Kobe :D
So I arrived in Kobe on Tuesday, with another person in the program (dave). We have dorm rooms on Kobe's Port Island, which are insanely cheap! (but, no internet in room, blarg). Until today I've been basically disconnected from everyone BUT I just got a cell phone :D :D thanks to my friend Rie! Dave and I have a "researcher's room" which is in a separate wing of the building from the undergrads it seems. We have our own bathroom and I think its bigger than other rooms. We also have a shared kitchen, which is basically our kitchen because no one else on our floor cooks, lol. There weren't any pots and pans so we had to go buy some at IKEA (only a 15 minute walk away!).
Tomorrow I'm giving a presentation at Kobe University about Ohio and Ohio's fireflies and such. It's supposed to be an hour long! I don't think I've ever given a presentation that long before! I'm a bit nervous but at least I get to talk in English. But even scarier, Tuesday I'll be doing my first interview with a firefly group, yikes! I'm not quite sure what to expect... but one of the researchers is going with me so that's nice. We're going all the way to Nagoya to meet the group members!
Speaking of fireflies, yesterday I went to a Hime-firefly festival in central Hyogo prefecture (Tanba City). It was about an 1:30 - 2 hours drive away. I went with one of the PhD students and it turned out to be pretty fun even though it was pouring down rain all day. A few fireflies decided to come out for us to see :)
Anyways, I have a few pictures! We'll start with my room:
Tons of storage space!
The view from my veranda door:
Here is my desk at Kobe University, its in my host professor's office.
A bit full of stuff, but I can actually work pretty well here!
The rest of the office:
I can see the city of Kobe from the window (kind of), by looking through the blinds. Kobe University is way up the mountain/hill, so it boasts one of the best views of the city of Kobe from the top! On the other hand, Port Island where my dorm is, has one of the best views of the city from across the harbor!
My desk is in the School of Agriculture, and this is what it looks like outside the building:
To get to Kobe University, I have to take the Port Liner monorail train off the island, and then catch another train in the city. Here's some pictures and videos from the monorail train ride:
Needless to say, there's a lot of concrete and containters since its a port/harbor area. Not the prettiest place ever :(
The ocean is still cool though
The city from the train window...
Videos of the train ride:
Part 2 of the train ride:
More to come soon!
Tomorrow I'm giving a presentation at Kobe University about Ohio and Ohio's fireflies and such. It's supposed to be an hour long! I don't think I've ever given a presentation that long before! I'm a bit nervous but at least I get to talk in English. But even scarier, Tuesday I'll be doing my first interview with a firefly group, yikes! I'm not quite sure what to expect... but one of the researchers is going with me so that's nice. We're going all the way to Nagoya to meet the group members!
Speaking of fireflies, yesterday I went to a Hime-firefly festival in central Hyogo prefecture (Tanba City). It was about an 1:30 - 2 hours drive away. I went with one of the PhD students and it turned out to be pretty fun even though it was pouring down rain all day. A few fireflies decided to come out for us to see :)
Anyways, I have a few pictures! We'll start with my room:
Tons of storage space!
The view from my veranda door:
Here is my desk at Kobe University, its in my host professor's office.
A bit full of stuff, but I can actually work pretty well here!
The rest of the office:
I can see the city of Kobe from the window (kind of), by looking through the blinds. Kobe University is way up the mountain/hill, so it boasts one of the best views of the city of Kobe from the top! On the other hand, Port Island where my dorm is, has one of the best views of the city from across the harbor!
My desk is in the School of Agriculture, and this is what it looks like outside the building:
To get to Kobe University, I have to take the Port Liner monorail train off the island, and then catch another train in the city. Here's some pictures and videos from the monorail train ride:
Needless to say, there's a lot of concrete and containters since its a port/harbor area. Not the prettiest place ever :(
The ocean is still cool though
The city from the train window...
Videos of the train ride:
Click to viewPart 2 of the train ride:
More to come soon!