywhere! on the train, by the train, on the street, everywhere!
The first train was nice, it had nice seats like an airplane (even if airplane seats are not in any way very comfortable). While on it we went through a large part of Osaka. The biggest building I saw? An apartment complex that was two large buildings put together. I think there must have been anywhere from 40-60 floors with about 60-100 apartments/floor/building.. soo many people!!! and there were many bike parking lots and narrow two-way streets everywhere - I haven't seen anything wider than that yet. I suppose Dr. Mori was wondering if I was overwhelmed by the amount of ppl, he kept on asking if it was too crowded - but really, I just looked at it as if all that seemed crowded was just one big downtown of New York city.
We got off of that first train and went into an underground train station, which Dr. Mori informed me that there was such a large network of train stations + ammenities in Japan that Japan had the largest underground 'city' of just train stations. He said it was very easy to get lost around there (right when we reached this huge compass that was tiled into the floor). And yes, it was crowded. From there we got onto another train (slowly getting a clue of where we were going) this one was a regular one I suppose, with handles and seats so you can stand. Everyone wore something entirely different (I was looking at the female fashion ideas to see if I would look outrageously out of place): one girl wore what I would think are severely non-matching shoes with pantyhose and pants underneath a huge baggy dress; most of them were dressed very femininely with high-heeled shoes, soft colors and pricey-looking purses; this one girl had an actual Barbie shirt on, and during the ride she took out a Barbie handkerchief to cover what I can only surmise was a yawn (i couldn't tell, she had no facial expression change); most of the guys wore similar things but had wildly differently stiled hair.
School is still in session here, so I saw a lot of ppl with that typical uniform that they show on anime shows (yes I am guilty), but the skirts are nowhere near that short.
We finally got onto one last train (again, if it weren't for Dr. Mori, who knows what part of Japan I would have lost myself in (thank goodness for it being an island!). From there we walked a bit to an apartment parking lot where we took Dr. Mori's car to NAIST. No, I saw no big ridiculous assed trucks as in Texas - ewww. But all the cars seem to have those great foldable side mirrors - so cute! Oh, and rules are that everyone drives on the left side, crazy... I had "no we're going the wrong way, watch out!!" on the tip of my tongue the whole drive there. NAIST is nestled in a very green area, that is somewhat isolated, but very nice and surrounded by a really nice neighborhood. I noted on the elegant looking, small houses, and Dr. Mori informed me that they cost at least a million dollars each - heh.. maybe I should buy 3 while I'm there hehe.
When we got to the campus, Dr. Mori showed me to the Guesthouse Sentan, where I was to stay. It has a fitness center facility, about the size of a raquet ball court at A&M; a place to do laundry (for free), a place to rent necessities (pajama, cooking pans, rice cooker, killing knife, vaccuum, a pole for drying wet clothing, etc..
The room itself is quite nice, about the size of 1/2 the handicapped dorm rooms at Lechner. It has very nice-looking dark wood furniture: an entertainment center/mini closet with TV and DVD/VCR; a desk with lamp, phone and LAN connection; a small table and cute little green chair, an odd little rectangular seat which opens up to reveal space for a laundry basket; an even narrower closet to put your shoes in at the entrance; a relatively spacious bathtub with a deep tub; a small kitchen area with fridge/freezer, microwave, and ceramic heating plate; a small but comfy bed and a small balcony area; a lot of buttons and remote controls with labels in Japanese (!!!) Overall the room is very nice, if the remote controls and buttons weren't so damn confusing!!
There is a remote for the TV, DVD/VCR, air conditioner + who knows what, the main light in the room, and digitalized buttons system for the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, and tub water options (including how far to fill it). Another cool thing, is that the electricity of the room is turned on when you put the room key card into a slot in the foyer part of the room ( so cool). The only thing is that, on the first day, I had no idea there was a remote control for the main light, and could only turn it off (there were no switches to be seen ) if I removed all the electricity!
Dr. Mori had to explain to me how the water buttons worked - all of which I forgot, because everything is in symbols (it's ok.. i push a lot of buttons and tah dah ! hot water, which is what matters neh?)
I took a quick shower, and then Dr. Mori invited me to dinner at a local sushi place nearby. Supposedly, it was the most casual way to eat sushi. There is this rectangular sort of bar in the center with chairs and some booths located along the outside and between the chef and the customers these conveyor belts carry along plates of sushi and sashimi and random other things. It's kind of fun, cause you just pick whatever you fancy and it's easy, no need to wait for the waiter hehehe. Oh and at each spot that you can sit, there is this faucet where hot water comes out so you can make your own green tea - very cool and cute!!! The system for the waiter to know how much to charge you is that each plate has a specific color which stands for a particular price, and you stack the plates that you use on the side so the waiter can tally up colors - very smart. I was sooo exhausted and still kind of unbalanced (bumpy plane ride) that I just literally hit the bed and conked out until 4:30 am the next day...
well I'll leave you here, it's 9:18am already and I need to get ready for my first real lab day... yes I know, kind of late - but Dr. Mori said I could come in whenever I wanted so feh, why not take a little time for me? (oh business day here starts at 9am and ends at 5pm)
So I arrive at the airport and first taste of japanese life is that the customs guy doesn't understand my english and wants me to tell him about NAIST - he seriously took five mins on me alone!! well no big deal, I guess now he knows "what is IST stand for?" :D always with a smile. and it was hot!!! (I arrived at Osaka, which I think is the 2nd or 3rd largest city here, Tokyo of course being the first).
My PI (principal investigator) Dr. Hirotada Mori, met me at the airport - so I figure he must have gotten there by car right? Not quite...
He explains that we have to travel for about 2 hrs to get to NAIST.. what else can I say but "ok". First, we walk for a bit and reach a train station... we come to a ticketing area and there are these cute machines that look like las Vegas slot machines w/o a handle with a whole bunch of NOTHING on them... I see a map at the top of the machines, very large, with a whole bunch of symbols I can't identify - thank goodness for Dr. Mori. We buy the tickets and go through the little ticket readers to get on the train (which I couldn't tell which one we were supposed to catch either). And Sammy was right, there are vending machines everywhere! on the train, by the train, on the street, everywhere!
The first train was nice, it had nice seats like an airplane (even if airplane seats are not in any way very comfortable). While on it we went through a large part of Osaka. The biggest building I saw? An apartment complex that was two large buildings put together. I think there must have been anywhere from 40-60 floors with about 60-100 apartments/floor/building.. soo many people!!! and there were many bike parking lots and narrow two-way streets everywhere - I haven't seen anything wider than that yet. I suppose Dr. Mori was wondering if I was overwhelmed by the amount of ppl, he kept on asking if it was too crowded - but really, I just looked at it as if all that seemed crowded was just one big downtown of New York city.
We got off of that first train and went into an underground train station, which Dr. Mori informed me that there was such a large network of train stations + ammenities in Japan that Japan had the largest underground 'city' of just train stations. He said it was very easy to get lost around there (right when we reached this huge compass that was tiled into the floor). And yes, it was crowded. From there we got onto another train (slowly getting a clue of where we were going) this one was a regular one I suppose, with handles and seats so you can stand. Everyone wore something entirely different (I was looking at the female fashion ideas to see if I would look outrageously out of place): one girl wore what I would think are severely non-matching shoes with pantyhose and pants underneath a huge baggy dress; most of them were dressed very femininely with high-heeled shoes, soft colors and pricey-looking purses; this one girl had an actual Barbie shirt on, and during the ride she took out a Barbie handkerchief to cover what I can only surmise was a yawn (i couldn't tell, she had no facial expression change); most of the guys wore similar things but had wildly differently stiled hair.
School is still in session here, so I saw a lot of ppl with that typical uniform that they show on anime shows (yes I am guilty), but the skirts are nowhere near that short.
We finally got onto one last train (again, if it weren't for Dr. Mori, who knows what part of Japan I would have lost myself in (thank goodness for it being an island!). From there we walked a bit to an apartment parking lot where we took Dr. Mori's car to NAIST. No, I saw no big ridiculous assed trucks as in Texas - ewww. But all the cars seem to have those great foldable side mirrors - so cute! Oh, and rules are that everyone drives on the left side, crazy... I had "no we're going the wrong way, watch out!!" on the tip of my tongue the whole drive there. NAIST is nestled in a very green area, that is somewhat isolated, but very nice and surrounded by a really nice neighborhood. I noted on the elegant looking, small houses, and Dr. Mori informed me that they cost at least a million dollars each - heh.. maybe I should buy 3 while I'm there hehe.
When we got to the campus, Dr. Mori showed me to the Guesthouse Sentan, where I was to stay. It has a fitness center facility, about the size of a raquet ball court at A&M; a place to do laundry (for free), a place to rent necessities (pajama, cooking pans, rice cooker, killing knife, vaccuum, a pole for drying wet clothing, etc..
The room itself is quite nice, about the size of 1/2 the handicapped dorm rooms at Lechner. It has very nice-looking dark wood furniture: an entertainment center/mini closet with TV and DVD/VCR; a desk with lamp, phone and LAN connection; a small table and cute little green chair, an odd little rectangular seat which opens up to reveal space for a laundry basket; an even narrower closet to put your shoes in at the entrance; a relatively spacious bathtub with a deep tub; a small kitchen area with fridge/freezer, microwave, and ceramic heating plate; a small but comfy bed and a small balcony area; a lot of buttons and remote controls with labels in Japanese (!!!) Overall the room is very nice, if the remote controls and buttons weren't so damn confusing!!
There is a remote for the TV, DVD/VCR, air conditioner + who knows what, the main light in the room, and digitalized buttons system for the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, and tub water options (including how far to fill it). Another cool thing, is that the electricity of the room is turned on when you put the room key card into a slot in the foyer part of the room ( so cool). The only thing is that, on the first day, I had no idea there was a remote control for the main light, and could only turn it off (there were no switches to be seen ) if I removed all the electricity!
Dr. Mori had to explain to me how the water buttons worked - all of which I forgot, because everything is in symbols (it's ok.. i push a lot of buttons and tah dah ! hot water, which is what matters neh?)
I took a quick shower, and then Dr. Mori invited me to dinner at a local sushi place nearby. Supposedly, it was the most casual way to eat sushi. There is this rectangular sort of bar in the center with chairs and some booths located along the outside and between the chef and the customers these conveyor belts carry along plates of sushi and sashimi and random other things. It's kind of fun, cause you just pick whatever you fancy and it's easy, no need to wait for the waiter hehehe. Oh and at each spot that you can sit, there is this faucet where hot water comes out so you can make your own green tea - very cool and cute!!! The system for the waiter to know how much to charge you is that each plate has a specific color which stands for a particular price, and you stack the plates that you use on the side so the waiter can tally up colors - very smart. I was sooo exhausted and still kind of unbalanced (bumpy plane ride) that I just literally hit the bed and conked out until 4:30 am the next day...
well I'll leave you here, it's 9:18am already and I need to get ready for my first real lab day... yes I know, kind of late - but Dr. Mori said I could come in whenever I wanted so feh, why not take a little time for me? (oh business day here starts at 9am and ends at 5pm)
posted by acidbytez at 4:44 PM
1 Comments:
ooh.. the only thing I haven't liked so far is this weird sort of fermented crab innards... didn't like that one..
some are a little difficult to get used to, for example, this very japanese way to prepare seaweed - was a little too fishy tasting (i didn't save enough rice to eat it all).
but today I did have a very easily-likable dish of noodles and pieces of beef stewed with onions and potato... very yummy
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