Japanese classes

This was my first real week of Japanese classes. They are quite intense (about 3 hours each Monday, Tuesday, and Friday), but the instructors are quite helpful and my classmates are very friendly. I have classmates from Egypt, Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia, and China. They are mostly researchers and post-docs, although some are entering Ph.D. programs at Kyoto University (no mathematicians, but one transplant surgeon). One woman will be studying three years before she returns to her husband in Malaysia!

As a side note, you may have heard people tell you that Japan is an honest and safe place to live. They aren't joking! My first class was on Tuesday, and it was raining. I left my umbrella in a stand outside the building. During my class, the rain stopped and it was a sunny afternoon when I left. So of course I left my umbrella in the stand. On Tuesday. On Wednesday, it rained. On Thursday it rained. On Friday morning, I went to my class -- and my umbrella was still there!

I'll be traveling to Tokyo for my orientation seminar on Monday. I only get about 48 hours in Tokyo, but I do get to ride the nozomi there.