Finishing out my second week in Iwade and Kinokawa

Nothing too exciting this week, but some good stories to share.  There was a grad student from Nepal who was finishing up so we took a group photo the day he left.  From left to right Sunil (India), Matsuo-san, Maeno-san, Professor Akaksaka, me, Shah (Nepal), and Jodai-san. 

My second to last night staying at the professor's house, I was again put to work picking fruit.  Professor has somewhat close to 10 acres of farm land, where he has biwas, kiwis, oranges, and much more.  After  a long evening of picking biwas (very small fruit most similar to an apricot but you have to peel it before eating and it has a few medium size seeds inside), we went out for chinese food and then I had my first experience at a public bath.  That was interesting, and of course I have no pictures of it.  I was a little nervous at first, but once I got passed being without clothes in front of a few women (the men's and women's baths were separate), it was quite nice.  It was like a big sauna, powered by natural hot springs and there were several pools both inside and outside.   I could only last about 20 minutes.  My last night at the professor's house he took me to my first conveyer belt sushi restaurant.  It was neat seeing all the different (and some quite weird) sushi that would come around.  So there were several rows with about 4 tables on each side, and the conveyer belt went up and down each row.  We were in the second row and quite often I would see something that looked good, but by the time it came around to us it was gone.   It pays to be in the first row; however, you can special order on a touch screen at the table then it will come on the conveyer belt but raised on top of a bowl so people know it is reserved.  At the end, there is a slot at the table you put all the plates through and it counts them so the server knows how much was eaten by that table (it was about 105yen per plate, so not bad).

I am now moved into my apartment.  Once I am settled in a little more I will share some pictures.  It is small but very cute.  At night you can hear tons of frogs croaking (I am surrounded by rice fields).  Coming home one evening from work, I saw something hopping out of the corner of my eye.  Kind of difficult to see, but there is a tiny frog in the picture below.

Even before arriving here I had intentions of purchasing a bicycle to get around here.  Last weekend, the post doc whose apartment I was taking over took me by bus to see it and to get to know the bus route.  After realizing it would be about 500 yen ($6) a day to ride the bus, my decision to buy a bicycle was solidified.  The professor took me to a Japanese equivalent of Walmart after visiting a small bicycle store in town, which only had single speed bikes.  I saw a number of the single speeds, then I saw a 3 speed (which may have been okay), but then I saw a 6 speed!  It is no fabulous mountain bike, but I think 6 speed is the best I would probably be able to find here.  So $160 gets you a 6 speed bike, with a basket already attached, a lock build on to the back tire, a bell, and a head light turns on at night if the bike is in motion.  I thought it a pretty good deal, considering it would save me about $100 from riding the bus everyday (plus I would get the exercise).  It is nothing fancy, but has everything I need for my summer here in Kinokawa and Iwade.  Mine is the white bike in the center.

Unfortunately, Friday (the day after I purchased the bike) was pouring rain so I decided to take the bus since I wasn't quite sure where I could park the bike.  There are special bike parking lots, and if you park elsewhere on campus, security will confiscate the bike.  I also decided I wanted to purchase a good rice cooker here to take back to the states with me (where better to buy one right?).  The professor pointed out the biggest electronics shop in town and said I would be best off going there.  Once I found a few other things I needed (surge protector, USB hub, etc)  I sought out the rice cookers.  There were about 3 rows with almost 50 different rice cookers ranging from $30-$300.  I walked around for about 30 minutes looking at each one, trying to figure out what I wanted.  Eventually, I tried to communicate with a sales person about finding the right one, and about all I could say to them in Japanese was: small, not too expensive, and few days (it would keep the rice warm for a few days if all was not eaten right away).  So they understood what I was looking for and took me over to one is specific.  Apparently I also can hard boil eggs, steam vegetables and to some extent use it as a pressure cooker.  It is very cute and small, and as Jesse puts it... it looks like a radio.

The buttons are all in Japanese, but fortunately during orientation the instructor gave us a Kanji cheat sheet that included TV remotes, air conditioning, and... rice cookers!!!  So I was able to figure out what the main buttons were for.  On the bottom, the right most is to start cooking, the middle a delayed cooking setting, and the left for just keeping warm.  As for the settings I know the top one, which the arrow is pointing to is white rice, the bottom I think is brown rice and the middle maybe other?  And those on the top I have no clue (good thing my grandmother is Japanese and lives at home with us, eh?). So after purchasing my rice cooker, I needed to go buy some rice to try it out with.  I also stocked up on the following so I could have Japanese style breakfasts... (Miso soup, seasoning, pickles, and tiny dried fish!)

I also decided that instead of leftovers (I made stir-fry the night before), I would pick up some sashimi and Japanese beer.  All sashimi and prepared foods go 50% off after sometime around 5pm.  So I got quite a bit of sashimi grade fish for $6!

At the end of the weekend, I had my bike, my rice cooker, some cooking and eating utensils, cleaning supplies, my dry goods stocked and my fridge full

I'm enjoying having a bike, but it definitely is a workout when it is 90+ degrees and close to 100% humidity.  After riding my bike a total of an hour and a half on Saturday to go to the stores to get all the household things I needed, I enjoyed a the air conditioning in my apartment!  And also just the alone time!  Since I arrived here in Japan, I have been constantly with people around the clock and on someone else's schedule.  So it was really nice to just be able to have a quiet evening alone in my new home.  Today was a bit of an adventure too.  I had an idea where the dance studio was, so I decided to hop on the bike and try to find it.  I followed the streets shown on the map but still couldn't find it after 45 minutes or so.  I did finally get to see the Kinokawa river!

Hardly any buildings have street numbers, and the street numbers do not make any sense at all.  Apparently the first building in the area is numbered one, and each building after gets the next number.  So it is quite difficult to find a specific address.  I  checked the GPS on the phone and it appeared that I was way past the studio.  So I turned back and after about 15 minutes I thought I'd come to the right place.  There were 2 buildings and I wasn't sure which was it (all signs of course are in Japanese).  After staring at each building for about 10 minutes, I eventually saw that one had a figure of two people dancing.  I was very excited to find the studio, and know that it was only about a 25 minute bike ride from the apartment.

On the way to the studio I had noticed a little street party happening next to the athletic club.  On the way back from the studio I decided to check it out.  Turns out it was the 25th anniversary of the opening of the athletic club.  There were a few different food and drink vendors, and one caught my attention.  They tried to explain the type of sandwich (it was like a giant wafer with an egg, meat, seasoning and mayonaise).  I eventually gave in and said ok, it was only 50 yen so why not?  I took my "sandwich" over to a table where a woman with her children was sitting.  I pointed to the empty chairs and said "okay?" and she smiled and said ok back so I sat down and prepared to eat.  Then one of the girls from that food stand came over and invited me to join them.  She spoke some English.  Once I sat down, the girl next to me wanted a picture taken, then one by one others joined until everyone was in the picture.  After attempting some conversations, it started raining.  I tried to wait it out, but it was just getting worse.  One of the girls offered me a ride home, because she had a van and my bike would fit in it.  So I made my first Japanese friends today, and will hopefully get to see them again.

Well it is late on a Sunday night, and I want to be able to get up early before it gets really hot to ride my bike to work (if it isn't pouring rain again).  I have really enjoyed finally having some alone time and am very happy with the apartment I was given.

The first week in Kinokawa

So far things are great in Kinokawa.  After the professor picked me up from the airport, he brought me to campus to show me the lab and to meet people around campus.  It is a pretty small campus, only a few buildings, and we have our own building!  It is just big enough for a wet lab, dry lab, NMR room, instrument room, and a room with a view (the back patio that looks down over the cities of Kinokawa and Iwade).

After getting the tour of campus, we went to the house.  The professor has a traditional style farm house, and about 10 acres for crops.  My first day, he put me to work, not in the lab, but helping pick fruit.  He has tons of Biwa trees, so we gathered a bunch of those before dinner.

I didn't really do much in the wet lab last week, as I was to give a lecture on Friday.  While I had the majority of my data slides already prepared, they suggested showing pictures of where I am from, the campuses I have been to, etc.  It was only for a small group: 4 undergraduate students, a graduate student, a postdoc and 2 professors.  More proof that I am working here :)

On Saturday, I just really needed to go do something that wasn't on a schedule, related to work, or learning the language.  Owning farmland, the professor and a number of other residents around the area pay to have rights to these small water reservoirs throughout the hillside.  He said he has been paying on this one for years, but had never actually seen it.  So we set out on a little adventure to find the professor's water.  He knew approximately where is was, then once we got to the top of a small hill we found it.

The professor needed to work some more on a paper, so he told me to go and find a small shrine that is a few blocks away from the house.  This is the Nu-jinja shrine.

Sunday, I set off an another adventure of my own.  Professor told me there the Kokawa temple grounds were about a 30 minute walk from the house.  So I put on my sneakers and started walking armed with the GPS on my phone and the professor's phone number.  After around 25 minutes I found this old staircase that I wasn't sure where it headed.  So I thought I would chance it, and climbed up about 10 flights of stairs.  Once I got to the top I was relieved to see this sign...

Somehow I had found the back entrance to the temple.  So I made my way to the main entrance, a big red gate the professor had shown me a few days earlier.

The temple grounds were huge!  I probably spent about and hour and a half just walking around.  But before I started I had to get some ice cream to cool off, it was probably in the 90s.  Soft serve ice cream seems very popular here, my favorite is the green tea flavored.

Apparently these are very old grave markers.  Professor said they are so old that they are unnamed and it is not quite certain to whom they belong.

Some of the residents of the Kokawa temple...

This is the gate to the main temple.  There are many smaller ones and numerous shrines on the grounds as well.

I was just wondering around the grounds.  There were many people by the main temple, but not so many higher up.  I am not quite sure I was allowed to be walking around where I was, but some people saw me and no one said otherwise.  I was really curious about the painting with the rabbit below, but later learned it is the year of the rabbit.  The information center at the entrance had all sorts of little stuffed rabbits, so it makes sense now.

About half way back to the house, I saw this group of people playing what looked to be croquet.  The professor said it is similar and called it gate-ball.

Another small temple on the way back to the house.  The professor didn't know too much about it, just that it was old and recently rennovated.

So after 3 hours of walking, 3 bottles of water, and a very bad sunburn, I made it back to the house.  The professor said he was a little worried I was was gone so long, but I had called to let him know when I arrived at the temple.  He actually didn't even know about the staircase that I found leading to the temple.  There was also a small park at the top, which he knew of but had never been nor did he know you could access the temple from it.

Soon I will get some pictures of the lab.  I am really struggling to learn the Bruker NMR, it is very different from Varian so I am not sure yet that I like it.  Though many people have told me once you get to know it, it is much easier to use.  We'll see...