More Data!

 I don't have many responsibilities on Friday.  That means today I played around with the LabJack from my thermometer post.  Instead of messing with temperature readings, I played around with a photodiode and light sensing.  

 

This also let me try out my serial port on the DAQ.  The breakout card (thing with the rows of white labels) was purchased from Winford Engineering, a company in Auburn, MI of all places for.  For the non-Michigan readers, it is very close to both Saginaw and Midland.  It cost $35.  Most other sources were selling the same thing for between $50-100.  It was gratifying to know I can get these sorts of things from a small company right near the school.  In any case...

I managed to get the thing to detect me getting up, walking past the sensor, turning on the second overhead room light, and walking past the sensor again to sit down.  The sensor was aimed straight up, and I stayed about 2 feet away.

I am very pleased with this.  I played some games with averaging multiple readings and whatnot.  I can easily collect data every 20 ms (100 times a second), reduce that by a factor of 4 by averaging points and arrive at a noise level on the order of 0.5% of the signal.  I tried to collect data faster, but ran into what I think is the fluorescent light flicker causing more noise.  It would be interesting to see if I can observe that.

One issue I've had the past few years is making a reasonable light sensor for collecting data.  Yes, I can buy one for a few hundred dollars.  And, yes, we have some from PASCO that could be used.  But the PASCO ones are not great, are expensive, and require proprietary software.  In addition, the software must have some "secret sauce," as Chris calls it, cooked into it.  Much of the data we get from it is too clean and consistent.  When we modify an experiment using the same PASCO equipment but a slightly different way of collecting the data, we get more noise.  I don't understand what it's doing, which means I can't really troubleshoot it.  Nor can I feel fully confident in the data. 

By using the LabJack (or some other generic DAQ card), Python, and less expensive parts I can create more experiments and more flexible experiments.  Plus, I know what I'm doing to get the data.  I can make deliberate changes that "break" things so I understand the experiment.  Adam Savage once said on Mythbusters that the difference between science and screwing around is in science we write stuff down.  That is one component.  The other part of science is the deliberate "breaking" of the experiment or mathematical model so you know the limits.  Sun Tzu quoted the proverb "Know your enemy and know yourself and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."  In science we would say "Know your biases and know your equipment and you will understand the experiment."

That this worked as well as it did with very little equipment is exceptionally encouraging.  It made me wonder if I could take an array of, say, 16 of these and use them as a crude pattern detection system.  Maybe as a model of how a CCD array (like what's in your digital camera) functions.  If that worked, it could be modified to show how rastering allows for more resolution at the expense of time.  It could be a nice student project.  What is really appealing about it is that it can be repeated by multiple students over time.

A regular day

 After the excitement of yesterday, today is a regular sort of affair.  I had two students come to talk with me.  One wants to be a Junior High School English teacher, and the other... well I can't recall what the other said he wanted to do.  Both of them spoke English with enough proficiency that between the two of them we only needed a translator app once or twice over the course of an hour.  Because of this, our conversation ranged from what to do in Tokushima (neither are from here), to video games, to mythology, to skateboard culture, to what restaurants are good.  It was a nice conversation.  I was told that my writing on the board made many students think I must be a math professor.

Then, later in the day another student came by to chat some.  It was another good conversation.  Belonging to the group is a big deal.  He does not want to belong.  I understand where he's coming from.

He was surprised that I do pushups every day, that I play video games, I am lazy about work - a number of things.  I think many students have an idea of what a professor is like.  In some ways I fit that notion and in other ways I'm very much not who they think.

It's good, though.

Thao also came to talk with me.  Just to chat about nothing at all.  I told her about this recurring dream I've had the past week where I get bit by a black widow.  It was probably seeded by my encounter with the huntsman on Saturday.  Last night was the first night I didn't dream much.  What's strange is at home I rarely remember dreams.  Vivid dreams are even less frequent.  Here, though, I've had active dreams almost every night.  Today it occurred to me that this is probably a good thing.  Dreams help your brain organize the new experiences and emotions from the day.  Instead of being frustrated or worried about the dreams, I can say they are an indication that I'm experiencing so many new things.

This is the way of the world, I guess.

Syntax without Semantics

 Well, friends and neighbors, today was the Welcome Ceremony.  The gifts were a success, and I was given some very nice ones as well.  Here are what I presented to the Chairperson, President, and Vice President.

Each person seemed to like what he got.  And the fact that they are 3d printed was appreciated.  The Vice President was given the blue tensegrity table.  At first there was confusion until I set it upright.  Then there was amazement at it "floating" there.  Just what I hoped would happen.  There was some discussion of how these were made and designed.  I worried quite a lot, but it all worked out well.

I was presented with a good deal of Shikoku University swag.  A nice pencil case, a shopping bag (extremely important here), a travel pouch, and an insulated thermos.  I am very appreciative of them because each will be very useful here and at home.

The other thing was a speech ("greeting from Exchange Professor" is how Yuko wrote it on the schedule for me).  I did something Susan said she hadn't seen another exchange professor do.  I gave the last paragraph of the speech in Japanese.  To sort it out I wrote it in English, then used Google Translate, Microsoft Translator, and DeepL to take it to Japanese.  Then, to make sure, I took each of the Japanese translations and ran them back to English in a different translator.  I made tweaks until all three converged on nearly identical translations.  Then I practiced about 30 times.  Jen knew I was doing this and Yuko knew.  That was it.  I kept it a secret because everyone here is doing so much to make sure I am comfortable and taken care of.  I thought the least I could do was try to speak the language.

I avoided saying anything obscene by accident.  That was a major worry.  So many words in English can be mispronounced as profanities.  I don't know if this is true of Japanese.  To ease my nerves about this Yuko told me the Chinese word for "light" as in the opposite of "heavy" is a profanity in Japanese.  But everyone knows it does not mean this in Chinese, so they interpret it as "not heavy."  Even though she would not tell me what it means in Japanese.

An important lesson I was reminded of is a person can say words without really knowing what they are saying.  This was odd in a way because I know what I said.  I can even identify the parts of speech used in the different places.  I practiced until I was comfortable, though far from fluent.  Still, at times I was making sounds without understanding what the sounds meant.  I would have failed the Chinese Room test for consciousness.  But I know (or at least I believe) I am fully conscious.  Rather appropriately, this was on my mind as I rehearsed and while I was speaking.

Enough of that.  Back to grading some papers, then I'll take my daily bike ride.

A Short Update

 I didn't post until now today because I was busy working on my speech for tomorrow.  That and meeting with students.  And talking with Yuko.  And Thao.  And Susan.  Robert, too.  Oh, and Mark and I confirmed we're going hiking on Sunday.  And I worked on my other class tomorrow.

So... Yes.  That's what I did today.

In my class we read an interview with Weird Al Yankovic from 2014.  The major utility there was talking about idioms.  That man loves him some sayings.  Pet peeve, burn bridges, it's an albatross, faux pas, have no beef with, water under the bridge, sartorial.  However, my board writing is pretty good.

I hope this skill carries forward to future semesters.  One thing working in my favor is this is chalk (God's chosen medium) not dry erase (the handiwork of Satan himself, designed to divert you from the path of righteousness).

I'll leave you with that thought.  I hope you are well, wherever you are.

One more class meeting planned

 To make up for missed lectures I have asked the students to visit me in my office.  It's good practice for them to speak and listen.  I also encourage them to use translator apps in here if they are struggling.  What they have to do, though, is read the English and help me pronounce the Japanese.  This way it isn't just used as a shortcut.

One of my students just left and he is very interested in food.  It seems many of them are.  When he learned I like wasabi he was very surprised.  He didn't think Americans would handle eating something that spicy.  

He is in the smaller class and during our conversation it occurred to me that July 6 would be a good day to do American foods.  It is a month away, which gives me time to find ingredients to prepare some dishes.  It is also right after the Fourth, which means I can talk about that holiday.  This is for the Intercultural Communication class - 11 students.  With all my talk about food being an important way for people to understand each other, I feel rather foolish for not thinking of this until now.  I should also think about how to do it for the larger (32 students) Comparative Cultures class.

What I'm going to try to do is make chili and hot dogs so they can try chili dogs.  I'll hunt for some harder cheddar cheese that can be shredded.  That may be the most difficult thing to find.  I am also going to eat at a Mos Burger to see how different Japanese fast food burgers are compared to US versions.  This student had never even seen a bacon cheese burger.  I showed him a picture and he was shocked such a thing existed.  They make the list.  Apple pie (of course) will be served.  I'd also like to make sour cream cookies.  Even though they are less well-known, they are part of my life.

I can't promise anything in particular, but what suggestions do people back home have?  If you were going to serve food to a foreigner who thinks giant hamburgers and fish-and-chips are all there is to American foods, what would you serve?

Leave a comment or send me a message with your thoughts.

Okonomiyaki and yamamomo

 This morning I went grocery shopping.  Fuji Grand's grocery opens at 9 am.  I rode over around 9:15 or so, but I wandered around the mall before most of the other shops were open.  I've been thinking about getting a whiteboard to put on the office door so students can let me know if they stopped by when I was gone.  I found this one, but it's a little off.  (Dad joke game on point.)

I met Brooke and Zoe at Sako train station around noon.  They and I sat in separate places for a few minutes before they found me.  In my defense, how can you not sit on a bench held up by tanuki.  (By the way, I'm fairly confident this is where Super Mario Bros. gets their name tanooki for what we call the racoon suit.)

The three of us went to Bubu's Okonomiyaki shop for lunch.  Bubu is the name of the owner.  He loves having foreigners visit and he enjoys talking.  Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake made with shredded cabbage, flour, water, and egg.  Then it's topped with whatever you like.  The translation of "okonomiyaki" is "as you like it."  Here is Bubu's Facebook link.  I encourage you to check it out.  I'm not on Facebook, so I can't say what it is.

Truth be told, Susan brought me to Bubu's on Thursday, but I didn't tell Brooke and Zoe until we met today.  I didn't want them to feel like I would rather go somewhere else, because after lunch on Thursday I plan to visit Bubu's at least once a week.  The food is fantastic.  It's street food.  Today I had takoyaki - octopus in a fried dough.  

 

I didn't tell anyone else this, but while Bubu and I were talking (he's 72 in October) I thought it might be nice to work my way through his menu.  I don't know if Tami ever ate here, but I will make it a highly recommended stop for future exchange faculty.  He will make vegetarian and vegan dishes which are about impossible to find.  Fish is not really considered meat.

After a wonderful lunch, we went for shaved ice at a small tea shop called Wadanoya at the foot of Mt. Bizan.  You can zoom out and to the north is Shikoku University.  I met Naoko (I fixed the spelling. I think that's her name - Brooke, Zoe, or Susan - if you read this please fix me).  She's an older woman who taught English to future English teachers.  I've had more natto and decided I like it.  "You are the first non-Japanese person I've ever met who said he likes natto."  I aim to be me.

The four of us sat next to a window overlooking a small wooded waterfall.  The store has been in the current building for 400 years.  I opted for the yamamomo flavor.  As an American, you're probably thinking "shaved ice is what we get at the fair."  Yeah...no.

I know.  I need to trim my beard and I need to eat more.  Working on the latter.  The former is less important to me.  The mountain of pale pink is the ice.  The dark red is anko (sweet beans).  The white ball is ice cream.  The red ball is a yamamomo fruit.  There are also two small white (so very hard to see) rice paste balls.  In the white dish to the right of the picture is more syrup for the ice.  I also have cold matcha tea.  Before I ate any, Zoe described yamamomo as "subdued raspberry."  It turns out Zoe knows how to play Accidental Band Names without being aware the game exists.  Subdued Raspberries sounds like a folk band who wants to be kind of hip.  But not too hip, you know?  I digress.

Zoe was right.  The flavor of the syrup is a very understated raspberry.  Like it can't decide if it's going to be sweet or sour or slightly bitter.  That variation makes it very good.  I can imagine using it in a vinaigrette.  The fruit itself tastes more like two strawberries - one is almost too ripe and one it just shy of being ripe.  It seems bizarre, but it works.  I'm not sure if the flavor I had was mostly the fruit or a mixture of the fruit and syrup.  I'd love to try one "out of hand," as they say.

Turns out, like sudachi, yamamomo is very difficult to get outside of Shikoku island.  So, I'm sorry Jen.  I will be trying to grow biwa (loquat), sudachi, and now yamamomo when I return.  I hope that any annoyance you feel because these will have to be in pots in the house through the winter will be offset by thinking about Grandma Vannette (mine, not the boys) calling me a little shit for doing something like this.  I think all of us grandkids on my Dad's side lived to have Grandma Vannette say that to us.  Not because it annoyed her, but because she loved us as she was saying it.

As an aside, Jen loves that I enjoy planting whatever I fancy.  She's never directly said this, but I believe she enjoys the fact that part of me stays 5 years old as I watch a seed sprout, the leaves grow, then a tree forms.  It can be frustrating when it comes to finding places to put the pots such that Tesla will not chew all the leaves.  There is no denying that.  I joke about it, but she is very encouraging of my experiments in planting things, and I'm quite grateful for her.

Alright.  One last thing.  I biked to Sako station and parked my bike there.  We did a lot of walking.  It's much easier to walk and talk than it is to ride a bike and talk.  However, here is the bike parking at the train station.

I cannot pick out my bike from this mess in the picture.  I found it when I left for home, of course, but a lot of people ride bikes here.

Sunny Saturday

 This morning I decided to go for a ride out to Youme Town mall.  I planned to take some pictures to share with everyone here.  But, when I go there they weren't open.  I always forget that nothing really opens before 10 am.

In any case, on my way out I opened the door and a huntsman spider fell right in front of me.  Had I been half a step further out the door it would have landed on me.  These are not dangerous to people, but they are worryingly large.  This one had a body that was about 1.5" long and its legs made it about 4" across.  If you're trying to come up with a scale so you know what I mean, lay your left hand on the table, palm up.  The spider with legs out was as big as my palm.  The body of the spider would have filled that little divot in my palm.  The thing was a little startled and tried running into the apartment.  I cut it off and worked for about a minute to shoo it outside.  I apologize and/or accept your gratitude for not having the wherewithal to take a picture to share.

I rode back to Youme Town once they were open.  First, the direct route from the apartment to this mall is 5.5 km (3.4 miles).  If I had only taken the most direct routes, I rode about 13.6 miles in my 4 legs of the journey.  In fact, I ended up taking a more meandering route, so it's probably reasonable to say I did 15 miles on the bike today.  Second, I like riding in the morning because there is much less wind.  My second trip out there was with the wind blowing in my face almost the whole time.  And this isn't some comfortable breeze.  This is a "flags snapping" sort of wind.  In this light, me feeling tired when I returned this afternoon makes sense.

I'm not terribly comfortable taking pictures with people in the background.  It feels rude, somehow.  Especially if I don't know them.  As such, I only took three pictures.  Here is the outside.

The parking lot is staffed by men directing traffic.  This seems standard for malls as Fuji Grand also has them.   In this picture, the right side of the building is a three or four story parking garage.  The open lot probably has room for about 100-150 vehicles.

This is from inside the mall.  I'm on the second floor.  I don't know how well the people show up, but there are many of them.  Everyone is masked, with very few doing the thing with their nose sticking out.  Some of the stores have modified their entrances such that patrons line up, have a temperature check, get hand sanitizer, then are allowed in.  Others sort of spill into the hallways.  It's rather chaotic, and when I wander around I'm not really certain if I've walked "into" a store sometimes or not.  I've tasked myself with committing 20-30 phrases to memory for next weekend.  I feel kind of out of place, and if I'd pushed myself to do this earlier I would be more comfortable.

When you look at the layout of the mall you can see why it's a bit chaotic.  Whereas most malls I've been to in the US have a main hall with branches running off the sides, this is organized like one of the neighborhoods here.  You have the main road, but the side roads have alleys between buildings.  I took this picture without really thinking about it.  Now I have a better sense of why I've been struggling to remember which way is up.  Maybe this will modify my thinking somewhat.

If I have my bearings correct, the large yellow block on the right of Floor 1 is the grocery store.  That space is about the size of the grocery section at a typical Meijer or Walmart if you've been in one of those.  If you zoom in there you'll see this.

I'm pretty sure the vertical yellow bar with レジ (reji) are the cash registers.  After going through that I've realized this picture may be the most valuable one I've taken here.  It lets me see where the shops are, and I can try to suss out the names of some of them.  There is one called "Alphabet's Alphabet."

On my way back I rode through more agricultural area.  It's still odd to be rolling along with nearly continuous lines of cars in both directions moving 35-40 mph surrounded by convenience stores, car lots, shopping malls, restaurants, 6 lane wide intersections only to turn on a side street and travel for 5 minutes on a bike and end up here.

I took this video as I was straddling the bike.  At the end of it I had to change to rotating just my hand instead of my torso, so I apologize for that.  If you've got the sound on, you can hear the wind blowing as well.  Wind noise is always louder in a video like this than in real life.  I knew the wind was blowing, but didn't really hear it.  Still, I could not hear the cars on the highway that I wasn't more than a 5 minute ride away from.

I know I post a lot about the urban/rural changes.  That's the thing that strikes me as most foreign.  I expected the language, the food, the customs, the traffic, a whole host of things, to be different.  This was the unexpected experience.