Week 7: Research Centre Open House!

Another beautiful week in Sapporo!

It has finally stopped raining and now it is HOT! It really feels like summer here. All week, all I could think about was trying to find a lake to go swimming! Apparently there are a few options nearby, but none of them are accessible by train or by bus, so it looks like I might be out of luck. Apparently there are a few public pools nearby (my friend's daughter takes swimming lessons a few times a week) so maybe I'll try to find one of them soon. Because I only learned to swim a few years ago, I want to make sure that I haven't forgotten how :p

Other than that fact that there are now fewer caterpillars and a LOT more butterflies, not a whole lot is new here. I have seen a LOT of critters this week! I saw a deer by the greenhouse at school - I wanted to go and check on my plants, but there was a young deer standing by the door!! I decided not to disturb him, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture. Then, the next day, I walked into a HUGE spiderweb that an equally huge spider had spun across the doorway to the same greenhouse ;__; I know that it belonged to a huge spider because he (she?) was still in the web. I'm lucky that I'm short because if I was any taller he probably would have fallen on me, in which case I think I would have started running.. and swimming.. and probably would have ended up back in Canada. My temporary neighbour (a visiting scientist who was working in my lab for about two weeks) told me that he caught an ENORMOUS spider in his room (which was directly next to mine) so now I am hyper-vigilant for spider intruders. Also, a minute ago, one of the huge crows just tried to come in my open window!! I am very glad that there is a screen. Actually, maybe if I have a crow for a pet, he can eat any spiders that are foolish enough to visit me. I have heard rumors about a feral cat or two wandering around here, so I might try to catch one of them. Maybe that will keep both spiders AND crows at bay! Jim and Luke would be so happy if I bring them home a feral brother to play with!

In other news, I was chatting with my Chinese labmate the other day and I complimented him on his excellent Japanese (and his equally excellent English) and asked him how he learned so quickly, and he told me that he took lessons before coming here, but that his wife learned Japanese from a group of volunteers here in Sapporo! He sent me a link to the group... their hours are a bit restricted (which is definitely understandable, since they are volunteers), but I think I might try to go next weekend. I STILL have not really been working on my kanji (although I have found time to read up to the fifth Harry Potter book...) so it would probably be good to have a little bit of an outside push to learn some Japanese.

In terms of fun and exciting things, on Saturday there was an open house at the research station where I work. It was sort of like a mini-College Royal. I attended with my labmate and her daughter because we were curious about what kids of research other people are up to in our backyard. It was pretty fun - we got to guess at the mass of sugar produced in a sugar beet, and we tried some rice noodles made from a rice variety developed at this research station. There was a "breath test" to see how quickly you could spin a wind gauge, and they gave you a certificate with your max speed on it; I did the test because I thought the folder was cute and I wanted one, but I spelled my own name wrong in katakana for the certificate LOL. Luckily I don't think the people running the booth noticed.. and I suppose my name COULD be Ringe...

Ringe's hard-earned folder.

 We went on a bus tour and saw all of the sheep and cows that live here. My friend's daughter also did a DNA extraction from broccoli and did a milk taste test. My dairy farmer pal in Guelph would have been pretty impressed with the focus on milk quality here, even though I still haven't seen even a single blue cow!

Surprisingly rare in Japan.

After we were finished with the open house, my labmate invited me to have some lunch with her family. We usually eat together while we are oot and aboot, but this was the first time that we cooked together. They made some potatoes with onions and carrots and a nice cabbage salad, and I made some miso soup and bannock. It was a very international lunch / dinner but it turned out delicious! After we ate, my labmate's husband gave us a dry run of a concert that he's preparing for. Have I mentioned that he is a professional guitar player at the conservatory in Bulgaria? So this concert was AMAZING. I should be able to get his youtube profile or soundcloud or something soon to share, because he is really an incredible talent and his music is beautiful. The only thing that could have possibly followed this beautiful music was a bunch of old Donald Duck / Chip and Dale cartooons that I watched on youtube with my labmate's daughter. 

I'm a little sad to be missing out on Canada Day... Canada Day in Guelph was always pretty tame compared to Ottawa, but I have a feeling that it will be even less of a big deal in Sapporo :p I am thinking of making some mini Beaver Tails to bring to school (veganized, of course). Actually, "real" Beaver Tails are vegan if you ask them to leave off the butter (which they only use to stick on the topping) and if you choose a vegan topping (i.e. not cheese or chocolate).. at least they were as of a few years ago, according to the Beaver Tails head office when I emailed them a few years ago to ask. Maybe I'll wear my Sens jersey to school. I have an old Redden jersey that, I have realized, I have worn for much longer than Redden ever did LOL.  Happy Canada Day!