We Made It!

Well, here we are in Okinawa, Japan after a 13 hour flight to Tokyo and a three hour flight to Okinawa. The trip was uneventful, but very long. We were greeted at the airport by Jamie Reimer (the professor I will be working with) and six of his lab members. We are staying at the University Guest House, which is essentially a nice hotel room. Jamie and all of his lab (he has 12 students!) have been super helpful and friendly.

Day number one consisted of a tour of campus (we're sort of getting the hang of where everything is now), a lot of paperwork, ordering an inkan (signature stamp, apparently White-o is not a common Japanese name), and eating sashimi (raw tuna) in the cafeteria...the best cafeteria food on earth (we plan to eat there often). Contrary to everything we were told, prices are very reasonable here. It is often less expensive to eat out than to buy groceries. The bonus trip was to the clinic to get Kris some antibiotics for the bacterial infection she acquired on the whirlwind tour before leaving the states. Jamie had to fill out all of the paperwork in Japanese and then translated what the doctor was saying. Sitting in a dentist-type chair surrounded by strange instruments and three nurses, the doctor was very intrigued by her condition. He pulled out picture books and spoke with Jamie in Japanese while Kris looked on. Talk about getting to know your new boss! We got the medicine needed and will have to go back for a checkup next week.

On day number two we took a holiday. Nate is essentially a member of the lab, as he went SCUBA diving with the others at Manza, a beautiful reef off the cliffs in the middle of the island. Kris just went for a swim because of her infection. Later we watched a seminar about barnacle sex and then went to dinner at a traditional Japanese restaurant. Sitting on the floor, eating whatever Jamie ordered for us, and drinking 100 yen ($1) beers for about three hours.

On day number three we set up Kris' office and spent an hour at the bank exchanging US dollars for Yen. Several of the bills were unreadable by their exchange machine, so if you visit, make sure to exchange ALL of your money at the airport. We then spent about two hours at the cell phone store trying to get phones via translators. At first it seemed relatively simple...just as in the states. However, our address was not on our alien registration paperwork, so they would not give us cell phones despite hours of discussion about it. The Japanese way is to be very polite, so rather than just tell it like it is, they prefer to smile and go around in circles for quite some time. Later, Nate and Kris walked into town and got Tacos Rice at the local Taco King. It was delicious! Essentially a taco on rice instead of a taco shell. On the way back to the guest house we spotted the giant fruit bats flying overhead. They are as big as ravens! Super cool.

Today we are going to look for an apartment, which I am sure will prove to be an interesting experience! More to come...