What I'm actually supposed to be doing over here

 So, a few of you might not know since I essentially for the most part said something along the lines of, "I'm going to Japan! SEE YA, SUCKAAAAHS," before I left. But I am actually in Japan for a legitimate reason other than eating all their food and doing touristy things like get bad luck. I'm here as a participant in a research exchange program between the Engineering School at UVA and the (essentially) engineering uni, SIT (Shibaura Institute of Technology). Basically, this means that Nile and I are here to do research in one of their labs during our break, and SIT will send 2 engineering students to UVA to do research during their break later.

Most of you, however, still don't know what exactly I'm researching or even do in the research lab.
That's because, until just this past Monday, I didn't even know what I was going to be doing.

But now I know! And so, I'm here to tell you, now, that I am doing terribly important and fascinatingly interesting things in lab. It is, in fact, so terribly interesting and fascinatingly important, that I can't quite think of an apt way to describe it. But I shall persevere and endeavor and strive and other words meaning to try hard.

Well, I guess to start off, I'll tell you some of the things I've done so far: heated a pot of liquid, filtered some things, cleaned some glassware, jotted some notes down, used a vacuum...

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Waaaaiiiiiit, is it just me, or this is starting to sound like...




CAN I TAKE YO' ORDAH?

HAHA, JUST KIDDING, REALLY.

Although I have been doing those actions, it looks something more like this

Heating a pot of liquid (oil bath)

Vacuum filtration

That's Uno-san in yellow! He's way cool and our senior pretty much for the project.

Taking notes

This is the precipitate we've made!

I hope to one day put up pictures of the other lab members. But alas, another day.

Our research is basically in the field of biotechnology. That means we're working with lipids and liposomes and other things that start with lip-. Lipstick! (s)Lippery!

Haha, okay okay, so I guess just this once, when talking about technical things, I shouldn't joke around so much.

Alright, for real now. Since a lot of you reading this are not a life science type major or engineer, I'll try to avoid boring you with the chemistry lecture. Actually, even if you *are* a life science type major or engineer, you'd probably still be bored by the chemistry lecture XD.

Anyway, so in these 2 months that we're here, Nile and I will first be producing a chemical substance that will act as a tracker and indicator. Then we'll use this product we made to study the properties of a biological... ummm "thing" at the molecular level (or on the nanoscale). Sorry, I don't want to go into a whole, unnecessary explanation if most of you guys don't even care that much haha. Ermmm, is that still too science-y tho? If you didn't get the above but still want to understand better what I'm doing, highlight the section below for super simplicity.

To explain it by a simplified analogy, I'm basically doing something like this: I want to produce a piece of paper that can test whether a food is spicy or salty. If I touch the paper to a spicy food, it will turn red. If I touch the paper to a salty food, it will turn blue.

Anyway, now that the serious stuff is out of the way, look at this sign.

I walk by this whenever I go to the university.

HAHA, WHAT IS THIS EVEN. THIS IS THE FUNNIEST STICKMAN SIGN I'VE EVER SEEN.

And with that no-nonsense picture, I feel this is a good way to end this way-serious-topic post. Just remember, all, if approached by a strong wind, fighting back with a blown-out umbrella is the only way!



OH WAIT, Jackiieeee, one moah thing! How could I forget! Tomorrow is the welcome party! Nile and I are super excite. I hope it's fun. I hope they'll like us. I hope I stumble back home with my tie around my forehead and carrying a box of sushi while singing off-key. XDDD. Kidding, just kidding.... <_<.