I woke up at 5 o’clock because I was still on Hawaii time. The professor told me to come in around 9 o’clock. So I decided to go for a run and see what’s nearby. I found the school’s soccer and tennis courts and a nearby park to do exercise in the morning. Even at 7:30 it was bright and hot. I took a shower after running but still came out sweating. That’s the Japanese weather for you.
I went in at 9 to see the professor and there was another weekly update meeting that was going on. The topic was on the translocation of proteins into the mitochondria. Again everything was over my head. But, some Japanese words are coming back.
After that I met up with four students that I would be working with. Our project is structural biology and it seems I get to play with the NMR machine. We ate lunch at the school cafeteria and I ate the miso katusu which Nagoya is famous for. They seem like a fun bunch of guys and I look forward to working with them.
Because the lab wasn’t set up for me yet the group leader Takaki Momose-san said that I had free time the rest of the day. So I went out to walk the hot streets of Nagoya. I rode the subways and visited some shops. I bought about three bottles of drinks because it was so hot. As I walked around the shops and asked some questions about cell phones I realized that I really need to study Japanese. Some people think I’m Japanese because I look it, and they must think I’m retarded when I can’t speak Japanese.
After coming back to the school I paid my tuition. 148000 yen (~$1300) for ten credits. It was a little cheaper than I thought so I’m happy. So rent’s cheap and tuition is relatively cheap so I’m set. But if I keep buying vending machine drinks I’m going to be broke.
The Nagoya International Residence. An 8-story building with many foreign students. Rent is 5900 yen a month and about another 6000 yen for utilities. I live in C414 a single room with adequate space.
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