Tokyo Recap

I don't actually have a lot to post today.  I woke up in Tokyo, ate a hotel breakfast and caught a bus to Haneda Airport, then flew back to Nagasaki and went in to the office for about two hours, and finally made it home.  I realized that the small handful of cash I brought with me is dwindling and I still don't know for sure when or how I'm getting paid - I checked my bank account balance (here) and I haven't gotten a direct deposit yet, so there's the potential that this job is actually just an unpaid internship or possibly considered community service.  Luckily all my boarding and utility bills are paid for by the company, so I don't have to worry about not having electricity or internet by which to blog.  Still, I find myself wishing that the meat I bought right before going to Tokyo for a week was in the freezer instead of the fridge.  I think the talking ATM started crying for me at the end of my balance check.

I would like to mention that the whole Trade Show Exhibition experience was a blast.  I got to wear a suit every day and pretend like I knew what I was doing, and I got to see approximately one bajillion people.

As I think I said before, I went across the hall at the Tokyo Big Site to check out the NanoTech convention going on there.  All kinds of really small things abounded, but the interesting thing was that most countries or world regions had country-centric "pavilions" set up so that the businesses and technology from their country could be represented all together and promote that country's advances and capabilities.  By far the biggest and most popular one was Germany.  They had a huge pavilion with bright orange accents, and it was really popular because they were giving away free beer.  Much smaller but nearly as popular was the Australia pavilion (for some reason specifically Victoria), because they were giving away free wine.  Then there were Spain and Italy, both beautiful pavilions and giving away coffee and espresso, and a few other countries around the world who had very pretty and inviting pavilions with lounge tables and private meeting rooms.  South Korea had a large pavilion that was very clean and very high tech but all business.

Unfortunately, the United States was represented by a cluster of booths that very closely resembled Detroit, other than the fact that the majority of them said at the top "Illinois."  Come on U.S.!  Where's your pride!?  I expected a full casino, a 1:2 scale-model of the MagLev New York City of the Future, a bunch of Playboy Bunnies on souped-up motorcycles wearing nothing but jet-skis, and at LEAST free moonshine.  But no, I think they were trying to sell rust or something.  So if anyone knows any NanoTech firms in the U.S. tell them to get their rears in gear with flashy booths and futuremusic.

And since people like blogs with pictures, here's a picture of my bathroom: