Meeting the Chancellor, Gion Matsuri, and Cathy's Birthday
0 Comments Published by MistarOblivion on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at 3:20 PM.
Well, it's been another amazing few weeks. It's scary to think that we're already halfway through our adventure here. I've been meaning to write a blog last week, but work has become increasingly hectic as we inch toward our final report. Because it's been a while since I last wrote, I'll be splitting this one up into multiple posts. The newest will be at the top. What follows actually transpired two weekends ago, in case you're keeping track.
It's certainly been a busy weekend. Peter Arzberger, the head of the PRIME program, came to visit Osaka. We got a call from Peter last Thursday, letting us know that we were going to meet the Chancellor of Osaka University. Apparently, you don't meet the Chancellor unless you're 'somebody important', and because of the rather rigid social heirarchy in Japan, the encounter was a little nerve-wracking for everyone. His office was four or five times as big as my apartment, and was decorated with traditional Japanese art and calligraphy. Even Peter and Shimojo-sensee were palpably nervous as they spoke to him. That said, I think it went mostly fine. We got our picture taken at the end of the meeting. That night, a dinner was arranged for Peter and the whole lab attended. I met quite a few new faces that night and got a lot of practice speaking Japanese.
Friday at the lab, we showed Peter our work so far, and he seemed happy with our progress. He only had one day to spend in Osaka before his return trip, and Ichikawa took all of us the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto. It's an annual festival held there, and it's said to the most famous in all of Japan. It's a very ancient tradition, and it gave me a great opportunity to see some more traditional Japanese culture firsthand. Japanese men and women at the festival wear summer-kimonos, called yukata. For the week of the festival, the entireity of downtown Kyoto is closed to all but pedestrian traffic, and giant floats, called yamaboko, are assembled all over the city. We went there days before the festival's finale - a long ceremony and parade through the streets. Despite this, the streets were swarmed with people. The alleys were lined with stands selling food, drinks, and souvenirs. I sampled quite a bit of the former two, including some skewered yakitori (barbequed chicken) and fish-shaped cakes called taiyaki.
My pictures of Gion Matsuri
Cathy's pictures of Gion Matsuri
Last saturday was Cathy's birthday. We spent the day in Dotomburi and America-mura. For lunch we went back to the ramen-shop Kibo-ken, so Marshall and I could race to see who could finish the super-spicy bowl first. I won on a technicality - somebody called him on the phone during the contest. Cathy's birthday celebrations began that evening. Junko and her friend Yamaguchi-san joined us for the evening. First, we went to a Chinese restaurant for shaved noodles, which were delicious. After dinner, we went to a gigantic palace of fun called Beaverworld. It was a pool hall, a karaoke bar, a bowling alley, an arcade, an internet cafe/gaming lounge, a movie theater, and a few other things. This wouldn't have impressed me too much, except that everything is free once you're inside. For about 2 or 3 dollars an hour. Needless to say, we were in heaven for the evening. We finally got home at around 4 or 5 in the morning.
My pictures of the evening
Cathy's pictures of the evening
It's certainly been a busy weekend. Peter Arzberger, the head of the PRIME program, came to visit Osaka. We got a call from Peter last Thursday, letting us know that we were going to meet the Chancellor of Osaka University. Apparently, you don't meet the Chancellor unless you're 'somebody important', and because of the rather rigid social heirarchy in Japan, the encounter was a little nerve-wracking for everyone. His office was four or five times as big as my apartment, and was decorated with traditional Japanese art and calligraphy. Even Peter and Shimojo-sensee were palpably nervous as they spoke to him. That said, I think it went mostly fine. We got our picture taken at the end of the meeting. That night, a dinner was arranged for Peter and the whole lab attended. I met quite a few new faces that night and got a lot of practice speaking Japanese.
Friday at the lab, we showed Peter our work so far, and he seemed happy with our progress. He only had one day to spend in Osaka before his return trip, and Ichikawa took all of us the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto. It's an annual festival held there, and it's said to the most famous in all of Japan. It's a very ancient tradition, and it gave me a great opportunity to see some more traditional Japanese culture firsthand. Japanese men and women at the festival wear summer-kimonos, called yukata. For the week of the festival, the entireity of downtown Kyoto is closed to all but pedestrian traffic, and giant floats, called yamaboko, are assembled all over the city. We went there days before the festival's finale - a long ceremony and parade through the streets. Despite this, the streets were swarmed with people. The alleys were lined with stands selling food, drinks, and souvenirs. I sampled quite a bit of the former two, including some skewered yakitori (barbequed chicken) and fish-shaped cakes called taiyaki.My pictures of Gion Matsuri
Cathy's pictures of Gion Matsuri
Last saturday was Cathy's birthday. We spent the day in Dotomburi and America-mura. For lunch we went back to the ramen-shop Kibo-ken, so Marshall and I could race to see who could finish the super-spicy bowl first. I won on a technicality - somebody called him on the phone during the contest. Cathy's birthday celebrations began that evening. Junko and her friend Yamaguchi-san joined us for the evening. First, we went to a Chinese restaurant for shaved noodles, which were delicious. After dinner, we went to a gigantic palace of fun called Beaverworld. It was a pool hall, a karaoke bar, a bowling alley, an arcade, an internet cafe/gaming lounge, a movie theater, and a few other things. This wouldn't have impressed me too much, except that everything is free once you're inside. For about 2 or 3 dollars an hour. Needless to say, we were in heaven for the evening. We finally got home at around 4 or 5 in the morning.My pictures of the evening
Cathy's pictures of the evening
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