I find it kind of hard to believe that i've been here for almost a month now, partly because its gone so fast, and that now it just feels like i've been here for ages. Oh well.
Anyway, so this week marked the beginning of Japanese lessons and my lab placement. The Japanese lessons are just boring, there isn't any other way to describe them. My lab work h0wever, has actually been thoroughly enjoyable. My DNA purification worked a treat, and we're well on our way to determining the role of NMA111 protein in ERAD in budding yeast (long story short, good news).
This has been a very fun weekend indeed, we went clubbing on friday night, then walked home from Sakae to here (about 2 hours), but instead of sleeping we went and queued up for the bazaar, that was supposedly amazing. So we queued up for a bout 4 hours to find it was effectively just a garage sale, I did pick up a water heater/boiler thing (no, its not a kettle) so I can now make tea.
Saturday evening, we had a cocktail party for Sarah's birthday (from Oz), which was a lot of fun. Today, me and some of the others went to Kirin beer park (beer factory, why its called a beer park I have no idea) where we got to eat malt and drink the wort, which wasn't as bad as you might think. It was a very interesting tour, explaining how they make it all etc, and we got free beer too.
This week is gonna be tough, more Japanese lessons, and the research is gonna step up another level. But on the plus side, my lab-mates have invited me drinking with them on wednesday, which will be fun, followed by clubbing on friday and saturday... obviously.
One additional note, we watched a Japanese horror film on wednesday night called "Noroi" (2005). I definately rate it as one of the best films i've ever seen. It draws you in straight away and doesn't let you go. It's about a man who investigates paranormal goings on with his cameraman, and the whole film is either footage they have shot or clips from variety shows or news broadcasts related to the story, which makes fo a very interesting narrative. The plot itself is quite complicated and you do have to pay attention to notice the details, but putting the effort in definitely pays off at the end. Which makes for a very, very disturbing end to a mystery of a film.
Sunday, 17 October 2010
Saturday, 9 October 2010
I can't be arsed counting the days anymore
Well what a fun few days this has been, I opened a post office bank account all by myself (i'm not boasting, really) re-learned English in its entirety, opened another bank account for my scholarship, and spent an hour buying a mobile phone that cost me £200, and that is definately one of the cheapest ones, though it has to be said that the contract is very cheap, only £5 a month for free texts, mails and calls to everyone else on Softbank.
After we came back from buying my phone, we came across the Ultimate Frisbee club playing on the lawn, so we joined in. Its just like normal Frisbee but you split into teams and have to pass the Frisbee to someone inside the end-zone, and you cant move while you hold the frisbee. We decided to play a game towards the end after some practice with me and 3 other newcomers to the club (along with 3 full members) in one team, and the other team was all of the university team players.
WE WON! and the best thing is I made the winning catch :D In the evening, we had a little party in the lobby, where we made sushi, had lots and lots of alcohol, and watched Japan beat Argentina 1-0.
What a glorious day it was, too bad it's gonna rain all weekend...
After we came back from buying my phone, we came across the Ultimate Frisbee club playing on the lawn, so we joined in. Its just like normal Frisbee but you split into teams and have to pass the Frisbee to someone inside the end-zone, and you cant move while you hold the frisbee. We decided to play a game towards the end after some practice with me and 3 other newcomers to the club (along with 3 full members) in one team, and the other team was all of the university team players.
WE WON! and the best thing is I made the winning catch :D In the evening, we had a little party in the lobby, where we made sushi, had lots and lots of alcohol, and watched Japan beat Argentina 1-0.
What a glorious day it was, too bad it's gonna rain all weekend...
Wednesday, 6 October 2010
Japan: Days 1-12(?)
FINALLY, I have an internet connection I can use in my room! Now I can start posting again.
Lets see now, these first two(ish) weeks have been nothing short of amazing. Ive made loads of new friends and explored the city (in more ways than one). I've also done my fair share of drinking it has to be said, I think I went the first ten days drinking every night.
Ive got a really nice room here with my own en-suite, air-con unit, and even a balcony! (looking onto a main road) The dorm itself is only a 5/10 minute walk to the university and 1 or 2 from the nearest 2 Lawson's convenience stores, very convenient indeed!
On the University side of things, its been pretty hectic, what with all the orientations and mountains of registration paperwork last week, things are starting to settle down now, as we all start Japanese lessons on Tuesday (as monday is a national holiday).
I've also been allocated my lab! Horrah! And it's a good'un too. I'll be researching ERAD (Endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation), which is basically how your cells handle misfolded or aberrant integral membrane proteins.
I'll try my best from now on to do a post every day, including photos, to give you a tour of my life in Japan, お楽しみしてね＾＾
Lets see now, these first two(ish) weeks have been nothing short of amazing. Ive made loads of new friends and explored the city (in more ways than one). I've also done my fair share of drinking it has to be said, I think I went the first ten days drinking every night.
Ive got a really nice room here with my own en-suite, air-con unit, and even a balcony! (looking onto a main road) The dorm itself is only a 5/10 minute walk to the university and 1 or 2 from the nearest 2 Lawson's convenience stores, very convenient indeed!
On the University side of things, its been pretty hectic, what with all the orientations and mountains of registration paperwork last week, things are starting to settle down now, as we all start Japanese lessons on Tuesday (as monday is a national holiday).
I've also been allocated my lab! Horrah! And it's a good'un too. I'll be researching ERAD (Endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation), which is basically how your cells handle misfolded or aberrant integral membrane proteins.
I'll try my best from now on to do a post every day, including photos, to give you a tour of my life in Japan, お楽しみしてね＾＾
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