Japan : ２０１４年６月２１日−２６日

June 21st:

I had a tough choice to make for this day. Option a) I could travel to Kyoto to visit the monthly Toji flea market with some friends to find a 浴衣 yukata (a summer kimono) or option b) I could go to an Indonesian party with lots of traditional Indonesian food in western Osaka with Erika and Eirene (the Indonesian girl who invited us). I was so undecided, I just flipped a coin and ended up with option b. As it would turn out later, all the people who went to Toji were disappointed with prices that were often higher than standard retailer's. Also, they did not seem to have yukatas that fit people my size.
We made our way to the party. I always enjoy visiting the west Osaka area because the smell of the sea fills the air. It truly reminds me places like Newport Beach, Redondo Beach, or Torrance where I spend so much of my time when I'm back home. The party was in a big (for Japanese standards) apartment. The parents of the girl who lived there also happened to run an Indonesian restaurant, so we were treated to some quality food. I'd never tried Indonesian food before, but I enjoyed everything from the sweet, fried tofu, to the peanuty, satay sauce. To add to the environment, everybody was in great spirits. I met a bloke from Australia who told me about his life teaching here in Japan, a Jamaican guy who was doing the same, and many more. Some pictures:

Cutting this cake made of some gelatinous, sweet material.

Dishing out the cake. It got hot in there with so many people.

This guy seemed happy to be on camera.

The party was great. I was satisfied in many ways. In the late afternoon we decided to head home. Here is a picture a Japanese mom sleeping with her daughter curled up at her side. It was too sweet not capture.

June 22nd:

I started to get a little sick. It just hurt to swallow.

June 23rd:

So I bought a mask.

When in Rome.

This was honestly the most difficult week of my stay in Japan. My bike was beginning to break down. 3 spokes were missing on the back wheel, and it was a little unsettling to feel the back of the bike wobble violently whenever I picked up some speed (this only got worse). To make matters worse, it was time for our monthly meeting again, which meant I had a lot of things to prepare for my presentation, and not very much data because the rocking mill was broken half the month. Anyhow. I managed to make it through Monday.
That night my friend Johannes and I had planned a käsespätzle night where we would make the famous German egg noodles for our Japanese friends. So we did.

Mayuko preparing the onions. Tears of happiness cause the food is so great.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. @_@

Me grating the last of the dough into the boiling water. It cost 2000 yen to feed about 8-9 people.

The dinner was such a great time, and the food turned out really well. Especially considering we did not have the right equipment for it. The downside was my sickness only got worse. I worked pretty hard for the food, the food wasn't the most nutritious, and the dinner prevented me from sleeping early like I should have.

June 24th:

My sickness was getting worse. It hurt more and more to swallow. And given I didn't feel too many other cold symptoms, I was worried I had gotten strep throat somehow. Regardless, there was work to be done, selfies to be taken and shakkas to be thrown..

On the real though, I was starting to lose the mental battle that comes with every little sickness. It was all the small things that hurt the most. My bike had finally given out one me. I was now missing 10 spokes total.

Don't wanna be riding on that thing.

Resultantly, I walked the bike to the bike store and ended up paying 5,000 yen to get all 37 spokes replaced. So now, it cost me 6,000 yen for a bike for 6 months. Not so bad still, but definitely a dent in the wallet, which is supplied by my dad right now...
To make things worse, I saw this massive thunderstorm cloud on the walk to campus.

Surely enough, this thing ended up hailing down lightning and heavy rain all afternoon.

I worked my ass off all day preparing for the presentation. Organizing data can be such a pain in the ass. I was in the lab until about 9 o'clock. By the time I was finished, I was so exhausted, hungry, and in pain from my sickness, the thought of walking home was awful. But as they say, しかたがない, it cannot be helped. I knew I wouldn't make it to the supermarket before it closed, so I swung by the only cafeteria I thought was still open. Demoralized, I made my way up the stairs and into the cafeteria. They said they were closed, but this old man (with really, really, long, thick, white eyebrows) approached me and asked if curry is ok. I worked at restaurants before, and I know that when you close, you just want to clean the place and get the hell out of there. The fact that the cafeteria ladies prepared me one last meal while cleaning meant the world to me. The Japanese really look out for each other. Even at the workplace, I was offered a variety of pills by my sensei to make me feel better. I was so miserable, their kindness managed to bring a tear to my eyes.

Was so happy I snapped a picture of my cross-eyed smile after I finished eating. Here I don't even look sick.

Afterwards, I made my way home. It's actually not too bad to walk home late at night. For one, despite being the most dangerous city in Japan, I feel as safe here as I do in Irvine (reputably America's safest city). Also, the summer night weather is always so comfortable. Despite the lingering humidity from the day, the temperature is a comfortable 26ish degrees. The mosquito peak at sunset has passed, so it is relatively insect-free. And the silence compared to the daytime is fantastic. Japan is so crowded, no matter where you go you are surrounded with some kind of noise. So at night, all you hear is the sound of crickets and frogs. Very peaceful. I got home and knocked out.

June 25th:

I stayed home this day. There was no purpose for me to be in the lab, and my throat ache was only getting worse.

June 26th:

It turned midnight, when I realized I hadn't started writing my handout for the presentation. I took my previous month's worksheet and basically just changed some sections. I slept 2 hours from 3-5, watched the Switzerland-Honduras (3-0 victory hat trick by Shaqiri) and headed straight to the lab to get in the zone. I managed to get this picture of the sunrise before I left. Always worth posting:

On the walk to the lab, Umeda sensei (the only woman researcher on our team) saw me from her car, and offered me a ride for the final bit of my walk. Again, looking out for me. At this point, I was feeling pretty hellish. A whole day of presentations seemed pretty daunting... And it was.. I suffered. My presentation was pretty short, and my presented theory did not have too much evidence to back it up. But I made it to lunch. After lunch, we took a brief photo shoot with the lab. I managed to get this pic with Kondoh Sensei.

Don't let the height difference fool you, he's a boss..

The second half of the presentations was even more painful, literally. As soon as they were done, I packed my stuff and headed home. The walk home was brutal. 2 miles on 2 hours of sleep, being terribly sick, without a bike in the summer heat carrying my bag. I felt like a monk on a pilgrimage, delirious from poor physical condition. To make things worse the bike shop hadn't fixed my bike even though he said he would have it done by that day, so I had to walk the last quarter of the way. I went straight to my room and slept. I slept until dinner, which was a little takoyaki dinner I had arranged with Felix and friends earlier.

My good friend Johannes enjoying his dinner.

Duncan, Shinji, and Erika enjoying their dinner.

Having my friends here while I was sick was so nice. I must be sounding pretty dramatic over this sickness, but it was honestly pretty bad. When you have to prepare for serious throat pain every time you swallow your saliva for a whole week it can get really frustrating.. Every time I was around my friends, I seemed to have less pain. So thank you Tsukumodai friends for distracting me. After dinner, I went back to sleep until midnight, at which point I prepared my face paint for the Germany vs. USA game. Check this out: