Obon trip

At the end of Obon I went to visit my mother-in-law in Shimonoseki.

It was really hot but we decided that at least once we should go somewhere nice and cool. We managed to convince one of the Aunts to come along as well.

The first stop was near a small waterfall. 

東京 - Tokyo

Today is my second day in Tokyo and the first day of my internship. I wore a suit ^_^ I really wanted to wear it, but there never seemed to be an occasion for it. I am happy now. Suits are surprisingly comfortable, except when you need to lean all the way across the table (which you shouldn't neet to usually). However, I might wear my comfy shoes tomorrow.

I spent yesterday running around Shibuya station trying to find a locker for my huge trunk. I ran around for an hour and a half - because, obviously, I got lost. Lucky for me I could get to my room earlier. After that I was running around buying things like pillows and blankets. I was dead tired and fell asleep by 10.

Today I was very fortunate to be able to sleep in. Thankfully, I know my navigation skills, so I went out half an hour early. This way I could find my workplace in about an hour :))))))))

I was given a relatively straightforward task for my first day - mainly making a sketch-style base for a competition project. The work day here is from 10 to 10 -_- But it's not scary coming back home at night as there are lots of people around at all hours and the streets are very well lit. Definitely different from Kumamoto.

Coming to Tokyo several times before I didn't particularly like the place. I am looking forward to see if I change my mind after living here for a month. There are certainly lots of pros to living here, but I'm still stuck in my provincial mentality.

Since I am staying at a share house, there are still a lot of things I need to buy and figure out - like food for lunch and dinner. For now I'll be settling for コンビニ food. This week I'll be trying to get into the swing of things.

グリンランド遊園地 - Greenland Amusement Park

At the end of March I was invited to tag along to the local amusement park. Now, seeing as how Kumamoto is not a huge city, I wasn't expecting a huge park. Japanese people think on a whole different scale (so different to the dinky playgrounds we sometimes have in Latvia). This place was so huge, I couldn't see where it ends. I've never been to Disney World or other such grand places, so I can't compare, but Greenland Amusement Park is by far the biggest I have ever seen.

Lab trip - day2

Part 2 of the Hiroshima trip. Another massive photo dump post.
Our accommodation was just a few minutes away from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
We took a group photo opposite the big fountain with a view towards the park. It turned out to be out graduation photo gift :)

Lab trip - day1

At the end of February our lab planned a trip to Hiroshima.
It took around 5 hours by bus, which meant I had to get up around 5 or 6 in the morning. The long ride meant I could sleep on the way so I didn't mind too much.
The first stop was 厳島神社 (Itsukushima shrine) - famous for it's torii that is surrounded by water during high tide. More on that later.

Entrance to the ferry towards Miyajima island.

Catching up

It's been such a long time. I was super busy with my MA project these past couple of months. We already had the presentation and I'm not sure, but it seems the outcome was good? The graduation ceremony is more than a month away and we were not told our results at all. A bit confusing, but, perhaps, I missed something. Our professor doesn't seem too worried at all.

This here is a peek at my project. I might post prettier posters or a PDF,

but right now I'm a bit sick of looking at it.

Another thing that's coming up is our lab trip. We'll be going to Hiroshima. As usual all trip details will probably be posted at the last minute. I prefer to know at least the departure time in advance, so I'm slightly frustrated.

We were going to find a bigger flat to rent, but we were so busy, we ran out of time. So another year will be spent in our tiny one room apartment. Which is fine, I guess.

Since I had a bit of time to relax, I finally finished editing the Takachiho trip video, which was waaay back in November. Oh yeah, I'm so fast. I found out my iMovie was pretty basic, no options for sound separation or slowing down/speeding up functions. Still, it was quite interesting regardless. I did get tired of listening to the random things I say over and over :D

The video is in 4 parts over at YouTube - www.youtube.com/user/MariaLivchak

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