Japan : ２０１４年４月２８日ー５月２日

April 28th:

Went to work as usual on this Monday. It turned out that we got Tuesday off this week due to a National Holiday. I spent the day polishing samples and running hardness tests to test a hypothesis I had come up with over the weekend that could explain the strange the data I had assembled.

Here's a funny google translated warning sign next to the hardness testing machine. These are everywhere in the lab/at the dorm. Maybe I will post some more when I see them.

LOL

Anyhow.. My hypothesis was incorrect. So I went back and reevaluated the data and came up with another theory to explain the data, which I am currently testing. If you are curious, ask me personally, I'd be happy to explain.

April 29th:

Holiday! I did nothing. Skyped my good friend Raffi for 4 hours, laundry, and shot some hoops to get the direly needed workout. Ate a nice dinner. A day of recovery.

April 30th-May 2nd:

Got started on testing my new theory. You should know that May 1st and 2nd were school holidays here, but since I'm technically not a student, just a researcher, I was still required to go in and work. It kinda sucked, but at least we had some fun things going on at the lab. For example, the Joining and Welding Research Institute had a big introduction ceremony, followed by a feast. The next day we had a fire/earthquake drill. This was much more interactive than in the states. The firemen demonstrated how to operate a fire extinguisher and even let us practice with water filled practice extinguishers. Afterwards they held a CPR demonstration with practice dummies and emergency defibrillators you can find anywhere. I volunteered to perform the CPR. It was all in Japanese, so I was missed a step, but we all got a good laugh out of it.

I guess I was in a picture mood, cause I took these while going through my work: