Update!

It's been a long time since my last post, so I thought I'll keep you up to date with what is happening in Tokyo. Last Saturday, Caspar, Henrik, Mira, Hugo (also all YSEPers) and I decided to have a chill evening at an American style bar near Aobadai. It's a really nice place, the people who worked there were quite good at English and offered us some free food.
On Monday morning, I had my first lecture in the only chemistry course I am going to follow this semester. The name of the class being "soft matter physics and organic materials for photonics", the topic seems very interesting although somewhat difficult. As an advanced course in Tokyo Tech, a good understanding of quantum mechanics is required to follow through. For those who know: the introduction basically sums up important concepts of OC IV and PC V. After the lecture (and lunch) I went to the lab and restarted the synthesis of the ligand I had done 2 weeks earlier. This time, it went a lot faster and thanks to a slightly different procedure, I had a much better feeling that the reaction was good this time. After getting home late, I was surprised by Caspar who had cooked an amazing Seafood dish (it had slight resemblance to paella).

 After a long day of work on Monday and a short night, Tuesday was very tiring for me. It was the first in a 3 day presentation marathon, where all the lab members presented their research. My tutor, Yutaro-san, also presented on this day. However, starting at half past one, we finished at around eight, and I must admit, I started sleeping through some of the presentations held only in Japanese. Still, I tried my best with asking questions and trying to understand. Yutaro's presentation was especially interesting, since a lot of the work he had done would be the basis of what I would do. Actually, I will be combining the complex photocatalyst with the zeolite (MCM41). It seems that my whole studies have led me to this! :)


Wednesday was interesting only in the evening. I had been in Shibuya with some friends the week before and while we were walking around, a man who looked pretty strange but spoke surprisingly good English stopped us. He then asked me if I wanted to join in on a casting for a show for Friday next week. I was slightly surprised, but accepted to join the casting. So that's where I went in the evening, at a studio near Shibuya. When I arrived, I was surprised to find at least 50 other people waiting there. Most of them were real models (they had their portfolios with them) and seemed very professional, which made me feel pretty out of place. Still, I just did what was asked from me (I have no idea if what I did was right, first time "on stage") and then went home with mixed feelings. I will be told if I am qualified for the event on Friday by mail and keep you updated.

Thursday was pretty calm. The presentations on that day were held only in English (I finally understood everything) and I think everyone was happy that they were over after this 3-day marathon. In the evening, Henrik, Hugo and I went to a tiny wine bar near Shibuya, where Hugo (who is French and a specialist for wine, it seems to me) tried explaining why Chardonnay is better when the summer is sunny. I still don't really enjoy wine though... Anyway, after getting home and a short night, Friday morning was the official medical check-up that all new students at TokyoTech need to undergo. It took two whole hours (90 % was waiting in line...) and so I came only for the last 20 minutes of the Topics on Japan class we were having. Friday's schedule was changed with Wednesday's due to the preparation of the Campus festival that was going to be held on the weekend.

In the evening, 8 YSEPers met in the dorm common room and we then left for a concert by the (really great) French DJ Madeon, who was in Tokyo for his Japan-tour. Apart from insanely smooth transitions, the most shocking part of the concert was the temperature inside the crowd of people who were there. When I got out, my clothes were literally dripping! But it was definitely worth it!

And here is a picture of me next to the dog statue that is standing next to Shibuya station!
Hope you enjoyed the read :)

Keeping myself busy

Only three days and so much to tell!

After the group presentations on Monday, which were mostly held in Japanese, my research project work was decided upon on Tuesday. I will be doing to parallel experiments, one of them consists of characterization of a photochemically active metal complex and mesoporous material hybrids, the other one of the synthesis of another metal complex. So I'll have enough to do for the next few months... But the science is really interesting, although quite complex (get it? ^^).
Apart from that, in the evening I went to Mizonokuchi, an area with a few large stores between Aobadai (where I live) and Ookayama (university campus I work in).

The picture on the right shows you a view of Mizonokuchi from the station. These high buildings are not that common in Tokyo, it's a rather flat town (somewhat alike Zurich). But considering the very large population, the city spreads very widely... I hope to get a good picture of that later.

On Wednesday we had 2 YSEP related subjects or courses which we attended. However, also non-YSEP students could join, and this was a nice opportunity to meet other Tokyo Tech students. For this course (called "Topics on Japan", or TOJ), we will need to present our home country. so I will be presenting Switzerland. If anyone has any wishes on anything special I should say, please comment!

Thursday was a long day of work. And I learned that recrystallizing a substance is not always the best method to clean product (in my case, it seems not to have worked so well). My product (that was relatively clean by NMR) was coloured, though it should be white.

I tried doing a column chromatographic purification, but that didn't work out as well as I had hoped. So Next week, I will repeat the experiment. Just to have more product...
Anyway, I got to play around with some liquid nitrogen! Fun as always ^^
Well, after spending most of my time in the lab, I went to have ramen in the evening with a few friends from the dorm. I must say, the original ramen (although technically I had tsukemen) are a lot better than the instant cup-noodles version. After that, we went to small bar, which was supposedly Norwegian, to try some wasabi-flavoured beer. It was really good I must say, so if you ever want to try something interesting if you are in Tokyo, drop by at that place! It's also one of the best coffee places here, so any time you pass by there is something nice (link to their fb page: https://www.facebook.com/Fuglen.Tokyo)

After this calm and enjoyable evening, I had a bad headache on Friday. No I did not drink too much (I had 1 beer only), but I just felt really unwell, so I decided to stay home. It wouldn't have been a very productive day anyway since the people in the lab were training for group presentations they will be having next week. There's three of them... However, most presentations next week will be held by doctoral students, who are supposed to present in English. More news next week about that.