From Now On, I’ll Connect the Dots My Own Way

Two posts in one day!?! Yes way! Figured I'd post again, since Link had another adventure. This morning I went alone to Toji Temple. Well, Toji Temple was the final destination, but I also got to see a few things on the way there. First off is Kyoto Station… this building is impressive; not only is it huge, but it’s also clean, and well designed, and looks very cool… and it just occurred to me that I didn’t take a single picture of it. Well, I’ll leave you in suspense, and take pictures the next time I’m down there, which should be often enough. Also along the way I passed Umekoji Park, which was quite nice.

Oh yeah, I tried some Pocari Sweat today. It was quite good for being named after… well… sweat. It was an Ion Supply drink whatever that means, but I feel much healthier and ionized after drinking it.

Ok, onto Toji Temple… Toji Temple is famous for its five-storied pagoda. It is the highest pagoda in Japan, 187 feet. It was originally build in 826AD and burned down four times due to lightning. The current pagoda was built in 1644, so roughly 350 years ago. There are also 3 other famous buildings in this park that were interesting to see as well.


On the way home someone took a picture of me, for no reason! I was minding my own business waiting for a train; I see a flash, look around, and there’s an older Japanese man in the train with a camera pointed straight at me. It was hard not to laugh. And if any of my Calgary friends say what I think they’re gonna say, they’ll be given a 1000 Years of Pain kancho when I get back… you’ve been warned!

Went to the supermarket by myself too today… it’s not easy trying to buy food when you have absolutely no clue what it is, so I went safe and got recognizable items, bananas, bread, juice, milk, etc… Melons are indeed expensive here, there were small melons that cost 15 bucks.

Unfortunately for you guys I have a very good sense of direction, which means I didn’t get lost or have any weird adventures in the wrong side of Kyoto today. Maybe next time…

Careful. We Don't Want to Learn From This

It’s 6am Wednesday morning, and I’m currently in Kyoto Japan! Which is very cool. This is my first entry from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Ok, arrived on Monday afternoon after a looong plane flight. It was about 12 and a half hours total flying from Calgary, and it wasn’t overly fun. And Tootsie and Aeon Flux are weird movies to have on a plane in my opinion.

Arriving at the airport, I had to get through customs while knowing very little Japanese, which wasn’t too bad. I met Yamada-san at the airport, she helped me with my luggage and then we took the train to my work in Kyoto… which was a 2h trip itself. At Chujoshima Station I met my general manager, Matoba-bucho, and two of my coworkers, and they showed me to my dorm. I also met with David-san, who was here on an internship a while ago, and is back here working on a contract basis. We then went to dinner (Okonomiyaki), where I met the other intern here, Ly-san. After I talked with David and Ly for a while, took a shower, and went to bed.

Sooo… description time! My dorm is about 120 square feet. I have a bed, a desk, and 2 closets. The bed is hard as a rock, but other than that, my room is pretty good. It’s enough space for me at least. Outside my room there’s a kitchen and laundry room (how handy!) and just down the hall is the bathroom. My dorm has a curfew of 11:45. So far it hasn’t been a problem, I don’t know how weekends are. But I can always find a place to stay if I need to. The showers are… interesting. Communal showers will take some getting used to, is all I can say. Pictures of my dorm room:



Yesterday I woke up at 5am (thanks jetlag), hung around, went to work at 8:30. I met with my many co-workers, who showed me a bit of what I will be working on. They’ll explain more about my project(s) tomorrow. Yamada-san also gave me a tour of the factory, which was quite interesting. She showed me all the different things my company makes, including X-ray machines, intra-oral cameras (my project), dental chairs, root canal tools, and dentist drills. I went for lunch at the cafeteria, then Yamada-san said I may go home for the afternoon.

Ly took me to the supermarket in the evening… 4 floors, with basically everything you need… if only I could read what everything actually was… It’s difficult when you know so little of the language. I fell asleep at 8:30 by accident and woke up at 5 this morning again. Today I’m gonna go exploring on my own, probably to Kyoto Station and Toji Temple, so more pictures will be up soon.

You Can Tell a Good Blog By Its Ominous Logo

Hurray, it’s Brett’s Blog! Yaaaaay! Umm, yeah, I have been procrastinating writing this, which is why it’s 3 weeks overdue. The objective of my blog: to chronicle my many misadventures on my exciting expedition to Japan.

For those of you who are unawares, I am travelling to Japan on a 10 month internship at J. Morita Corp. Many of you may think I am insane for taking on such an interesting and challenging… challenge… but I am here to tell you, you’re probably right. But… this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and overall it’s very much worth it.

My company is located in Kyoto, Japan. It’s about 2h by bullet train from Tokyo. Kyoto was spared from bombing during World War II, so there are a lot of historical and cultural buildings, temples, gardens, etc, so I feel very fortunate that I get the opportunity to live there. I feel a little less fortunate that my accommodation is a company dormitory… which means a room that’s about 120 square feet, communal kitchen and bathrooms… and apparently I have a curfew as well.

Though I haven’t been given very specific information about the job I will be doing, I know that it involves designing circuits for intra oral cameras (J. Morita manufactures medical and dental equipment.)

I will try to update my blog as much as I can. I don’t know how my Internet is going to work over there yet. I know it takes a month to get my own set up, but apparently it’s possible to use other (people’s) connections, and I’m sure there’ll be other places I can access the net.

I leave for Japan on May 28th, and arrive on my birthday, May 29th. For those of you I’m leaving behind in Calgary, so long suckers!!! And to my fellow Co-op Japan students, I look forward to seeing you all again in Japan!