Tag: Osaka

Working Girl in a Whole New World

Post author By Chloe Kirk
Post date April 13, 2018
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I spend every day of the work week in a lab, a science major’s dream. I get to work on a project for the BioChemical team of Osaka Gas and not only is it using many of the techniques I am familiar with, but I’m also learning many new ones! When I’m not doing experiments, I am reading many scholarly research articles but this is teaching me how to quickly understand dense material and then interpret it for my coworkers who are so busy with their own projects that they don’t have time to dig through all the literature on our research.

The day starts at 9AM, sounded by a bell, and ends at 5:40PM, with the same sound. In order to be in my seat by 9AM, I have to set off from my dormitory at 7:30AM for the 1.5 hour commute: 4 trains and 1 bus. After arriving to work, I still need to check in and then change into my uniform. Normally, once I am all changed, workout music begins to play symbolizing I have 5 minutes to walk to my laboratory building. (The workout music is for people to exercise before work, which I have actually seen a few members do!) Everyone is pretty on time with making sure you are already working by 9AM, and you are never late unless you were out super late drinking with coworkers the night before on occasion.

At noon, another bell rings which announces it is lunch time for everyone, and my lab members either go to our conference room to eat if they brought their own food, or go to the cafeteria. I love this idea that everyone has lunch at the same time because it has really allowed me to get to know my other coworkers a lot better by all spending at least one hour together chatting about non-work related matters. I always eat in the cafeteria (I am way too lazy to make myself lunch every day), but once we are finished eating in the cafeteria we head to the conference room to join the others who brought their own lunch. This lunchtime gets even better because we all drink coffee, or in my case tea because I don’t like coffee, and it is also customary to bring sweets into the office to share, especially if you have been traveling, so we always have a mountain of treats to eat! My lab often talks with my about what food to try or places to go to in Japan during lunch, and so I often brings sticky notes to write all the suggestions on and in fact have the sticky notes taped up on the wall of my room so I have ideas of where to travel next at my fingertips!

At 1PM, another bell signals it is back to work. I am either at my bench working on my project or researching at my work laptop. What you can do on your work laptop is also super strict; when you are at work you focus only on work, which can be hard with such long work days but I’m starting to get the hang of it (only four months in).

The 5:40PM bell seems not to be heard by anyone at the end of the day, as my whole lab continues to work straight through it. I pack up just after the 5:40PM bell rings so I can get home by 7:10PM, but one of my coworkers commented about this the other day laughing about how “quickly” I leave work. Obviously, it’s not normal to leave right when the day ends, but this is what I am used to in America. After work, many people go to drink (and eat a little) until very late into the night. I have been invited to partake a few instances, but I am glad I am not invited out more because I could not handle coming home so late every night! I normally get home around 7:30PM, but if I go out with my coworkers I don’t expect to get home until 11PM! We also have welcome parties to welcome new members to our lab and we also have miscellaneous parties like a Kani party (see an earlier blog) and we have planned tentatively a barbeque in May.

In general, working in Japan seems to be much more intense than I am used to. Late nights and long commutes are as normal as dinner at 6PM sounds normal to me. It’s all go-go-go and I don’t know how anybody has time to see their families! I’m happy to be here, but I’m also happy I’m just an intern here. My co-workers are amazing and I cannot believe I have less than two months less to go! Right now, I’m trying not to think about it so I can focus on enjoying my time here. I feel so incredibly lucky to be a part of this experience and am learning so many new things, both in the lab and also in general. I have mostly gotten control of wielding chopsticks (thanks entirely to a co-worker who taught me how to use them every day at lunch); I bow and say the typical Japanese greetings like a natural (or so I like to think and, again, thanks to my co-workers helping me with pronunciation and helping me know when to say what); I eat anything put in front of me (which is a huge change from Chloe the picky eater a few months ago).

Expect to see a more reminiscent post in the coming weeks as my time here shortens and I am unable to hold back how much I am going to miss this internship.

Until next time!

Tags Lab, Osaka

Asia Japan Travel

What to See in Japan in 12 Days

Post author By Chloe Kirk
Post date April 2, 2018
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While interning in Japan, I was lucky enough to have my family come visit me for 6 days! While it was initially exciting, the thought of seeing my family after 3 months, but quickly I realized the enormous task in front of me: showing them the best Japan can offer in less than a week. I had visited quite a few of Japan’s cities so far, and had recommendations from coworkers, so I was able to put together a pretty good list!

Tokyo : 3 Days (obviously). Once we met in Osaka, we took the bullet train to Tokyo we headed to our Airbnb. There is so much to see in Tokyo, we took no time at all before we headed off to Asuka, the temples in Tokyo, followed by a walk around Akihabara, a huge shopping area known for its large collection of anime and manga stores.

Bullet Train (Shinkansen) from Osaka to Tokyo

Walking to Asuka Surrounded by Souvenir Shops

The next morning we started the day at the Imperial Palace. Although you are not allowed inside the palace, it is free to walk around the gardens! Next stop: Harajuku! Shopping center of Tokyo! We battled the enormous crowds to walk through this unique street and stopped to get delicious crepes along the way.

After crepes for lunch in Harajuku, we made our way to Ueno park, a massive park in the heart of Tokyo. The last stop of the whirlwind day before heading home for dinner was Shibuya and Shibuya crossing. You may remember this place from a previous blog, it is famous for its gigantic crossing area because it is so busy!

Shibuya Crossing

2. Hakone: 2 days. Just a couple hours outside of Tokyo by train is Hakone, famous for is onsens (hot springs) and picturesque views of Mount Fuji. Unfortunately, the couple days we were here it was cloudy and rainy which meant no views of Mount Fuji. Don’t get me wrong, we did try our hardest to see the views! We visited the edge of Lake Ashi and Fuji-Hakone-Izu National park, but it was cold and cloudy so the best we saw was Torii in the distance. The Airbnb we rented in Hakone though was spectacular with its own onsen inside! There my mother and I sat all night and drank Plum sake (like fruit juice but better). The trains in Hakone are very old fashioned but very cute and do their purpose to both be functional and an additional attractions of Hakone!

In the morning we forged through the wet weather and waited for the Hakone train back to the shinkansen station (Hakone is a bit out of the way from other cities and would be much more manageable by car, which many Japanese families do).

3. Kyoto: 4 days. Getting from Hakone to Kyoto was very easy by bullet train, and in just a few short hours we arrived at our Airbnb in Kyoto! This is one of my favorite cities; there are endless things to do. Our Airbnb was right next to the famous Fushimi Inari temple so we started off there! Depending on how much you want to climb, this temple can take hours, but most people only walk a little of the ways up before turning around. If you have time, I do recommend trying to walk to the top; besides some amazing views at the top, it also gets much quieter and it feels less touristy.

The following morning, on our way to the Kiyomizudera temple we passed through an enormous graveyard right next to the temple. Kiyomizudera temple is right at the edge of Higashiyama, a district of old streets in Kyoto lined with great trinket shops and food!

Mum and Gemma trying Yuba (Tofu and Cheese)

Continuing a long day of walking, we saw Ryozen kannon Buddha temple, Yasaka shrine, and the Sammon gate before proceeding to world heritage site Nijo Castle.

The next day we started off the morning with a walk down Philosopher’s path leading us to Heian Shrine and Honen temple. As a warning, the Philosopher’s path is a bit of a walk from the closest train station and you have to walk quite a bit on the path to get to the temples. There are buses but I have never been good at navigating buses.

4. Nara: 1/2 day. In the afternoon, we took a train over to Nara which is just an hour away to visit the deer park and big buddha before returning to Kyoto for the evening. All the temples you want to see, Todai-ji and Kofuku-ji, are inside the Nara deer park so it makes it very easy to see everything in one swoop.

For our last day in Kyoto, we did one more trip up Fushimi Inari (my favorite temple) and then headed to Arashiyama district in Kyoto where there is the Arashiyama bamboo forest and monkey park! Pro tip: get to Arashiyama super early, like the crack of dawn, if you don’t want to deal with a huge amount of tourists and then you can snap cool photos! If you want to hear more about Arashiyama, please go see my blog post Bamboo Forest and Monkey Park. (I don’t want to make this blog too long.)

5. Hiroshima: 2 days. From Kyoto, we make the trek south where we arrive in Hiroshima. Since we had such a short time in Hiroshima, we thought it best to sign up for the Hiroshima Tourist bus that dropped us off at every sight much more conveniently than train and because it was a tourist bus they translated everything to English! We went first to Miyajima island, highly recommended by all my Japanese coworkers, which has the Itsukushima temple as well as lots of deer.

After, we obviously had to head to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial museum and surrounding park which documents the cause and effects of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. I don’t want to delve into all the parts of Hiroshima here, so if you are interested in reading more about this city please see my Hiroshima blog post.

Remains of Government building in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

6. Osaka: 2 days. Our last stop was Osaka because that’s where my internship was. We went to see Osaka castle and we were lucky because the cherry blossoms had just started blooming (only happens for a couple weeks every year) so it was a gorgeous walk. We also had Osaka’s Okinomiyaki.

The last night we went out for curry, and I’m sitting here right now writing as if they have already left, but their flight isn’t until tomorrow morning. But, I work tomorrow so I can’t see them off as I’d hoped. Despite the classic family arguments that are inevitable when travelling, I am feeling a loneliness creep back that I haven’t felt this strongly since the first few weeks of being here. Everything is great in Japan, but being with my family for the past week and then suddenly going back to my usual routine brought back some homesickness I thought I had left long behind. I guess it goes to show me that no matter how far or how long I am away from my family, that I’ll still miss them.

Tags Arashiyama, Cherry Blossoms, Hakone, Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Tokyo

Asia Japan Travel

Universal Studios Japan

Today was probably one of the most exciting days for me since I have been in Japan: I went to Universal Studios Japan (USJ)!! I have wanted to go to USJ since week one of being here, but I needed it to be warm enough to actually enjoy walking outdoors all day. It’s been excruciating waiting so long because USJ is only one stop further on the train I take to work every than my stop, and so I see all the tourists coming and going with their giddy children and geared up minion apparel (USJ is known for their minion park from Despicable Me).

We set out (me and the other intern, Anna) just like it was any other day commute to work, leaving bright and early at 7:30 AM to get to USJ at a bit past 8:30 AM, taking the exact same trains as we take to work. When we arrived, a sea of tourists threw themselves onto the train platform and we all walked in unison to the gates of USJ. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of people already waiting at the gates but the park didn’t open until 9 AM! I took this waiting time as an opportunity to freak out a little that I was finally here and take some pictures.

Once the gates opened, the flood of people entering USJ had made initial ride wait times at least 50 minutes. My first impression was just being overwhelmed by all the people and surroundings; I felt like I was transported to another world that took all the classic pieces of Hollywood movies into one place. I have been to other Universal Studios in California and Florida and, while bigger, USJ seemed to go all out on the decorations. Other Universal Studios do have extravagant restaurants and stores like USJ, but USJ also has so many additional, full sized buildings that were solely used as props. It also has a whopping three man made lakes in a much smaller park size than the other Universal Studios of America: one in the center of the park, another as part of the Jaws exhibit, and a third in Harry Potter World.

The first stop needed to be Harry Potter World because all of the English bloggers and reviewers that have been to Japan warned you needed to reserve a time slot to enter Harry Potter World the day of. When we arrived, however, we were told by two very friendly USJ workers (all the USJ workers seemed to be constantly smiling and waving and giving high fives) that it was not busy enough today to merit needing reserved time slots. This isn’t busy? There were as many people in USJ at 9:15AM as there have been mid afternoon in other Universal Studios I have been in!

The entrance to Harry Potter World was this ominous stone circle taken right out of the books where Voldemort and his cohort gathered. Eery, booming music played to signal your arrival into an enchanted, mysterious place, enough to get your heart racing, and I followed the crowd down a mystical path lined on both sides with dense pine trees and old fashioned lamp posts. It was a solid five minute walk before you reached the Weasley’s old car which was the first obvious Harry Potter reference, and then just around the corner was the entrance to Harry Potter World!

On the other side of the archway was the Hogwarts train and Hogsmead. Almost all the tourists to USJ are Asian, but interestingly all the actors I saw pretending to be students at Hogwarts were Western and speaking English! While there were many shops such as Olivander’s wand shop or Zoinkos that allowed people inside, there were also many full sized stores simply as props. To the best of my memory, this Harry Potter World has the same basic layout as in other Universal Studios, but it was expensive to an entirely new height than all the others. $18 for a small anything flavored jelly bean box, $24 for a mug, $140 for a hogwarts cape and $50 for a stuffed owl. Yet this seemed to deter no one from buying these products! Later I would see that this expensive trend continued beyond just souvenirs and included food as well with a single piece of pizza starting at $12 or fried rice at $15.

I got a celebratory butterbeer, and then proceeded into the Hogwarts castle and a roller coaster around Hagrid’s house!

These rides were exciting, but not overly scary, so when we walked into Jurassic Park and saw a roller coaster called “the Flying Dinosaur”, I thought it was nothing I couldn’t handle. (Pro Tip: take the singles lane whenever it is offered because you cut a line of 1-3 hours down to a 10-30 minutes wait just by agreeing you are okay not riding with your friends.) Ten minutes after getting in line, I was seated horizontally and buckled in, all ready for the ride to begin! 11 minutes after getting in line, the ride finished, I unbuckled and face planted into the ground. I was so dizzy that in order to pick up my bag, I had to sit cross legged on the ground; I couldn’t even walk in a straight line. As soon as I was able, I found the first curbside to sit down on and directed all of my energy into stopping the ground from spinning. I kept thinking how come no one else leaving this ride looks as bad as I do? Everyone coming out was just smiling and laughing! After one hour of sitting down, I thought I could handle walking so I got up and walk over a bridge only to feel light headed and queasy all over again. I find the nearest bathroom, and then thirty minutes later I am back out, only feeling slightly better, to sit on a new curb. This new area, just a bridge away from the ride, and I finally saw all the other people who looked like they were dying from the ride, just like me. I was not alone! I didn’t want to feel this miserable and dizzy all day, and I knew to make myself better I needed food. I had brought snacks, but I needed something more substantial than just sugar. Despite my commitment not to buy the mega overpriced food at USJ, I realized it was inevitable to make me feel better. I found pizza advertised as New York pizza, and, although it obviously was not authentic, at the time I felt confident saying it was the best piece of pizza I had (likely a combination of how sick I felt and how expensive it was played a significant contribution into me labeling it as such).

Feeling not yet 100% but many times better than two hours ago when I stepped off the flying dinosaur, I cautiously continued on to Minion Park.

Here I bought so many Minion designed goodies including a Minion shaped popcorn holder and the popcorn was banana caramel flavored!

I love the Despicable Me movies, and especially the minions, so I was thoroughly enjoying just walking around the park and recognizing the different buildings from each movie! Then we decided to brace the 140 minute wait time for the Minion Mayhem Ride thinking that, from our experience, the line couldn’t be as long as they suggested! It was longer. 1.5 hours in we got to the entrance of Gru’s house thinking that this must be the entrance to the ride, only to see another large room full of people queing. 2.5 hours and we are finally all divided into one of three lines either leading up, straight or down. This new line only brought us to a room where they played a 5 minute nonsense video in Japanese about how Gru will turn us into minions. We are then ushered into yet another room to watch another nonsense video this time with Gru’s adopted daughters saying they will lead the transformation, again in Japanese with English subtitles. Finally we are moved into a room with an 8 seated vehicle and instructed to get it and sit. We sit there, not moving, for another 5 minutes and I notice that you can hear noises from other rooms that people must be in, all coming from above us where there was no ceiling. As a video on a large IMAX screen above us begins, our vehicle is lifted up to fill the space in the empty ceiling, and I can see 11 other vehicles in this same, large IMAX room. For a little over one minute, the IMAX screen mimicked a roller coaster (similar to the minion game application you can get for your phone) with our vehicle making slight tilts to accompany the video. And then, just as abruptly as the video began, it stopped and we were lowered down. I could not believe I had waited for three hours for this! But, honestly, I am happy I did wait just for the fact that now I know that ride is not worth all the fuss!

From there, I went on a couple more rides, avoiding all roller coasters like the plague. As darkness neared, I ventured back into Harry Potter World briefly to see it lit up at night, and ended the 11 hour day at McDonalds (just outside USJ) for some normally priced food.

USJ lived up to everything I had hoped and dreamed! Just, unless you are very good at not getting dizzy, don’t go on the flying dinosaur.

Tags Osaka

Asia Japan Travel

My Japanese Dormitory Experience

Post author By Chloe Kirk
Post date February 6, 2018
No Comments on My Japanese Dormitory Experience

During my stay in Japan, I am living in a women’s dormitory provided for by work. When I was first told I would be staying in the dormitory, from my Western background, I was under the impression it would be one of two things: a university dormitory or similar to a women’s convent. I am relieved to tell you it was neither of these things.

Located an hour and a half from my work, Osaka Gas, (which is a normal commute time in Japan) my dormitory is situated at the top of a hill in a residential area. Bordering the dorm, there is a highway, but because of the special chemicals in the blockades between the highway and the houses (manufactured by Osaka Gas) you cannot hear any highway noise. On the other side of the highway is Kansai university, and many women attending the university live in my dormitory out of convenience. There are other women who have regular jobs staying at the dormitory, a couple preparing for major examinations like dental school, and a few younger girls who I have no idea why they are here.

The dormitory is run by the house mother (ryobo-san), her accompanying husband (docho-san) and two female cooks/cleaners. (Note: ryobo means mother in Japanese, docho means father, and -san is added to show respect, like saying mister or misses). There is one woman in the dormitory who has been assigned to help me in the dorm, and so she often translates between me and ryobo-san.

Overall, I have so far enjoyed my stay in the dormitory. However, initially I was overwhelmed with all the formalities and rules regarding the dormitory. All I wanted was a place to sleep and cook after a long day, but reality was jarringly different. Although breakfast and dinner are provided for us, we have to schedule every meal we want a month in advance, and, if we are unable to make one of those meals we schedule we need to notify ryobo-san immediately. This proved difficult the first couple weeks when jetlag had me routinely sleeping through and missing dinner. Additionally, almost every meal consists of a main entree of fish, often involving fish with many little bones. Not only do I not like fish, but have you ever tried pulling hundreds of tiny bones out of a fish smaller than your hand with chopsticks? If not, I can tell you from experience that it is near impossible to do! Now, in order to make all my meal times and not upset the cooks, I proceed directly from work to dinner every night without pausing at my room to nap, and I convince myself to at least try every part of the meal!

A Typical Breakfast (There is a bread option, but most other people choose to take the miso soup and rice option)

Another set of rules I found extremely tedious in the first few weeks was the procedure to leave and come back to the dormitory. I understand the procedures are for safety, but when I was expecting to be so independent while I was here, it felt like these dormitory’s rules were stripping my independence away. Upon arrival to the dormitory, you must remember to beep in with your key fob at the front door to notify you are back.

Once entering the dormitory lobby, you immediately take off your outdoor shoes, walk to your shoe locker and unlock it with a combination, and exchange your outdoor shoes with your indoor slippers. You are also required to leave your room key in your shoe locker when you leave which inevitably means and extra trip back downstairs for me after I reach my room to realize my room keys are still in the shoes locker.

In your slippers, you can finally go to your room. And when leaving, you must do the exact reverse procedure, except instead of using the key fob to beep in, you must use the key fob on a separate key fob to beep out. Now if all of this isn’t enough for me to remember in the early hours of the morning or late at night, it only gets worse if you want to sleep out for a night or are out past 11PM. If I am out past 11PM without notifying ryobo-san, she will call the company I work for to notify them I am missing. If I want to sleep out, not only do I have to fob out on a different machine, but I also need to fill out a going away sheet of paper which is only written in Japanese! I just had to do it for my first time because I plan to spend a weekend in Tokyo, and it took me nearly 20 minutes to fill out with the help of ryobo-san!

I have become used to all the procedures now, but learning all of them on my very first day was a lot to remember! In addition to these rules, there are many formalities it is rude to do or not to do in the dorm. For example, you cannot wear your pajamas to the shower room or dining hall and you must say different Japanese phrases for when you arrive or leave the dormitory and when you take or return food trays from the dining hall. It’s a lot to learn in a short amount of time, but now that I am getting the hang of it, all the procedures and formalities seem much less daunting! I have also made a few friends in the dormitory who can speak English. Just a couple of interns like me and one other Japanese university student. I didn’t realize how nice it would be to have someone to fluently speak English with until I got to Japan where so few people can understand what I am saying! I’m off to the dormitory breakfast now. Until next time!

Tags Home, Osaka

Asia Japan Travel

Making Japan Feel Like Home

Post author By Chloe Kirk
Post date January 26, 2018
No Comments on Making Japan Feel Like Home

When I first arrived at the dormitory I was about to spend the next half of the year in, and had dragged all my suitcases upstairs, I was unsure how to react to my new room.

Before landing in Japan, I was told close to nothing about my living conditions other than it was an all women dormitory. While there was a closet, desk, TV, bedding and shelves, the TV was only in Japanese with no English subtitles, I didn’t see any mattress on my bed and the room itself was tiny. I was only given a brief five minutes being shown around my dorm room before heading back for an afternoon and evening full of activities.

Despite having very little time between work and traveling to be in my dorm room, I have begun to turn it from a tiny inconspicuous room into something I can see myself living in happily for the following months

Shopping at the DAISO for bedroom goodies

I have also learned to appreciate my room much more than I first did upon arrival and all my initial qualms with the room are now put to ease. While the TV does not have subtitles, I am never home long enough to use it and if I want to watch TV I just watch Netflix on my laptop. A mattress was given and, although not as thick as I am used to, it provides an excellent place to sleep after being on the move for 13 hours straight. And the room is still small, but it allows for it to be heated faster and less space to decorate!

Beyond making my room more homely, I have been learning Japanese in my downtime as well as trying to figure out the train system in Osaka to help myself become more like a local. Every day going off to work I feel a little bit less like an outsider, having to look up one less time than the day before to figure out what stop I’m at or adding a couple more Japanese phrases to my vocabulary to use at work. Maybe some people would say I’m being overly optimistic for only my third week in Japan and perhaps next week I’ll feel the negative effects of culture shock hit me again, but right now putting in the extra effort is helping to make Japan feel like home.

Tags Dormitory, Home, Osaka

Asia Japan Travel

15 Hour Jet Lag

Twenty four hours and 6,159 miles later I am sitting on a bed in a hotel room questioning whether it is worth it to get up and shower or just fall asleep right here. It’s only 6PM in Japan but it feels like 3AM for me. Everything is numb from traveling for so long and despite only eating barely edible airplane food and gummy bears for the past day I am not hungry at all.

The company I am working with was unable to pick me up directly after my flight because I flew in late but it worked out great so I had some time to rest first. The hotel I am staying at for the night couldn’t be more perfect for a night of rest before beginning the next five months of my life on the opposite side of the world. They provided everything you could possibly desire for a night in a hotel after traveling and then more including a four step face wash kit, a personal back massager, bath robe and slippers. All of this has convinced me to take a bath so I can appreciate these amenities while I had them.

It hasn’t hit me yet that I am in a different country so far away from all my family and friends. All my mind can think is sleep. I have so much to do but no energy to do it in so I think my best plan is to relax. I just have to keep reminding myself that while being in a foreign country seems daunting, I will survive and enjoy it because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I am thankful I safely arrived and am excited to see where the rest of the week leads once I am well rested.

Goodnight.

Tags Osaka, travel

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