First week in Japan

So, now it`s been about a week since I came into Sapporo. Lots of things have happened but lets go with a short condensed version here.

First off, the flight to Japan was quite exhausting. It took about 17 hours to get from Oulu airport to Shin-Chitose airport in Hokkaido. Professor Sakabe from the Hokkaido Institute of Technology and his wife were there to meet with me and take to my dormitory. Sakabe-sensei talks english quite well so it was nice to get some quick info about Japan right off the bat. He is also my coordinator in the school, every friday I go to him and ask about the coming weeks schedule.

Dormitory is very nice, it`s 12 floors (I think?) and has rooms for single occupants and couples. Kitchen and washing machine are shared, but we have our own bathrooms and even bathtub. House is right next to "Gakuen mae" underground station so it is very easy to get around the city from here.On first couple days I just met 2 student tutors, Ryoji-san and Tsuyoshi-san. Both of them understand english well so I can ask just about anything from them if I have some problems. We made couple rounds around the city, visiting supermarket, museum and such places. There was also small arcade hall very near my place with some fun games, I'll have to go there again later.

On monday I went to the school for the first time. HIT is a private university, fairly small one with about 3000 students. Campus is easy to navigate compared to say University of Oulu, with most buildings being apart from eachother and connected with bridges. There are 2 cafeterias and of course the japanese specialty, vending machines at every corner. Food prices are somewhat lower than in Finland, maybe by 20% or so. Campus area has few very beautiful spots with gardens and trees. In the city people often also have small gardens next to their house if they have room. I was told that in southern Japan space is so tight often you won`t have space for one. I also met members of the staff and even the president of the school, mr. Nishi. Everyone has been very friendly and helpful.

On tuesday I met with Horuichi-sensei`s students and had a small party within their seminar room. We cooked okonomi-yaki, which is bit like a pancake with meat and vegetables. Students are very nice guys, but the don`t speak english that well. We have been teaching some words of our languages to eachother every day. This group has very interesting goals, they do research and development on materials for nuclear power plant construction and some greenhouse reduction materials and measures as well. They work mostly with metal alloys, so it is fairly close to my own specialty, analytical chemistry. Maybe I`ll try their electronic microscope some day.

On wednesday I went into to a small official party. Japanese sports drink manifacturer Pocari Sweat was celebrating their 30-year anniversary. It was held in huge 3 star hotel called Royton. There was a lecture by medical researcher about heat strokes and how to avoid them. Hokkaido area has seen average temperatures slowly increasing from 1920 onwards and it seemed to
have been causing some troubles for elderly and people who do sports. In worst case scenario the heat can cause internal damage to your body and even death. I was little bit scared since most people were in suits, and lecture was in japanese but it wasn`t so bad. After the party we took some of the snacks with us. I got sports meal bars that were made from pressed beans with different flavors. Tried one with blueberry flavor today, not bad.

Today, which is thursday I visited Prof. Miura`s english seminar and talked with her students about finnish and japanese customs. Miura-sensei speaks english almost perfectly, by the way. I think she lived in United Kingdom for couple years at some point. And now I`m heading to listen to a lesson about heat resistant steels and thermal creep. I hope I can understand what they are talking about. I'll be back...