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I woke up at 2:30 am today to proctor a make-up final starting at 3 am. Then, the actual final took place starting at 5 am. Then Gabe and I talked some physics at 7 am. After all of my efforts to get my sleep adjusted, I kicked it wonky. That's okay, though, because exams are finished and my son had a chance to talk about his upcoming quiz.
The hotel moved me back to my original room. I spent the time between talking with Gabe and the phone call to move making sure I had everything packed. Once I checked that the 47th time, I sat down and played some Empire at War. After my move, I walked to the 7-11 and picked up food. I have 5 cup noodles.
I try to be quick about making choices, since I am supposed to limit my time around people. It wasn't until I made it to my room that I realized I bought two different brands of the same variety. They give you one pair of chopsticks with a toothpick for each cup purchased. Beginning with tomorrow's post, I will review each noodle bowl. Mainly this is so I can practice associating the writing with the particular type. We'll see how it goes.
As a last note for this post, the University hopes to resume face-to-face instruction on May 10. However, if infection rates in Tokushima stay "high" (yesterday Japan, as a nation, added 3,796 positive cases and over the past week Michigan alone has averaged 4,851 new cases per day), the school will stay remote. I'm reminded of the year an old lab mate from grad school was doing a post-doc in Quebec. The Province wanted to raise tuition charged to students by something like $250 per year. The students were upset and considering a student strike because "we don't want to end up like the US."
One thing to consider is the testing rate. Maybe Japan is not testing enough to catch all of the cases. The positive test rate is 4% here. I have only found national data on Japan, though, so it is not an entirely fair comparison. CovidActNow.org provides state and county level data, and I'm a little lazy about digging for a different source right now. I guess I have another project that can take up part of a day. Hooray for small victories!
I believe I’ve tried the top middle, and it’s quite yummy. I hope your noodle adventures are good. And good luck in school, I hope things are safe in person or remote. I’m sure things will go well either way. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'll try to translate everything I can from the printing. Google Translate's camera scan function does not like the printing on the packages. For the bowl I ate last night (not the one you think you tried) I had to write the characters, but some of them don't quite make it.
DeleteSounds good, I’m excited to follow. Ramen is definitely a guilty pleasure and I’m sure Japan has tons of yummy foods to enjoy as well :)
DeleteYou went to the 7-11 and only bought noodle bowls?!? For other readers, realize that the convenience stores in Japan have MUCH to offer in the way of delicious food, prepared or packaged. They are not like convenience stores in the States.
ReplyDeleteFor one thing, try the awesome latte maker. If you can't figure out how it works, Robert will show you when you get to Tokushima; I think he had multiple of these a day. Or the refrigerated meals. Soooo good.
Yeah. I'm supposed to stay as isolated as possible. They aren't really watching me all that closely, but like I tell students, respecting the rules matters most when it's unlikely you'll get caught.
DeleteSo, I go in, grab stuff, pay, then leave. I haven't seen the latte maker. On my next trip I'll grab something prepared for that day.
I'm glad you got to conference with Gabe. I always had early morning conversations with my family in the three weeks before they arrived. Really made me energized for my day!
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