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…
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| This is what it appears to be - a beer vending machine!! |
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| Our welcome feast - notice the giant fish heads! |
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| Amida Buddha |
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| Garden at Hase-dera |
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| Bad Fortune |
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| There will be no happy moments. You will lose. |
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| Hase-dera |
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| Writing wishes. |
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| Temple tops at Hase-dera |
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| Bamboo garden at Hokoku-ji |
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| My wonderful host family! |
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