Merry Christmas!

10 days before Christmas! Wishing you all Merry Christmas! Enjoy this clip of “Christmas Light Hero”!

Signs of running out of time!

I wish I could buy time… Evidence: the chat I had with my friend Eddie.

Eddie: 今日ご飯にいかない
me: 行く
何時？
Eddie: 11時55分
me: 了解
時度販売で会う
Eddie: 時度という言葉あるの
me: 時度＝字度販売機？
時度販売機
me: ははは　それもまちがってる
自動　販売　機
me: はははははは
Eddie: automatic selling machine
me: 自動販売機
やっと
Eddie: you wrote “time selling machine”
wow
i wish
me: Cool ain’t it! I want one of this!
Eddie: in the future
year 3001
me: I will post that!
Eddie: pls
this is so cool
haha

Countdown to submission

The deadline for the PhD dissertation submission is around the corner! I would like to wish all of you the best. GANBARIMASHOU!

 

Jobs around Southest Asia- a promising land to start?

Hundreds of our alumnus are from Southeast Asian region, and many of our friends from different parts of the world, desperately hunting for jobs so that we can stay in a better place to build up the ambitions.

Getting a job offer in Japan or other developed countries is priority. But, don’t forget that developing countries like Thailand and Vietnam might offer you much challenging and global jobs.

Please check it out the following links, It might be helpful

http://www.careercenter.ait.ac.th/job-available

Zen Presentation?

Public presentation is not only about how good you are in talking, it is also about how you capture people attention.

A person with good English command can give a perfect, non-grammatical mistake presentation, yet the audience may still on and off  “strayed-away”, and some even manage to sleep with eyes opened.

OK, of course fluency in speech is important, but it is not all. The slides are as important as the speech.

You might want check out “Presentation Zen” on how to make an attractive yet simple slides

And, my friend found a site (Note and Point) which can might be helpful to spark your creativity.

KI-ZU-NA Event: Sake Cellar Visiting and Inari Shrine Tour

Taken from the KI-ZU-NA website:

Student Lounge KI-ZU-NA August 2009 Event
Visit Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum and Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Date/Time:	August 22nd (Sat.), 2009 Meeting at 12:30. End of the tour will be around 4:30p.m.
Meeting Place:	Keihan Railway Fushimi-Inari Stn. Ａt the exit of the train which bounds for Yodoyabashi or Nakanoshima.
Fee:	300 yen, museum’s entrance fee. (To be paid when you apply) ※ Transportation expense 200 yen (one way) from Fushimi Inari Stn. to Chushojima Stn. is not included.
Application:	Apply directly to ‘KI-ZU-NA’ staff.
Eligibility:	Kyoto University students, faculty members, researchers, etc.
Acceptance:	First 15 people ※ We will stop accepting　applications when seats are filled.

International Student Day

International Student Day: Culture Gathering in Kyoto Nijo Castle

Nijo Castle

Kyoto is inviting foreign students at universities and colleges in the city to participate in International Student Day from 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 17.

The event will give Kyoto’s foreign students an opportunity to enjoy traditional stage performances and tea ceremonies at Nijo Castle in Nakagyo Ward.

Participation is free and 150 students will be invited. Those who wish to participate must enter a drawing by phone or fax or apply online through the city’s Web site by Aug. 15.

To apply, call (075) 661-3755 or send a fax to (075) 661-5855 listing your name, address, telephone number, school name, nationality and e-mail address. To apply online, go to the Web site at www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/sogo/page/0000012821.html (in Japanese) and fill out the inquiry form.

Those accepted will receive their invitation by early October. The event will be postponed to Oct. 18 in case of rain.

For more information, access www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/sogo/page/0000065429.html (in Japanese).

Date:	Saturday, October 17, 2009
Time:	10:00am – 2:00pm
Location:	Nijo Castle
Street:	Senbon dori and Oiike
City/Town:	Kyoto, Japan
Map:	GoogleMaps
Cost:	FREE!
Notes:	You have to sign up by calling or filling out an application online. It is limited to 150 people (only international students).

How to Read Figures, Mathematical Expressions and Equations, and Glossary

Embarassed!

Sometimes we do face problem in reading mathematical expressions. Reading it correctly can avoid embarrassment during presentation.  I found a good PDF file by Judy Noguchi and Eri Shinoda. Enjoy!

Katsura Campus (Shuttle Bus Schedule)

I made a PDF file of the shuttle bus schedule. Kindly download here.

Katsura Campus: Disconnected?

This is my second post about Katsura Campus. I will try to let pictures do the talking. Below is a map of Kyoto showing the location of the main campus at Yoshida and Katsura campus:

Yoshida campus is at a well developed area of Kyoto, very close to city center and Kyoto’s shopping and entertainment heart. Contrary to that, Katsura campus is literary in the middle of nowhere, on top of the mountain. The nature surrounding Katsura campus is beautiful and the campus is very peaceful.  Maybe too peaceful… Commuting from the main campus to Katsura campus takes about 1 hour if you use the campus shuttle bus service or 1.5 hours if you use public transportation. If you have a car it takes about 40 minutes on good days of low traffic. For those of us that don’t have a car, if we use public transportation we will have to ride a train from Demachiyanagi station to Shijo, transfer to another line at Shijo-Kawaramachi, get off at Katsura station and finally ride a bus to Katsura campus. Not to mention the cost (620 yen), all these transfers take time. If you are lucky enough to make the connections without waiting then it will take you something like 1.5 hours (assuming walking from main campus to Demachiyanagi station). The shuttle bus service offered by university partially alleviates this waste of time but the service is offered only between 9 in the morning and 6 in the afternoon, roughly every one hour (i.e. there are 7 runs). If you are a (hard working) graduate student that works until late then, sorry no shuttle service for you! You can sleep in the lab if you want!

What can be done to connect Katsura campus to the rest of the city? That is a difficult question. Maybe the university should subsidize the commuting of students. Maybe, the shuttle service should be offered until late.  Maybe students should move close to Katsura campus (and risk dying of boredom). One think I can say for sure, not much thought was put into the campus connectivity issue during planning. What do you think?