I’ve been in Japan for almost 2 weeks now, and it is time to write a post. My first weekend was uneventful, what with me being sick and sleeping the whole time. The first week in the lab was better. The people are very welcoming, and have helped me adapt to a new and strange country. We go to lunch together regularly (Kizami Udon ftw. Katsu Kare ftw.) and I’ve started learning about the projects here. They are doing some really good work which I hope to be able to help with.

My second weekend was more fun. I headed to downtown Osaka with not much of a plan, and ended up wandering randomly. I ended up in Yodabashi, which turns out to be the ultimate “Garth Store,” selling pretty much all I’ve ever wanted. Watches on the first floor, cameras on the second, TVs on the third… you get the idea. It is also an amazingly intense environment, with employees up on ladders yelling at people to come on over and buy this or that. I get the impression that in general Japanese take shopping very seriously, and go about the activity with intensity.

While I was in Osaka I went into some random restaurant place because it had an appetizing picture of rice and beef in the window (I ignored the McDonald’s next door. Yay me!). The restaurant inside appeared to be the equivalent of an American truck stop. Pretty low budget, with stools crammed together around a bar area. The guy came over and while I was trying to figure out exactly how to tell him I wanted the rice and beef bowl he says to me “beef only!” So, yeah, this restaurant serves only one thing: rice and beef. It makes ordering easy!