It’s early Tuesday morning here, and it’s pouring out – has been all night, which actually made for some nice sleeping background sound.
Yesterday was a great day. We toured OKI data electronics factory, where we once again got to don funny plastic coverings on our shoes, and we once again got to laugh at Todd, who’s feet are too big to fit into any of the slippers or footwear that we have to wear. We also saw Waseda University, which is in the city of Honjo (which is where I’ve been living with my first host family), which is used as a film studio and production center for a lot of the filmmaking that’s done here in Japan. We got to see a set and also a lot of the computers and soundboards where they “make the magic happen”. It was actually very cool.
Later, after a Binto Box for lunch (which I hear was very good, but was fish-laden, so I can tell you the rice and miso were great!), we met with the Mayor of Honjo City. We were treated like royalty – given floweres and gifts, and photos were taken. Governor Beshear had made the Mayor a Kentucky Colonal, so we presented him with that certificate. It was very nice, and he, of course, referenced Colonal Sanders!
We also toured a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility later in the day – sadly, no free samples were provided.
Last night, my host father had some kind of business meeting, so he had Luis, who works in his office, take me out to dinner. Luis is in his 20′s and speaks very good English, so it was a really fun dinner and an oportunity to get questions answered that I’d been afraid to ask others. We went to a do-it-yourself hibachi-esque place, which was great, and then we played pool after. It was a very fun night out.
I have to get ready for the day, so I should hop off. But I really want to chat about going to a mall the other day, so I’ll try to log back on tonight.
Until next time…
