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| Weird candy |
Thursday night I slept like a rock in my real bed (although I slept surprisingly well on my tatami mat the night before) and woke up ready to start the actually program I came here for! In case you’re wondering, the program is sponsored by the Riken Center for Allergy and Immunology (RCAI) and all the travel has been jointly paid for by the Riken Institute and the Japanese government.
I had an interesting breakfast in the hotel (they offer eggs and bread, but also miso soup, rice, and many unidentifiable savory Japanese foods), met more of my classmates, and caught the bus to the Institute. We were all a little worried, since all we knew was that it was the 7th official stop, which we were told was “after the railroad tracks” but we weren’t sure we were going to be able to identify the actual destination. Like everything has been so far, it was way easier than we all expected, and the stopped was announced as the “Riken yadda yadda yadda?” stop, and we found our way to the building easily.
We got checked in, got packets of information, schedules and maps, and had a day full of talks and tours. Highlights included the map of our ASSIGNED seats (?!) for the lecture hall, being told we were not allowed to access the wireless internet so we would always focus, and the map of the cafeteria which described in unnecessary detail what food is served at which stations and how to pay, haha! We had to sign a contract saying we would attend everything unless given permission and giving them the rights to use our pictures and abstracts….it was interesting.
The day concluded with a “Welcome Party” – I had no idea what to expect from the event, but was hoping for a brief, non-awkward happy hour-like event. When we walked out of the last talk, we were greeted by tables FULL of sushi, tempura, fruits, veggies, and a few “Western” items like mini-pizzas and finger sandwiches. There were a couple coolers of beer, but the most surprising thing was the set of drums and guitars at one end of the room….
The program director announced that the Riken band (Nerd Alert: the name of the band is Negative Selection! Hilarious :) would regale us with some tunes. As they set up, one of the band members even donned a wig! It was really, really funny, and they played one Japanese folk song (re-interpreted to rock music) and then "Purple Haze" – both unpredictably well done. We gave them quite the round of applause after they announced they only knew those two songs, and someone shouted “one more song! Encore!”….to which they actually obliged us. They finished up with an interesting rendition of "Smoke on the Water" which had us all giggling.
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| Beer vending machines! |
The party ended EXACTLY at 7:30, as scheduled (so Japanese), and we were politely asked to think about making our way out of the building when we were standing around discussing what to do afterwards. We were all wondering if we could take our open beers with us, so I gathered my courage and asked the director my first question of the day: “Will we get arrested and thrown into Japanese jail if we walk on the streets or get on the bus with open beers?!”
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| Our crew |
He explained that it was perfectly legal, and we wouldn’t get in trouble, but that Japanese people normally don’t drink in public/on the street. We decided to opt for cultural insensitivity in the name of a good time, and stuffed our bags with the leftover free beers and headed back to the bus to go regroup at the hotel.
About 20 of us decided to try to go find a bar in central Yokohama, and we dumped our school bags and all headed to the train together! It was hilarious walking down the street with beers in hand, trying to stick together in the evening crowds. Somehow, I got elected tour guide since I was one of the only people who had been into town, and I had to try to keep us together, make sure everyone realized the last train was at midnight-ish, and find a bar that would let us all in….
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| Giant ice cubes |
It proved rather difficult, but everyone was in good spirits! We took forever to all buy train tickets, but we got to town, (successfully!) got out of the train station, and walked around the area I had been to the night before and looked for a bar to grab a drink.
We quickly discovered that about 70% of the bars couldn’t hold our group even if they started out empty (which none were since it was a Friday evening!), and the other 30% looked at us and turned us away. I got told “No foreigners” more than once…
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| The locals, lol |
Eventually, after about 20 minutes of wandering in circles and drinking in the streets, we voted to settle on an Irish pub since it was big enough even though it was packed, and they were bound to tolerate Westerners. We squeezed in, ordered expensive beers, and had a pretty good time. People headed back to the hotel in little groups, but once it hit 11pm, I rounded everyone up like a mother hen, and got us back to the station so we wouldn’t get stuck in midnight super-rush-hour! We got broken up when we were trying to fight the crowds an buy tickets, but most of us stuck together and got home.
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| Unhappy midnight train driver |
We grabbed snacks and drinks on the way home from the station, and hung out in the lobby until the wee hours chatting. It was a fun day and I was happy that I was “stuck” with so many personable people for the next week.
I had an interesting breakfast in the hotel (they offer eggs and bread, but also miso soup, rice, and many unidentifiable savory Japanese foods), met more of my classmates, and caught the bus to the Institute. We were all a little worried, since all we knew was that it was the 7th official stop, which we were told was “after the railroad tracks” but we weren’t sure we were going to be able to identify the actual destination. Like everything has been so far, it was way easier than we all expected, and the stopped was announced as the “Riken yadda yadda yadda?” stop, and we found our way to the building easily.
We got checked in, got packets of information, schedules and maps, and had a day full of talks and tours. Highlights included the map of our ASSIGNED seats (?!) for the lecture hall, being told we were not allowed to access the wireless internet so we would always focus, and the map of the cafeteria which described in unnecessary detail what food is served at which stations and how to pay, haha! We had to sign a contract saying we would attend everything unless given permission and giving them the rights to use our pictures and abstracts….it was interesting.
The day concluded with a “Welcome Party” – I had no idea what to expect from the event, but was hoping for a brief, non-awkward happy hour-like event. When we walked out of the last talk, we were greeted by tables FULL of sushi, tempura, fruits, veggies, and a few “Western” items like mini-pizzas and finger sandwiches. There were a couple coolers of beer, but the most surprising thing was the set of drums and guitars at one end of the room….
The program director announced that the Riken band (Nerd Alert: the name of the band is Negative Selection! Hilarious :) would regale us with some tunes. As they set up, one of the band members even donned a wig! It was really, really funny, and they played one Japanese folk song (re-interpreted to rock music) and then "Purple Haze" – both unpredictably well done. We gave them quite the round of applause after they announced they only knew those two songs, and someone shouted “one more song! Encore!”….to which they actually obliged us. They finished up with an interesting rendition of "Smoke on the Water" which had us all giggling.
About 20 of us decided to try to go find a bar in central Yokohama, and we dumped our school bags and all headed to the train together! It was hilarious walking down the street with beers in hand, trying to stick together in the evening crowds. Somehow, I got elected tour guide since I was one of the only people who had been into town, and I had to try to keep us together, make sure everyone realized the last train was at midnight-ish, and find a bar that would let us all in….
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