24 Hours

In about 24 hours I’ll have passed through the passport control at Narita airport. I’m in a very odd mood. I’m extremely excited about seeing those that matter most to me again. But part of me wants to stay here and does not want to leave.

I can’t wait to see Gwen again on Monday in France, and friends and family before that in Vienna. I’m also looking forward to an interesting work related meeting I’ll be attending Sunday and Monday in Vienna. And I’m also very excited about the new job I will be starting soon in London. But I’m also thinking about all the things I like very much about Japan, the people I’ve met, and things I’m leaving behind and might never see again. And at the same time my todo list seems long enough to keep me busy for a week or more. The fact that I haven't started packing yet reminds me of my departure from Vienna about a year ago :-)

Last night my work colleagues celebrated my farewell (this time really). I’ll miss them. I’d like to take them with me. Here is a picture taken last night.



Tonight, or sometime within 24 hours I might have some time to upload more pictures. There were many I was planning to put on this blog, but never got around to do so. If I run out of time, then this will be my last post about Tsukuba Science City.

Today Günther (the last remaining Austrian in Tsukuba) was so nice to give me a quick tour of his work at AIST (AIST is the research facility I work at). The building is right next to ours, but it belongs to a completely different world. I always thought that we got the coolest hardware and equipment, but one of their machines is probably worth more than all our servers and stuff together, and their machines can do really fascinating things, too. Here is a picture of me dressed for the tour.



And here is a picture of Günther and one of those machines that allow him to do things that are way beyond the limits of my world.



I just realized that I probably won’t have time to upload any more pictures in the remaining time. Anyway, here are two random pictures I took today. The first one shows my office what it looks like before organizing and cleaning up all my files (which I'll be doing in the next hours). Actually I think I failed in taking a picture of the chaos on the hard drives, but just imaging a few terabytes of data distributed on many hard drives. Maybe one day I'll learn to work in an more organized way :-/



The second picture shows one of my favorite places at AIST. I’ve spent many hours reading papers in the sun at this pond. There are many fish in it, and sometimes a crane (“Kranich”) stops by, too.

Pictures

I got less than a week now. The minutes are flying by like seconds. Here are some pictures taken last week while I was traveling around with my parents.


[Sunrise over Tsukuba]


[Celebrating the cherry blossoms in Tokyo: picnicking under the trees on blue mats, as seen from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building]


[Advertisements in Tokyo]


[Tourists in Tokyo]


[Bicycle escalator]


[Bicycle escalator manual]


[Plastic (?) food models as can be seen at most restaurants]


[One of the coolest children playgrounds in the world]


[Tokyo by night as seen from Tokyo Tower]

Capoeira Surprise

Norie had offered to bring me one of the new t-shirts of the capoeira group. (I had asked for one as a souvenir.) Somehow she turned it into a dinner. And her husband and some capoeiristas also showed up. It was a wonderful surprise. And it was a great evening. If I'd only get to keep a handful of memories from Japan, then I'd definitely choose tonight as one of them. 90% of the conversation was in Japanese, and despite their not so good English together they always managed to keep me informed of what they were discussing using gestures (which was particularly fun considering that we were at a public restaurant), facial expression, and a small electronic dictionary. It was great :-)

I learned that most of them have toilet seats with buttons (to stand or not to stand while peeing was also an interesting discussion we had), we also talked about that they've never seen a Kabuki play life, don't like cosplay at all (btw, I learned that I've been mixing up some different things, not everything that looks like cosplay is cosplay) and think that only a handful of Japanese teenagers are interested in it. Somehow tonights topics also included body hair. (No, it wasn't me who brought it up...) One of the girls did a great job of explaining with her hands, arms, legs,... what and how girls in Japan deal with body hair (Now I know a lot more than I ever wanted to know, but it was hilarious.) We also talked about Brazilian girls, breast implants (I think all of us guys were embarrassed while the girls were happily chatting and using pantomime to communicate their ideas.). we talked about facial operations, my big nose, Japanese food, and a lot more. I think I used more Japanese words today than I ever did in one of the Japanese classes. For sure I used more gestures than I ever have in a game of pantomime :-)

(Just in case you are wondering... no, we didn't drink any alcohol at all. Only green tea.)

Norie, her husband, and the capoeiristas are some of the most relaxed people I've ever met. They are very casual for Japanese standards (but very polite), open minded, interested in foreign cultures, and some of the kindest. For example, they would go very far out of their way to do something kind, and then insist that it was on their way anyway. Although, as far as I can tell, they are very alternative for Japanese standards, it's not hard to sense that they are 100% Japanese, and that they are very proud of their culture. Having had the chance to get to know them has had a big and very positive impact on my overall impression of Japan.

Btw, yesterday I also had a farewell lunch with my work colleagues. It was a wonderful Japanese lunch. Japanese food is one of the things I'll miss most. I think it was also the first time in my life I've received flowers as a gift. Anyway, I still got about 200h hours of work to do in the next 7 days so I think I'll finalize my impressions from work some later time.

Tomorrow I'll get to see my parents and Sally again :-) Having done some sightseeing with them in Tokyo and Hakone last week was great. This week they traveled around by themselves (while I was busy finishing up some work). They're flying back the day after tomorrow.

Btw, I'll arrive in Vienna (after a long flight with two layovers) only 36 hours before I depart to Nice :-/ In that time I need to get rid of my jetlag, un/repack all my stuff, organize what I need for France, get some administration stuff done, and then attend some work related meetings (which I'm really looking forward too). And I'd also like to see as many friends as possible... I don't know when my next chance will be :-/

Tokyo

(Via Boing Boing)



I recently mentioned Harajuku on the list of things to do in Tokyo. Because there you get to see "cosplay" (teenagers dressed up like anime figures). It seems that some of them have walked over to Akihabara (also an interesting part of Toyko) and started performing a dance, check out what happens when the police arrives at the end of the video.

I actually wonder if those police men were real? I know that authority is a big issue in Japan, and jumping out of line and participating in a not authorized "demonstration" like that is probably a serious crime... but wouldn't you expect those cosplay teenagers to integrate the police in their dance? At least I'd expect that to happen in Vienna...

Unfortunately their is no cosplay in Tsukuba as far as I know :-/

Counting in Japanese

(Via growabrain)

It sounds a bit different when they count in Karate class, but it still seems a great way to practice the numbers.

Things to do in Tokyo

Yesterday I had a great time walking around in Tokyo with Sebastian and Bee Suan. If you ever get a chance to visit Tokyo, I’d recommend:

* Tsukiji fish market
(Skip this if you don’t want to watch ocean inhabitants being killed.) One way to utilize a possible jetlag you might have is to get up really early and go to the Tsukiji fish market. It’s open Monday to Saturday. If you go there around 5am it is probably very busy, around 9am it gets a bit quieter and it’s a better time to go there with larger groups (if you go there too early your group will always be blocking someone’s way and they will start honking their horns at you). If your stomach doesn’t revolt you could try one of the sushi places near by. There is also a nice Buddhist temple where you can take a short nap (you’ll find the temple on the way back to the subway station). Btw, the fish market will be moved sometime soon to a different location because they need more space.
If you can handle it (many think these videos are disgusting and disturbing), you might want to see how some Japanese like to eat fish: video, video. If I understood this correctly, it's all about demonstrating that the fish is as fresh as it can be. This comes in many variations, if you search for "living sashimi" you should find many more videos.

* Tokyo-Edo museum
The museum will give you an idea of what live was like in Tokyo before Japan opened its boarders. I’ve been there at least three times now, and every time I learned something new. I’d recommend asking for a volunteer guide before you go there (but you might also be very lucky and there might be one spontaneously available when you get there). If you tell the guides how much time you have they will do a perfect job of showing you all the highlights that fit into your schedule, and they’ll also tell you lots of interesting stories.) After visiting the museum you might want to buy some postcards (it’s not so easy to find them in Tokyo as you might expect) and have some coffee on the top floor enjoying a nice view of Tokyo. If you like sumo, check out the sumo arena right next door (you might want to try to buy tickets in advance), or you can also take a boat ride along Sumida river.

* Tokyo Metropolitan Government building
It’s not far from Shinjuku. The view might not be as good as the view from Tokyo tower, but it’s free. It’s open until 10pm so you can also get a nice night view. There is also a cheap food place in the building (cafeteria for the government workers) and a great tourist information on ground floor. Once you’re on that side of Tokyo you might want to check out Shinjuku and enjoy a glass of water at the Starbucks with an amazing view of the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world. You might also just want to cross the road a few times to enjoy the crowds rushing toward you when the light turns “blue”. There are also some crazy department stores in Shinjuku you might want to explore (I think one of them is called 901).

* Harajuku on Sunday’s
It’s not far from Shinjuku, and the best time to be there is Sunday afternoon. You’ll get to see teenagers dress up like in crazy Mangas... and just around the corner (follow the path into the forest) you’ll find a very nice Shinto shrine. There is also a huge 100 yen shop near by. The cultural contrast is perhaps the most impressive. Btw, the way the teenagers dress up reminds me of Kabuki plays where the actors like to dress up very colorfully and even like to change their costumes several times during an act. Sometimes they do it on stage using some magical tricks.

* Kabuki-za
Kabuki is very different to any other theater I’ve seen before. All of it is amazing: the music, the way they sing, the costumes and decorations... You’ll find the Kabuki-za in Ginza. You can buy a ticket for one act (instead of all three) for 1000 yen. If you wait on line you’ll get a seat, if you just go there after the act started, you’ll probably get a standing place. Acts seem to start around noon and continue all afternoon. I’d recommend getting the translation device which does not only translate what they sing and talk about, but also explains the background including general information about Kabuki. You might even want to go there more than once. I’ve been there twice in the last week and every time the play was very different. You might also want to study the actors' names before the performances so that you can join the crowds when they yell out their names during the play.

I’m guessing that you’ll have a guide book that’s full of recommendations so I won’t list everything. I also like Asakusa, Akihabara, Roppongi (btw, you’re guide book might not mention “Midtown” which was just opened, it’s very impressive), Ochanamizu (lots of second hand instrument shops), the gardens around the emperor’s palace, Ueno park,... You might also just want to stand around and look lost. If you’re lucky a helpful Tokyo citizen will ask you what you are looking for, and then decide to take you there in his BMW convertible... as it happened to us yesterday :-)
Btw, one thing I'd recommend avoiding is the rush hour in the subways. It really is as bad as you might have heard.