Technology and Planning

Today was an interesting but very long day. We had four lectures from different members of the Technology and Planning department come in and tell us about different aspects of the company. Each lecture lasted about one hour. They included Transportation Planning, Rolling Stock, Maintenance, and Electric Systems. Some of the more interesting things we learned about were the safety mechanisms and high levels of maintenance that occurred every day. The trains are built with fail safe track switches to keep collisions from happening. We also learned the difference between the Shinkansen and the European models of bullet trains.

After work I attempted to find a tailor to get my suit coat brought in a bit. With no Japanese language skills at my disposal, this turned out to be quite an adventure. I found 3 stores that said "Tailor" on them, but they only made new suits. I finally found one that was willing to work on my coat, but they wanted $81 to do the work. I think that I will just wear my giant suit instead of pay that much...

Edson and I attempted to cook rice in my Japanese rice cooker for dinner. After translating the buttons using the internet, we added rice and water and set it up. The rice cooker did not want to cooperate however, and we just ended up with warm, uncooked rice.

Tomorrow is a short day with only one lecture, so hopefully I will have some more time to explore around town. I also want to start planning out my weekends so I can take some side trips. I was looking at airline tickets to Korea tonight...it is expensive but I am already so close that I might do it anyway.

Kelly, I am glad that you are enjoying my postings. Go Brewers.