Packing for the Journey to Japan
I don't have much time left before I leave, so I will probably do one final short post after this before I leave for Japan. Yesterday I had pre-departure orientation at the Consulate General in Houston. It was interesting. They arranged for a Japanese lesson (I left a little less confident about my Japanese although I understood almost every part of the Nihongo lesson). The teacher said I was more advanced then she origionally thought (although she was just being nice I think, a typical thing for Japanese people to do). The committe that they assembled and myself all had bento lunches together (which was nice of them). Although I really didn't learn anything new during the time that I was there. On the way back to my fathers home (in Waco) I got lost. How you may ask, since I have this PERFECT sense of direction? Well, I have no sense of direction. What should have been a 3 hour drive turned in to almost 6 hours. Currently their is less than 11 days before I depart. I will leave DFW airport for Chicago's Ohara airport (I was just at the Ohara airport a bit more than a week ago when I went to visit my younger sisters). Their will be a 2.5 hour lay-over in Chicago, which is good since I will be able to see my younger sisters the day that I depart. Then I will depart for Japan on JAL flight 9 for Tokyo Narita airport. From there I am not 100% sure of the procedures once I leave the airport (I think their will be somebody there to explain everything though). Currently I am tring to finish my cloth shopping and will be moving out of my apartment soon. I have see my dorm assignment on the internet, I don't really like the fact that I have to share toilets with all the other students (since some of them may not be very clean).
Tomorrow I am suppose to have lunch with my Japanese professor and his family. It was very kind of them to invite me. I got a giant cookie/cake as a gift that everyone can share tomorrow for when I go to have lunch with them. My previous Japanese teacher took me out to eat several times at a resturant called Hanasho. She even took me there for my graduation. She is a very kind person. I think I am suppose to feel excited about going to Japan, but it's just not in my personallity I think. Everyone keeps asking if I'm excited. I don't think I can be. But, I am looking forward to meeting my professors that I will be doing my research under (my soon to be academic advisors). Also, on friday my professors from Tarleton (alot of the professors are my friends) are taking me out to eat at a Japanese resturant in Fort Worth. That should be fun, it was the last time we all went atleast. It seems that I still have a ton of things to do before I leave (5 math assignments, 2 solid state phyics/engineering assignments, atleast 1 nuclear physics assignment, paperwork, pictures for documents, shopping for cloths and others---It may not seem that bad, but physics assignments usually take about 4-14 hours per assignment and sometimes per problem). I plan on posting a photo album before I depart of my family and myself incase anyone reading this is curious. I still wonder if I made the best decision in choosing this scholarship over the other fellowships. What ever happens, I am sure it will be a very interesting experience with some funny stories. I think they will be worth reading. Still, I will be leaving everyone I know behind. If you did not see the last article (the one I have already deleted) then you missed out on the physics quotes of the day. They were from Dr. Francis Crick the Physicist and Dr. James Watson the biologist in honor of the anniversary of their discovery of the double helix (DNA). The quotes were not really important, I just wanted to let you know about the anniversary. The physics quote of the day and of this month are listed below.
The physics quote of the day is from Lord Rutherford (Ernest Rutherford-One of my personal favorite physicist):
"All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
-The irony is that Rutherford's nobel prize was in Chemistry. Apon recieving it, instead of a gracious and humble acceptance of the award he proceeded to give the committee that awarded him the NOBEL PRIZE (the ultimate award) a rude lecture about why he should have received the Nobel Prize in Physics and not Chemistry. Personally, I think he is right. He cristened the alpha particle, discovered the proton, rewrote the model of the atom, etc, etc... and no fewer than 10 of his students went on to received the Nobel Prize in Physics. Ernest Rutherford; one of the greatest, with such a sad life at the very end. His daughter died during complications at child birth. His secretary was quoted as saying something to the extent of "He aged alot that year (the year of his daughters death). One of the last joys in his life were his grandchildren and his face lit up when he talked about them." What more can I say, he was a physicist to the core.
The Quote of the month is known as Hume's Fork:
"Either our actions are predetermined, in which case we are not responsible for them, or
they are the results of random events, in which case we are not responsible for them."
Tomorrow I am suppose to have lunch with my Japanese professor and his family. It was very kind of them to invite me. I got a giant cookie/cake as a gift that everyone can share tomorrow for when I go to have lunch with them. My previous Japanese teacher took me out to eat several times at a resturant called Hanasho. She even took me there for my graduation. She is a very kind person. I think I am suppose to feel excited about going to Japan, but it's just not in my personallity I think. Everyone keeps asking if I'm excited. I don't think I can be. But, I am looking forward to meeting my professors that I will be doing my research under (my soon to be academic advisors). Also, on friday my professors from Tarleton (alot of the professors are my friends) are taking me out to eat at a Japanese resturant in Fort Worth. That should be fun, it was the last time we all went atleast. It seems that I still have a ton of things to do before I leave (5 math assignments, 2 solid state phyics/engineering assignments, atleast 1 nuclear physics assignment, paperwork, pictures for documents, shopping for cloths and others---It may not seem that bad, but physics assignments usually take about 4-14 hours per assignment and sometimes per problem). I plan on posting a photo album before I depart of my family and myself incase anyone reading this is curious. I still wonder if I made the best decision in choosing this scholarship over the other fellowships. What ever happens, I am sure it will be a very interesting experience with some funny stories. I think they will be worth reading. Still, I will be leaving everyone I know behind. If you did not see the last article (the one I have already deleted) then you missed out on the physics quotes of the day. They were from Dr. Francis Crick the Physicist and Dr. James Watson the biologist in honor of the anniversary of their discovery of the double helix (DNA). The quotes were not really important, I just wanted to let you know about the anniversary. The physics quote of the day and of this month are listed below.
The physics quote of the day is from Lord Rutherford (Ernest Rutherford-One of my personal favorite physicist):
"All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
-The irony is that Rutherford's nobel prize was in Chemistry. Apon recieving it, instead of a gracious and humble acceptance of the award he proceeded to give the committee that awarded him the NOBEL PRIZE (the ultimate award) a rude lecture about why he should have received the Nobel Prize in Physics and not Chemistry. Personally, I think he is right. He cristened the alpha particle, discovered the proton, rewrote the model of the atom, etc, etc... and no fewer than 10 of his students went on to received the Nobel Prize in Physics. Ernest Rutherford; one of the greatest, with such a sad life at the very end. His daughter died during complications at child birth. His secretary was quoted as saying something to the extent of "He aged alot that year (the year of his daughters death). One of the last joys in his life were his grandchildren and his face lit up when he talked about them." What more can I say, he was a physicist to the core.
The Quote of the month is known as Hume's Fork:
"Either our actions are predetermined, in which case we are not responsible for them, or
they are the results of random events, in which case we are not responsible for them."
posted by Ben at 9:04 PM
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