Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Tottori, in conclusion....

So with a blink of an eye, our days in Tottori are coming to end. At first, to tell you the truth, I found this city a bit unexciting, but now as the months flew by, I made many many new friends, new contacts, and pursued many new initiatives and experiences. I will miss it very much. I believe this coming work term for "Nippon Koei International Engineering Consulting Co. Ltd." in Tokyo/Yokohama (two really huge cities) will be more lonely than this past academic term in the small rural town of Tottori.


My beloved bicycle. I'm gonna miss her sooo much. Without my awesome pastel blue bike, Tottori life would have been super difficult. Will miss you!

I think one activity that I will miss the most is teaching English. I bonded very well with the students and what made me so happy was that they developed a deep motivation to learn English. The one important key that I found for the students is to allow them to speak and practice. It's the exact same thing with me and learning Japanese. Sometimes after class, the students and I would go to dinner at the school cafeteria and they'd teach me new words in Japanese and I do the same in return for them in English. I'm really going to miss everyone there. It was such a very close and welcome community feeling. I was glad to be able to make a tiny difference in everyone's lives.


My students from the English that I teach almost every weekday. What an amazing experience: new friends and a new passion

So school has finished. I didn't talk much about schooling itself here in Tottori cause there wasn't too much to talk about. However, we finished all our final exams last week and our design project was a huge success. Our design project was a device which automatically adjusts the brigtness of an LCD monitor according to ambient lighting conditions. The whole team worked together very well and we applied the knowledge that we had gained from previous courses. Our systems education has come into handy... I hadn't realized how powerful it was until now. The Japanese professors and students were really really impressed with our design project and our presentation. Yokomatsu-sensei told me that most students here in Japan, while presenting something in front of an audience, read to themselves instead of engaging the atmostphere. And they were really impressed with how we followed the design process to come up with our prototype. I personally have to thank Professor MacGregor for that. If she hadn't grinded us in SYDE 161, I don't think we would have the user-centred design process engraved into our heads.
I would have to thank all our Japanese professors for putting up with our questions and requests... hehehe Suzuki-sensei, our thermodynamics professor, thank you for being so patient and kind with us. Tanimoto and Koike-sensei, our engineering economics professors, it was a very smooth course without and bumps, we thank you greatly for that. Kitamura-sensei, our models/controls professor, your class was an amazing experience as it challenged us to put our Japanese to the test along with the courses' challenging concepts. Kawai, Koyanagi, and Sato-sensei, our optimization professors, thank you for the amazing experience and kindness. And of course Yokomatsu and Tanimoto sensei for being amazing and understanding Introduction to Design advisors. Last but not least, Kita-sensei, the entire exchange won't exist without him. Thank you Kita-sensei for negotiating with professors, finding our co-op jobs and of course being extremely patient with our questions and requests.


(Left to right) Will, Teresa, Suzuki-sensei (thermodynamics prof), myself and Richard

The one place I am really really going to miss is the laboratory. It was my home away from home. My room in the International House had absolutely nothing in it, so I spent most of my free time in the lab studying and chatting. As I said in my first blog, I belonged to the Coastal Engineering laboratory within the department of Social Systems Engineering. I got to know the three sensei's very well: Kimura-sensei, Matsumi-sensei, and Ohta-sensei. The grad students were extremely helpful: Tskamoto-kun, Ishibashi-kun, Fukuda-kun, and Manabe-kun. The undergrad students were always there when I needed someone to chat with: Nakamura-kun, who was always there till early in the morning with me, Murata-kun, popping into the lab at weird times of the night. Abe-kun, one of the most kindest, most welcoming members of the lab. What a wonderful character. Nishida, Ryota, Ideguchi, Ayaki, Kinoshita, and Fujii-kun also for being very kind and hospitable. Without everyone in the lab, my experience in Tottori would have been very much less exciting.


Some of the lab members during my last day in Tottori
(in front kneeling from left to right) Murata, Ryota, and Nakamura
(back row from left to right) myself, Matsumi-sensei, Nishida, Ohta-sensei, Tsukamoto, Ishibashi, and Manabe


Me at my lab desk

And the International House. It was great getting to know fellow international student studying here at Tottori with me representing over 20 countries from all around the world. It was amazing getting a chance to communicate with others from other countries using he mutually common language of Japanese. Not only was a great opportunity to practice the language, I also got the chance to learn and hear about the different cultures. Even tough I had to live in front of the cockroach infested kitchen, which as a result caused my room to have cockroaches, it has made me a stronger person. I will miss it very much.


My room door at the International House

Parting is such sweet sorrow. Goodbye parties were very sentimental as I say farewell to the many people that helped shaped my amazing experience here in Tottori. First, Gaku (from the rowing club) and Shintaro took me out to the fireworks festival in another city in Tottori prefecture. They were amazing. Much more creative then Canadian fireworks I have to say.

After the fireworks, Teresa's lab (the main lab: the lab of the professors that organize the exchange) took us out to drink as a farewell celebration. All five of us went and it was certainly very exciting.


The five of us at the farewell party with members of Teresa's lab



Then the night after, Kimura-sensei, the head professor from my laboratory, invited all of us over to dinner. His wife was kind enough to cook for all of us. Richard, Teresa, and myself ended up going and the meal turned out to be amazing. And we had an amazing conversation bouncing thoughts and ideas back and forth with the sensei and his wife about life, the cultural differences and everything .


Teresa, Richard, and I with Kimura sensei (the head professor from my lab)

The next day, in the morning, Gaku and Shintaro took me 'jinbei' shopping (Japanese traditional male outfit). I ended up finding a cheap one at Jusco (Japan's Walmart... but of course much more expensive). Then he took me to an onsen. For as long as ive been in Tottori, I havent been to a hotspring. Tottori is known for their hotsprings, so I was determined to go to at least one before I leave. I went to one in Okinawa. It was okay. Again... like last time, I left the onsen with a huge headache. I don't think my body is built for onsens... hehehehe...

Then after that Kita-sensei, the director of the exchange, took the four of us out to dinner (Ana went on vacation somewhere) to this traditional vegetarian Japanese restaurant on top of a mountain in Tottori. The food was spectacular and it was completely an experience all in itself. It was nice enough that he organized this entire exchange, but also take us out to dinner is even more kind of him. This exchange would have occured without him.
Then after that, we went out to celebrate Richard's 22nd birthday. It was lots of fun. We went out to drink at a bar named "Reset", then afterwards we went to Karaoke till around 4 am. Sugoi ne.


Richard, Will, Teresa and myself holding gifts from members of Teresa's lab


Us celebrating Richard's birthday



And on the very last day in Tottori, my friend Tsukasa, (a student in my English class and a the friend who took Ana and I surfing) took me out to dinner. He is one of the kindest Japanese guys that I've met during my four months here. He'll be heading to Waterloo for the summer "English for Success" program that runs every summer at Renison College for students every year. So its kinda interesting that he's going to my home university and that I'm here. I guess that is the idea of an "exchange" hahahahaah... anyhoo...


My friend Tsukasa and I at dinner during the last night in Tottori

So whats next? Well after this week, I will be heading off to Kanazawa city, in Ishikawa prefecture, for the "Japan Tent" conference (with Anastoria from Jamaica, and Kin from Myanmar). There I will be spending a full week with about 300 international students from all over Japan experience Japanese culture and staying with a host family to experience everyday Japanese family living. I am can't wait.
Then afterwards, I will be travelling for two weeks to Taiwan. With my friend Roy, a Canadian currently in his third year of study at Tainan Univeristy, will be starting off at Taipei and we'll work our way around the small island country. Then afterwards I will be travelling alone to Seoul, South Korea for a week to explore the city and surrounding areas.
Then after that, I will come back to Japan and start my work term in Tokyo for "Nippon Koei Co. Ltd.". I will be housed in the nearby big city of Yokohama (in Kanagawa prefecture). So every morning, I'm going to have to commute about 1.5 hours to work by train. That's going to be fun.
In the last week of December, after the work term is done, I will travel back to Tottori to give a final presentation about the entire exchange experience, and of course to say goodbye to everyone that has made this experience unforgettable.

In conclusion... Tottori, even though is an extremely small and quiet town, it's close knit community has made my experience extremely special. I learned many life lessons and learned a new language. I learned to not see the obstacles that come my way as hardships, but rather as challenges that will only make me stronger. Life is short, when experiences like this come along, I learn to get the most out of it. These past four months will forever be engraved in my memory.

(PS. I wont be able to update this online journal until I settle down in Tokyo/Yokohama. I'll be back in September :-) )

Saturday, July 23, 2005

Nagoya, Aichi - 2005 World Expo

From Thursday July 14 to Saturday July 16th, I was at the World Expo in Nagoya city in the Aichi prefecture for the "Goodwill International Assembly for Green Building and Living" conference (http://www.jgbc.com/English/IntlernationalAssembly.pdf) put on by the Japan Green Building Council.
I was there with a whole bunch of Tottori University international students, around 20 of us, to represent our countries and do presentations about environmental issues that affect our home countries. So I had spent the last week scrambling between finishing our design project for school (which turned out to be a huge success) and finishing this presentation about Canada's environment. Considering I was the only Canadian that attended the conference, I had to spend more time preparing the presentation. It wasnt so much composing the content that took so long, it was mostly translating everything into Japanese. But I got it done and I was satisified. It feels nice when you can actually take ownership of things like this.

Special thanks to Takeda-sensei (Professor Takeda) for taking his time to edit my presentation. It's greatly appreciated.

DAY 1: Thursday July 14, 2005 - The train adventure

So the first day was a HUGE adventure in itself. It was both funny and a learning experience. I was especially looking forward to this trip considering it was completely free. We didnt have to pay for anything. We all got up at 5 am in the morning to meet at the Tottori University train station at 6 am. So, considering I was up the night before working on the design project, I was super duper tired. I got up, packed everything, and headed off. When I arrived at the train stop, I realized that I was the youngest person there. The rest of the Tottori gang ranged from 24 yrs to 45 yrs old. So I was the baby of the group.. hee hee... So we had to take a local train from Tottori Univerity train stop to the main Tottori City train station, then from there, we take another inter-city train from Tottori to a city called Himeji. Then from there we take the infamous Shinkansen (the Japanese bullet train) straight to Nagoya. The schedule was really tight, so we all had to rush like animals.

So heres the interesting part: So we all got on the inter-city train from Tottori City train station headed for Himeji. Unlike local trains, where if you had missed your stop, you can get just get out and head back in the other direction. But with this train you can't do that. You can sort of see where this is heading. So I had gotten into the train first and I was sitting next to this lady from Mongollia,
Siqingaowa, who is studying for her Ph.D. at Tottori U. So we got chatting and considering the lack of sleep I had gotten the night before I decided to take a nap. Considering it was a 2 hour train ride, I didn't see it being a problem. The train car that we were in only had one exit and I was sitting on the other end. So when I woke up from the nap, I saw that everybody from Tottori had already gotten up and got their things ready, whereas Siqingaowa and myself, had just woken up. Everyone was in a rush cause we all needed to catch the bullet train to Nagoya. So we had to dash up and start gathering our things. So by the time I had reached the door, it was already closed. I tried opening it with my hands, cause in Tottori city, some of the local trains required individuals to open them manually. But this wasnt the case: the train started moving... I was in awe at this point. Considering that this was an inter-city train, the next stop after Himeji was Osaka, which is an hour away. Thank goodness a professor and Siqingaowa was still on the train with me. I couldn't believe what was happening. We were both semi-freaking out at this point. What I didn't understand was why didn't anybody bother to wake us up. What I was worried about the most was missing the events that were going on at the Expo. So I gave Anastoria, my friend from Jamaica who had gotten off the train successfully, a call. At this point she told me that they were already on the Shinkansen (bullet train), but with one blunder: the professor who had also gotten trapped on the train with me had the bullet train tickets for EVERYBODY in the group from Tottori University. In Japan, unlike Canada, you show your tickets when you GET OFF the train. So when they arrive in Nagoya, they cant leave the train station until we get there. Thank goodness the professor made some calls and sorted everything out. The three of us can leave from Osaka and be at Nagoya only 7 minutes later than the rest of the group. I felt like I was in a movie. On the way to Osaka, I got to see a lot of scenery of the big cities like Kobe and parts of Osaka. It was very interesting. So we got off at Osaka and caught the bullet train to Nagoya. And luckily, we got to ride on the fastest bullet train in Japan: the Nozumi (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018.html). It was a very smooth ride, I didnt even realize that it was going at a speed of around 300 km/hr. I was quite pleased as I got the chance to ride on the infamous Japanese bullet train FOR FREE. I heard that the tickets are super expensive: about $100 US one way. So after learning our lessons, I didnt sleep on the shinkansen and remained alert.. hahahaha. I was suprised that it only took an hour to go from Osaka to Nagoya.


At the Shinkansen (bullet train) station in Osaka (after getting trapped in Himeji)


On the Nozumi, the fastest model of the Shinkansen (Bullet Train)


Meeting up with the rest of the group in a Nagoya local train (left to right: Hong Seok Gyu from S. Korea, Professor Danya Aklog from Ethiopia, and Anastoria from Jamaica)

So we met up with the rest of group in Nagoya at around 10:30. And we went to our 5-star hotel, which we were staying at for free. I was paired in a room with Ajay from India. I didn't realize how diverse of a group we are until I really sat down and took notice at what countries we are all from: Canada, Jamaica, South Korea, Mongolia, Bangledesh, China, Myanmar (formerly Burma), India, Ethiopia, Nepal, Pakistan and Mozambique. The conference started off in the hotel and the three keynote speakers took the stand: an architect from Spain, an environmental engineer from Vienna, and a Japanese environmental engineer. We were the only "school group" there. The rest of the attendees were business executives from all across the world. So that night we had a dinner party. We were supposed to wear our countries "traditional costumes". So, in the Canadian spirit, I wore my University of Waterloo sweather, my Canada flag hat, a Root's lanyard, and a Canada flag on my belt to top it off. The food was AMAZING. It gave us a chance to mingle with the others. The international students from Tottori U were brought on stage to introduce themselves to the group. So afterwards a whole bunch of business execs approached me and started chatting with me. They were impressed that I'm from Canada, am studying engineering, and can speak decent Japanese. I didnt realize how "high up" in the corporate ladder this people were until I got their business cards. They were presidents, vice-presidents and executives from Engineering firms in Japan. So that night was a great success: amazing food, and an amazing networking opportunity. What an amazing first day. And we havent even gone to the Expo yet.


Me at the hotel seminar room where the opening ceremony was held for the conference


Part of the gang from Tottori at the conference dinner


The Tottori U international students on stage introducing ourselves (in Japanese)


Siqingaowa (whom I was trapped on the train with) and myself at the dinner


The S. Koreans (Sung Ji Youn and Hong Seok Gyu) and myself


Part of the gang after the dinner with Professor Waka

That night after the dinner party a bunch of us headed out to downtown Nagoya in an area called Sakae(where all the main store, parks, and shops were) by the subway to check it out. Considering it was night time, there wasnt much still opened. So we went on a ferris wheel located right in the middle of downtown and we got to see the city from a birds eye view. Nagoya is a gorgeous city. The night lights are amazing. BUT, it still doesnt compare to Hiroshima. So when we left downtown it was around 11 pm. The subway trains were still PACKED. Japanese businessmen are scrambling to catch the last train home after a night of drinking...


On the Nagoya subway at night (packed with people)


Part of the Tottori gang at the entrance to the Ferris wheel in downtown Nagoya


Guo Nan, from Mongolia, and myself on the Ferris wheel


Me in front of Nagoya "Central Park"


Me in front of Nagoya "Central Park"

DAY 2: Friday July 15, 2005 - At the Expo

So we got up at 6:15 and had breakfast at the hotel. The breakfast was AMAZING. There was soooo much food. And it was all soooooo good. I havent had such a great breakfast in a loooonnnngggg time. So I pigged out. I didnt care if people were staring.. hahahaha...

So today we finally headed over to the expo. We took the local subway to the station closest to where the Expo is located. The expo itself isnt located in the heart of Nagoya, so after we got out at the subway station, we had to take the "Linimo" to the Expo site. The Linimo is this new technology of monorail-like cars that run without a driver and are powered my magnetic energy. The concept was neat but there wasnt anything special about it the experience when we were riding it.

The Expo front gate was PACKED. We were there at 8 am and already there were thousands of people waiting in line to get in. Thank goodness we were given VIP passes to get in from "behind the scenes". These special passes arent too special, according to Waka-sensei (the main professor who organized the trip) considering that we werent really here at the Expo to see the Expo, but instead, we are here to give and listen to presentations.


Us lining up get on the Linimo to the Expo site


Us lining up get on the Linimo to the Expo site


Expo front gate packed with people


Me with my VIP entrance pass

There were so much attractions I wanted to see in the park from corporate pavillion/rides to country pavillions. Examples of the main attractions were the 'Nature Contact -Hitachi Group Pavillion", the Toyoto Group Pavillion", and the fully intact wooly mammoth that was found in Siberia a year or two ago. So at 11 am we went to a part of the Expo called the "NGO Village" and watched fellow schoolmates do their presentations. It was scheduled to finish at noon accounting for 10 minutes per presentation for the 8 that was presenting that day (I was scheduled to present the next day: July 16th) . But it went over time till 1 pm. Afterwards was supposed to be our free time around the park, but we were forced to watch some Japanese drumming ceremoney and some aerobics show. We were all kinda annoyed cause we all wanted to go see the park.


Us watching the presentations


The Toyota and the Hitachi corporate pavillions (which I had no time to go see)


The Japan Motor Association pavillion (which I also had no time to go see)

So finally at 2 pm we were allowed to go explore the park until 6 pm. Basically this whole entire trip we are only given 4 hours to see the Expo itself. Considering the whole thing was free, I wasnt gonna complain too much cause I'll just come back sometime in the first week of September. Considering that the line ups to the main attractions were minimum 1 hour, we decided to go explore the country pavillions instead. First I decided to go to feel at home and explore the Canadian pavillion. I informed the people working at the Canada pavillion there that I was Canadian, and I was given special treatment as a" VIP member". I was able to skip the line-up to get in and I also received the a "Expo Canada" pin. I was also invited to go into some VIP room, but considering the amount of time I have to explore the rest of park, I graciously declined. The Canada pavillion had a really impressive light show that displayed the lives of 6 Canadians from different parts of the country. It was really neat. They also had RCMP officers marching around taking pictures with tourists. Then aftwards I rejoined the group to go see the Asia area of the park. Most of the Asian countries didnt have much to see other than little stores and museum like things. The China and India pavillions were pretty neat. I had Paksitani food for lunch: curry with nan. It was very delicious. After finishing Asia, we went to see the USA pavillion. Anastoria and I, since both of us speaks fluent English, decided to pretend to be American and get VIP treament into the USA pavillion. So we approached one of the men at the gate and Anastoria, from Jamaica, told them she was from the Bronx and I told him I was from Manhatten... lol... he kept interrogating me where in Manhatten, and I ended up naming some place where this guy lives... its insane... Out of all the cities in the USA, I decided to choose a city where the man in charge lives. hahahaha. Anastoria couldnt stop laughing. But he let us in anyways. The USA pavillion wasnt so impressive. Just some video effects show about Benjamin Franklin. After doing the Canadian pavillion, this was nothing. By the time that was done, it was already 6 pm. So we all headed back to main gates and met up with the rest of crew. On the way to gates I saw the "human robot" that was being advertised on Discovery Channel before coming to Japan in April. It was cool. When they talked to the robot, it talked back.


Me in front of the super duper fast futuristic trains of Japan


In the Khazakstan pavillion


Me with an Indian police officer at the India pavillion


Me in front of the Canadian pavillion


The human robot (as previous advertised on the Discovery Channel)

So at night, we went back to our hotels and we went out for dinner in Sakae (downtown Nagoya). This time we went to an Indian restaurant that is actually run by Indian people. We ordered many types of curry and nan (indian bread). It was super duper yummy. But considering it was my first time eating "genuine" indian food my stomach started getting gasy... hee hee... But it was extremely yummy. Very delicious. You can always count on me in trying new food.


Gorgeous night light Nagoya

DAY 3: Saturday, July 16, 2005: Rush, rush, rush

So today Waka-sensei told us that we should get up earlier considering that its a Satruday and that even more people will be going to the Expo. So we did the same routine as yesterday, but this time much quicker and more effcient considering we did it yesterday. So after the giant breakfast, we left for the expo at 6:45 and we arrived at around 7:30 which is about an hour and half before the official opening. Since we had VIP passes we got to go in before it was actually open, but sadly we had nothing was open and we had no time to go see the cool pavillions. The schedule was solidly packed. We headed over the NGO village to finish up the presentations.

My presentation was the second one so I was a bit nervous. Usually during these presentations I'm not nervous, but this time I'll be presenting in Japanese. The only difference from the day before and that day was that no one was allowed to go overtime. We were on a tight schedule to present, lunch, present, and leave Nagoya. So during my presentation, I had to rush a bit. Near the end, I decided to change back to English so I can speak faster and cover all the material in my presenation. But overall it went very well. It was an amazing experience and it was worth all the work that I had put into it. Becuase I wrote it myself and because I was the only Canadian there, I felt extra proud that it went well. But the one thing I regretted was that I tried to cover too much material. I should have concentrated on one area of Canada's environment problems instead of all of them.. hahahahaa.


Me presenting about Canada's environmental problems (in Japanese)






Ajay, my roomate, presenting about Indian culture

So after the first set of presentations, we had a lunch break. Anastoria had bought this "Expo Passport" thing, where you go around to the different pavillions and they'll give you a stamp. So durign lunch we had approxmiately 1 hour so we decided to run back to the Asia pavillions and get all their stamps. It was sooo exciting cause we were darting throughout the Asia pavillions area from country to country getting their stamps. I felt like I was on the reality TV show "Amazing Race". I managed to see all of the Asia country pavillions, including the ones that I didn't see yesterday. It was very adrenaline pumping.


Myself, Anastoria (from Jamaica), and Sung ji Youn (from S. Korea), posing with a Korean lady in traditional wear


S. Korea pavillion


Qatar pavillion


Iran pavillion


Saudi Arabia pavillion


The fan I used to put my pavillion stamps on


So we afterward, we ran back to the NGO village to finish up the rest of the presentations.
Siqingaowa, the Mongolian lady, with whom who I was trapped on the train with, did this really aesthetic traditional Mongolian dance during her presentation.


The entire Tottori gang in front of the NGO village after presentations
Back row from left to right: Siquingaowa (from Mongolia), Sharma (from Nepal), Nadar (from Pakistan), Zahoor (from Pakistan), Daniel (from Mozambique), Jia (from Mongolia), Seok Gyu (from S. Korea), Kelali (from Ethiopia)
Front row from left to right: myself (from Canada hehe), Lu Lin (from Mongolia), Kin (from Myanmar), Professor Waka (from Japan), Perveen (from Bangladesh), Monica (from India), Anastoria (from Jamaica), Guo Nan (from Mongolia)
Taking the picture: Professor Danya Aklog (from Ethiopia)
Absent: Ajay (from India)

After the presnetations, we headed back to Tottori. Luckily this time we didnt get trapped on any of the trains. One thing I forgot to mention about Japan is their disgusting habit of excessive cigarette smoking in public areas. On the Shinkansen, on the subway, everywhere.. I guess we are quite spoiled in Ontario, where people can't smoke anywhere. But still, the second hand smoking was a lot to handle. Very disgusting indeed.
The following are links to videos of us on the Shinkansen:
(Video 1- on the platform)
(Video 2- in the Shinkansen)



Everyone on a local Nagoya train


Me at the Nagoya Shinkansen (bullet train station)


Everyone at the Nagoya Shinkansen station


Everyone on the Shinkansen (on the way back to Tottori)


Me eating my dinner at a train station noodle hut in Nagoya


REFLECTIONS

Overall I would have to place this short three day trip up on top of my list. Even though it wasnt too long and that I didn't get to see too much of the Expo, it was uforgettable. The fact that I got to travel with a diverse group of people from 11 different countries and got the opportunity to represent Canada and present to others, in Japanese, about the environmental problems that happen in our country is very rewarding. On top of that, the 20 or so of us socially bonded quite well. Even though I was the youngest there, everyone treated me as an equal, with respect and importance. Getting a chance to hear and learn about the other cultures was invaluable. It has also helped me get rid of the many narrow-minded stereotypes about other countries that exist in Canada. Its great to be in a venue which brings the world's people together in peace.