２０１４年４月４日

April 4th:

This was a very important day for me, for on April 4th I met my research lab professor, Professor Kondoh Katsuyoshi. I woke up a little stressed because I had to fill in a bunch of paperwork to register for insurance and a post office bank account. To make sure I was punctual to my meeting with the professor's secretary, I suited up and left an hour early. It took me about 50 minutes to walk there, of course getting slightly lost on the way. Fortunately I also walked by some very pretty locations on the Osaka University Suita campus.

Sakura-viewing street on my campus.

A little further up the same road. It was a little chilly, windy, and rainy unfortunately. Beautiful nonetheless. 

 I showed up just in time, 13:00. I was introduced to three of my fellow lab researchers, three Japanese guys who seem pretty cool. They gave me a tour of the facility (No pictures yet. It would have been a little unprofessional to ask to take pictures..). The machinery was impressive, various high temperature furnaces, universal testing machines (UTM) with load capacities of 2000 kN (200 tons), room-sized, oil-powered compressors to power the UTMs, and Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) machines. Basically, equipment to fabricate extremely high strength-to-weight ratio materials and to measure how strong the fabricated samples are.
Next, we had some time to kill before my 16:00 meeting with Professor Kondoh, so we decided to grab lunch on campus. On the walk we saw this little もぐらmogura or Japanese mole. That dorky, pink thing is its nose and its got a short, fuzzy tail. It seems everything in Japan is smaller and cuter. ほんま可愛いそう。

Magura, Japanese mole. It escaped out cameras into a little crack. 

For lunch I tried bird liver. Interesting texture and taste. Always good to try new things, but I prefer other meats.
The meeting with Professor Kondoh went well. He had a well-lit, spacious office with a separate table from his desk just for meetings. He asked me about my interest in engineering and Japanese culture while his secretary brought in some Matcha Green Tea. I forgot to bring him the chocolates I had brought from America, but aside from that, I would say I left a strong first impression. It seems as if I am free to work the hours I please, and that I can "learn as much as I am willing to learn while I am here." Although it is a very relaxed work envinronment, I will work hard to make the best of my time in the lab. In the Japanese spirit, 頑張ります ganbarimasu!
Here is a picture of my weekday home for the next 5 months. The lab is in the basement. Not too shabby, eh?

Home, sweet home!

The walk home was as confusing as the walk there. A walk through suburban Suita showed me the interesting architectures of modern Japanese homes. Fun fact: Japan has more architects per capita than any other country in the world. And it is evident everywhere you go. I will try and take pictures of the cool building I see from here on.
Anyhow, here is a break from all the sakura trees. I don't know what tree this was, but its large petals hid a gem of a pistil.

 Finally made it home.

After my first day of work. Got the key card to the lab. お疲れ様でした. 

That night, we had a welcome party to the dorm. I met a whole bunch of wonderful international students, ranging from a pair of Ivory Coast-ian soccer fans, to a Turkish-speaking French girl. I also a discovered the large German population in our dorm. It turns out I speak the three most common languages in the dorm: English, Japanese, and German. This place seems to be made for me.

Stocked up: Japanese style. And yes, that is Onigiri on the bottom of the fridge.. 

Stayed up til 2 AM meeting and talking to fellow undergrads, Master, and PhD students about all kinds of things. I look forward to getting to know these people better over the next 5 months.