Day 21

Hello dear readers!

I left Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology today. I stayed 3 weeks, I thought it's long when I left Japan, but it was too short for me. I didn't want to go back to Japan, I wanted to go to new area like I have never seen. My study abroad was great experience. I could go through many things. For example culture, trips, meet many friends, and so on. I appreciate to give me many great experiences. Friends, professors, and US, Thank you very much!

Day 20

Hello all readers,

I made a workshop to make a geiger counter on one week ago. (Day 12)

I told how to make a geiger counter.
I can't forget this experiment!

I made the workshop, but I couldn't held it not corporate this university's people. I appreciate them really.
And it is not finish about this schedule. I made a geiger counter in Kobe last year, I could connect so many people and make great experiment. Safecast project is so good, but it don't spread in US, so I hope to make another story with my geiger counter and spread this project. After the workshop, I told vice-president of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology that the workshop and the idea about donate my geiger counter to this university. Then he told me that recommend to meet with Richard E. Stamper, Ph.D. After that, I could meet him and donate my geiger counter to Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He was very grad about it.

Left man is Richard E. Stamper, Ph.D.
My geiger counter became symbol, which show friendly between Japan & USA.

Safecast team held the 4th Anniversary of Safecast and the 1st Safecast Conference.

This is a poster of the conference.
I spoke on this conference.

1st Safecast Conference is held in Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture. I attended it and spoke about our workshop or activity of University of Aizu students by using an Internet telephone. I was nervous but other member said "it was good!", I was happy when I heard it.

Red circle inside me!
This conference is held in Koriyama, Fukushima prefecture.

I heard this conference used by the Internet Telephone.

Day 19

Hello all readers,

We did presentations, which introduce about Japan. First group introduced about Japanese culture. That presentation was very wonderful, we could learn with a fun about Japanese culture. Second group introduced about AizuWakamatsu-city. That city has so many features. My home town is Kobe, so I could know more about it. Final group was our team. Our team had a tutor who was Mike, he is very kindly and reliable man. He told our group how to introduce about university, what topic is important to introduce, and how to use true grammar or something. It was thanks to his advice that I succeeded. After that, we gave gifts from this university. It looks like a graduation certificate. It were very good souvenirs for me.

Day 18

Hello all readers,

Japan Day was held today! I told any students about Japanese culture. Many students of this university had interested in Japan. They were listening about our telling it. I told about how to make with origami.

Origami lecture was held.
It was so fun!

 I learned about origami yesterday, so I could tell them. They exactly made a crane, a cherry blossom, and so on with origami. Sang, who is a friend from this event, made a crane, and give me it! I was very happy, so I made a Kabuto, which is a helmet to use battle in Japan until edo period. He was glad, too. It was very good event for me!

We exchanged own work with origami.
His crown was very good!

Day 17

Hello all readers,

We prepared a presentation & a Japan day on today. Japan day is to introduce about Japanese culture. We made something with origami. I used origami after a long time, so I don't remember how to make anything with origami. Japan day is held tomorrow, so I introduced to Rose-Hulman's student about Japanese culture. We are thinking that we will give to origami, which is made by our, and introduce about how to make with origami.

Preparation of origami lecture.
Origami is interesting!

And we prepared a presentation, which Japanese students will speak about our country on Thursday. Our group introduce about University of Aizu. My teacher told about our topic is very important because that presentation suggest to enter to our university. I tried hardly to prepare it!

Day 16

Hello dear readers!

Today had a great event for Japanese and other countries people. We held Japanese food party today. We made groups, and those groups made one dishes, which is Japanese traditional food. Our group cooked Okonomi-yaki. We went to buy many materials to cook Okonomi-yaki, and we cooked at our dormitory. I cooked it in Japan at past, but I couldn't get to need to cook materials because there wasn't Japan. So we cooked not only Okonomi-yaki but also Okonomi-yaki sauce and so on. We used flying pans and many goods, which we could get any goods in US and share with our roommate.

So many materials for the party!

 Then we managed to finish to cook. Suddenly, we bring many those things. Students on rose-hulman enjoyed our Japanese dinner. I was happy because we heard those expression. After the dinner, we talk with friends and play the games. I was very glad to be able to spend enjoyable time:)

This picture is the Japanese dinner party.
Many kinds of Japanese foods is there in this picture.

We played arm fights!

Day 15

Hello all readers,

I went to Chicago today. We rode a chartered bus at 6:30, and we left our dormitory. We arrived Chicago by the bus after 3.5 hours. At first, I went to The Museum of Science and Industry. That museum was so big, so I was very surprised!

The Museum of Science of Industry
This museum was so big!

We could look any exhibitions of museum. I could look so big submarine, which is U505 submarine. We could look not only a model ship but also items of crews in those day.

I could see a so big submarine model.
We can understand the huge size from left side's people in this picture.

And we could find a model of enigma. It showed very complex order, and I thought that Alan Mathison Turing was an amazing person.

This picture is the model enigma.

After that, I want to any area in the museum. Especially I was interesting, "what if" corner. That area displayed any works of an amazing alive people.

For example Bruno Maisonnier.
He is famous by pepper, which sell by SoftBank.
His TED speak is here.

After we left that museum, we went to walk around Chicago city. Chicago is the third-largest in the United States. I could see any high buildings.

Buildings around buildings.

I wanted to look around this city sight from high level of building, so I went to the 97th flour of a high building. That sight was very good. I was happy today was good whether.

I took this pictures. It was very good sight!
We can see the so big lake of left side.

After we walked around this city, I went to eat today's dinner. Today's dinner was so big pizza. My buddy told me "Chicago's pizza is so thick, so people call the pizza 'Chicago pie' ". Its pie was delicious for me, but I was full by only two slices of the pizza. 

This picture is "Chicago Pie".
It have so much cheese!

It was very good trip for me:)

Day 14

Hello all readers,

I went to a curry restaurant to eat today's dinner. It was very yummy because we could eat curry, which included many spices, and nan bread. We enjoyed to eat those things and talk with any friends.

It was very yummy!!
It was the first time to eat curry in US.

After that, I went to listen to the Engineer concert in Hatfield Hall tonight. That concert didn't have the category. We could watch so many kinds of music or dances in that concert. For example jazz musics, a classical music, a string guitar, ballets, a country music, and so on. At first of the concert, the Jazz band started to play. That music was very strong music. I was overwhelmed to that music.

At first of the concert I watched a Jazz music.

We could listen any music. I liked to listen the country music because I could feel American atmosphere. It was very good concert for me!

This concert program.
The concert have many kinds of music!

An example of country music.

Day 13

Hello all readers,

I introduce about my courage school life in US. I always wake up at 6AM, and preparation for today's class or something. After that, I go to a gym of this university to swim. I often swim about 90 minutes. It's very comfortable for me, and it give me an energy to try hard today.

This picture is the swimming pool!
It's very very deep.

At 8 AM, I go to cafeteria to eat breakfast with my friends. This university's breakfast is eating as much as one likes and we can pickup foods which I wanna eat. It's yummy, but there are heavier meal than Japanese breakfast. So I don't need a lunch from when I come to US.

This picture is a breakfast. A lot of foods...

After good breakfast, I attend classes. I take 3 class, which are Calculus III, Music History, and Introduce of Software Engineering. The classes are easily to understand about class contents because I have ever studied, but of course these classes are in English. I try to hard to understand what teacher talks about or students ask.

This picture is a class of software.
We can learn Python 3.x.

After that classes, special event of that day start. Today's special event is to go to shopping with my roommate. He is a very kindly man, who is from Ohio. We went to a clothing store, and Walmart. Especially Walmart is very common store in US. I bought necessary life goods today. After those events, I often go to Gym to run. American foods is very heavy, so I have to do any exercises, and I can sleep very well. Good night!

I took this picture near university in evening.

Day 12

Hello dear readers,

I made a workshop of to make bGeigie Nano, which is a geiger counter of radiation level, today. I brought a kit of bGeigie and a soldering iron from Japan, but I didn't remember solder to bring from Japan. So I told Ray Bland, who is a biology and biomedical Engineering professor of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, and got much solder from him. I appreciate him kindness.

This picture is a bGeigie Nano

This workshop joined two this university's students and one Japanese student. I supposed that we need 4 hours to make it, but we mistook a position of soldering. So we need more time to complete to make it. Today we could make it in a half-finished state. We'll try to finish to make it next time!

I taught how to make a bGeigie Nano

He was very well soldering!

Kobe, which is my beautiful hometown, had a too big disaster of an earthquake on Jan/17/1995, and I'm studying at university of Aizu, which is Fukushima prefecture. Fukushima had a too big disaster and unfortunate accident of nuclear power plants, so I'd like to act any thing. I had met the safecast project in this situation. I had made bGeige Nano in Kobe IT Festival's workshop. It was a very exciting experiment. I had measured to use bGeige Nano near Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and or Minami-Souma city on last year.

It's me. We can see Fukushima I Nuclear on the behind.

I had appeared on a documentary of NHK World. It was introduced what's safecast projects, why do we join this project, and about citizen science. It was very good documentary, I'd like to get to know this project so many people and watch it at least once if you can a chance to watch the documentary.

This is one scene of the documentary of NHK World.
This one is the workshop at Kobe IT Festival.

I'll donate two bGeigies. One is for this university friends who helped me to held this workshop. Its bGeigie is making now. Other one is for this university. It was made by me in Kobe workshop. I hope to connect it will make next another drama.


URL:
Safecast: http://blog.safecast.org/

Day 11

Hello all readers,

I borrowed a bicycle from the gym of university, and went to the stores of Terre Haute today. I'd like to buy a swimsuit to swim at the gym, so I and Mikio went to the sports store which I found by Google map. Google map showed its store was near from university, but it have so many steep grade and too far from university! We rode on a bicycle for about 1 hour one way, so we were very tired when we went back to university.

It's a bicycle which I borrowed.
It was double gear bicycle!

Day 10

Hello all readers,

I watched a drama in Hatfield Hall, which is a concert hall of this university. That was by mask theatre troupe MUMMENSCHANZ. The mask theatre troupe MUMMENSCHANZ impresses me by its unique, inaudible art form that transcends language and culture. New York Times commented that “Witty madness…dazzling and delightful.” That performance was very interesting and thought-provoking matter. They performed not to use sound, it was only expression by items. A human didn't appear on the stage, mysterious and funny characters appeared the all time.

MUMMENSCHANZ preformed at rose-hulman institute technology

URL:
http://www.mummenschanz.com/de/

Day 9

Hello all readers,

Today is first Sunday for our. We don't have any class today, so we have a lot of free time. We gathered and we played the games, for example table games, card games, and puzzles. I have never played that board game, so my American friend told me about rules and technique for win. And we played the Japanese card game. We told the rules and we played that. It was very fun. That was dream time for me. Today's dinner was held American dinner party at Kisha's house. She is our English learning tutor. She prepared so many chickens and pies. That were yummy. We could eat so many American foods and talk different culture about foods. 

Everyone were playing the table game!

Day 8

Hello dear readers,

Today we went to Indianapolis. We arrived an hour by a big bus. Indianapolis is the capital and most populous city of U.S. state of Indiana, so we could see the big streets, the big buildings, and so many people!

This picture is Indianapolis
I have never visited there

We visited a shopping mall, and we ate the big pizza at first. American pizza is very delicious than Japanese one, so I'm careful to be fat. After that, we visited Lucas Oil Stadium. That's so big stadium!

And we visited the courthouse of Indianapolis. There were monuments, which is made sculpture. There was a monument of George Washington.

This building was the courthouse.
I had never seen the gorgeous luxurious courthouse!

 When we exit to street, we found ice cream & chocolates store and enter the store for a 3pm break. I ate double ice creams. That was too sweet ice cream, so I could drink so much water after eating. We visited a tall tower after the break. We could choice that we pay the money to up the tower or we don't pay to do. If we don't pay the money, we have to up a lot of stars. If we pay the money which is $2, we could raid the elevator. I'd like to raid the elevator, but I selected not to pay way because I ate a big pizza and too sweet double ice cream! So I went up the stars, which was 329 steps and it was very big one step, and I succeed to go up the tower. Its sight was very very beautiful for me. When we went down the tower, I selected to go down the stairs because I'd like to get physics active not to fat.

This is the tower

It's tower of inside

URL:
http://www.lucasoilstadium.com

Day 7

 Hello all readers

I went to a restaurant with all Japanese exchange students and buddies tonight. My buddy said that I let you take a restaurant, which is no restaurant in Japan. We ride friend's cars and visit shopping mall because that shop is in that shopping mall. We had a free time, so we visited a grocery store, and a pet shop. The grocery store have very cheap items. We can buy so many snacks! When we went to a pet shop, we can see some pets. For example cats, American lizard, and tarantulas. Especially that tarantulas scared me. After that we went to the purpose shop. That shop seems a sports bar for me, but its restaurant because so many people sat and ate a lot of buffalo wings, which were the restaurant's special foods. We could select many spicy level. I selected middle level wings, it's not too hot. But I could eat the highest level's wings which is ordered by Kazutoshi. That was too hot, and I hurt my tongue. Today is very fun day for me:)

Its picture is the buffalo wings, which is the restaurant in U.S.
There had so many TVs which shows the sports games.

Day 6

 Today was rainy. I couldn't watch the weather news, so I was sad because yesterday was very good sunny day.

 I think today's blog topic is Sports Festival for exchange students on yesterday. Yesterday, a sports festival was held on jim of university. We played the games of a kickball, a dodge ball, and a frisbee. I was very fun thats games, and I could make so many friends through thats game. I noticed that I talk    in Japanese too frequently to get chance to talk in English. My university's professor said "No pain, No gain". I thought that it was very feeling easily that I talk Japanese friends in Japanese, but that was a waste of good chance, so I decided that I'll try to hardly talk with U.S. friends from today!!

Its picture is my dormitory in rose-hulman institute of technology.
I'm staying in East hall. (Left side man is Mikio, Right side man is Nicholas)

Day 5

 Today was sunny. I couldn’t trust of Yesterday’s cold wether. I stood the lake on yesterday, but that lack solved the surface. It was so hot day.

Today was very sunny day.

 Sunny day was very good for animals, not only humans. I could meet so many kinds animals on this university. Especially squirrels are so many on it. Almost squirrels escaped when people try to approach, but a few squirrels did not escape. It was very cute, but a little too fat, I thought.

Day 4

 Today’s morning is very humid, so I couldn’t see around. Aizu had often same situation, but today’s humid was more. It was rain at the first time on US. I had visited Las Vegas on last summer, but there was on a desert so I had never fit in rain on US. It gave me fresh mind.

 After that, I woke around a rake in university. This university have big lakes. I visited the near biggest lake on the university. Thats lake’s surface was frozen, so I tried to stand the surface. I could stand that! It was a very amazing experience for me.

Today was very humid day.

Day 3

 I attended a class of music history. I studied music history, so it was easy for me. But that’s teacher was very aggressive for class, so it was so interesting class!
 Exchange students can also use many instructions of this university, so we went to jim. This jim have many instructions. I tried sports cramming. It was difficult sports, but I could play it! I played racket ball next time. I didn't play game because I didn't know the rule of that game. But I was teached the rule by my friend on Rose-Hulman University, and we play it.

Day 2

 I arrived Rose-Hulman University yesterday. But I cannot do anything because I arrived midnight. So our study abroad start from today. At first, I ate breakfast in cafeteria. I can eat many kind of foods. There are some egg foods, meats, and breakfast cereal. I ate delicious that American foods. Of course, there are not Japanese foods, for example miso-soup, or rice. I got a little worried when I ate a lot of foods and sweet drink. Next, I heard the introduction of this university. I felt so big this university, but a guy told me that this university is very small at US. This story is an incredible for me.

 I and Kazutoshi (my Japanese partner) talked to take classes in this exchange schedule at this afternoon. We decided classes, which were calculus, music history, and software class. We heard that calculus class is easy to understand than calculus class of University of Aizu. So we attended the class suddenly, and we noticed that story was truth. But we learned the contents of this class of Rose-Hulman in our high school era, so we thought we can understand easily.

 Cookie party is held for strengthen culture exchange between exchange students and students of this university at this evening. I met my baddy, who is helper for me, for the first time. He told me kindly about himself and he heard about me. After that we enjoyed the game.

Day 1

The man is Chicago university's professor for statistics. He was very kindly to listen my story.  For example why do I come to US, where will we go, and what will we do? I can't answer actually and I can't talk verbal in English, but he listen carefully and said "oh, your study abroad's schedule is very good". It's made me very happy and I'm looking forward to live in Rose-Hulman Institute of technology. 

It's amazing city. I have never seen the beautiful line of city. Its line is small common for Chicago's people, but it's a big special thing for me, who is a Japanese university student. Maybe we(Japanese) have a special things, which is common things, for foreign people, I thought when I looked the beautiful town. 

I realized to live a small world. They are very kindly. My English is very very poor. But they hear sincerely. So I want to get next level to talk very verbal in English only three weeks.