Saturday, June 20, 2015

EAPSI Orientation

This summer I am an EAPSI fellow in Japan.  EAPSI is a National Science Foundation program run in collaboration with similar organizations in other countries - in Japan it is the JSPS Summer Program.  On June 9th I arrived to Japan for a week long orientation at Sokendai (near Tokyo) before arriving at my host research institution.  During orientation ~120 students (from USA, Canada, France, Sweden, Germany, UK) underwent culture and language courses, and had a 2 night home stay with a local family.

During these classes I learned a lot about different Japanese customs, began to distinguish different Japanese words from each other, and learned that I had been using chopsticks wrong (and the proper way is actually quite a bit easier).  My home stay was awesome - I stayed with a very nice and generous family who lived in Yokohama (near Tokyo), and they took me to Kamukura, a nearby more traditional area.  Here was saw the giant statue of Amida Buddha at Kōtoku-in Temple, Hase-dera Temple which is known for it's beautiful hydrangeas (where I received a very bad fortune, pictured below), and Hōkoku-ji which had a beautiful bamboo garden.  All of the food was phenomenal. 

On the 16th we all dispersed to begin research.  Me and two others took a train to Inuyama, to Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute.  Here I am preparing for the field, and will be island-bound on the 27th


This is what it appears to be - a beer vending machine!!
Our welcome feast - notice the giant fish heads!
Amida Buddha 
Garden at Hase-dera
Bad Fortune
There will be no happy moments.  You will lose.

Hase-dera
Writing wishes.
Temple tops at Hase-dera


Bamboo garden at Hokoku-ji
My wonderful host family!

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