Day 96, 6 Apr 2017: The grit of downtown...

Day 96: ...conferencing gives you an appetite

Panel sessions get underway at this conference at 8.00am and continue through until after 6.00pm. There are no designated lunch, morning or afternoon tea breaks as such, you just navigate your way through the sessions and grab something when you can. It is a very full program.

My first day was pretty full on, from my presentation in the morning through to attendance at a number of sessions through the day and into the evening. 

The is a bakery down on the corner, called the Corner Bakery, funnily enough, and it has been a bit of a fave over the years I've attended the conference. It is handy, has a good range of food and reasonably priced. It also sits right under the 'Loop', Chicago's train line. Feels very Chicago.

Intersection

Down the street 

Inside, looking out

Meatballs and spaghetti, because one must

Under the Loop

The rooms opposite

Down below

I've only just sorted the sessions for today, it's back to the room to look through sessions for Friday. The program is a big as a telephone book (some of you will remember them) with about 6000 papers across almost 100 streams covering all sorts of topics. I have some work to do.

[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 6.46pm-7.30pm; 6 April 2017 (local time)]

Day 95 part 2, 5 Apr 2017 (again): On landing...

Day 95 (ii): ...scenes from a hotel

Passing over the international dateline at some point during the day, or night, means I've arrived before I left, or somesuch. Hence a double day. Not that there is anything really to show for it. An extraordinarily long walk through customs (skeleton staff) and pouring rain (meaning a 60 minute ride to downtown that should take about 30 minutes) left me with little to do except admire the indoor scenery. 

A ferris wheel in the pic (so I'd feel at home...)

Table lamp, solid

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Patterns and peacocks

And truly, the rooms at Palmer, indeed the whole hotel, leave you feeling like you've walked into some 1920s movie set. It is one of the reasons I keep coming back to this conference. (The other reasons include Chicago, Chicago, Chicago; oh, and the conference proper, always enlightening.)

Time to read through my presentation ready for the panel tomorrow, one of the early sessions...

Goodnight, from downtown Chicago.

{Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 8.57pm-8.59pm (local time); 5 April 2017 (local time)]

Day 95, 5 Apr 2017: Time to fly...

Day 95: ...but a possible last look

Following yesterday's festivities and greetings, it is time to fly out to my conference. Not my usual flight to Australia but my occasional flight to the US for the Midwest Political Science Association's Annual Conference. I've missed the last couple for a few reasons (last year's being my move to Tokyo) but I enjoy going not the least reason being that it is held in Chicago in the famous Palmer House, rich with history.

But, before we go, one last glimpse of the cherry blossoms around Ikebukuro...

Through the sculptures

Sun on sakura

The theatre building backdrops the trees

A little reflection in pink

Thirsty work

Panes : sakura

Illusory

Bloomer

They're not quite out in their fullest glory but almost there. I'll miss the peak while I'm away so this will have to do. 

Prepare for a long flight...(though not quite as long as flying from Australia to Chicago, it is true).

(Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 11.59am-12.05pm; 5 April 2017] 

Day 94, 4 Apr 2017: A new beginning...

Day 94: ...a blooming good start

The start of the academic year in Japan: new students everywhere, including, of course, my campus. Yesterday we welcomed new colleagues, today we welcome the new students. For those of us on the Ariake campus that means a trip west to the Musashino campus, the university's original campus. The first years will spend their first year here and then come to study at Ariake. 

The Ariake has a modern feel about it and is of course, as you know dear reader, near the port. The Musashino campus, on the other hand, is somewhat greener and more 'traditional' in the old-style. Both campuses have their attractions I think. 

Coincidentally (or otherwise) the new academic year, and the welcome ceremonies happen at the same time as the cherry trees almost reach their full blooming status. It makes a picture for everyone.

On the way to the bus stop

Tennis anyone?

Softening the building

Almost full bloom

Sun light and cherry blossom

Colouring the environment

Ariake on sunset

After the ceremony, we met the parents of the new students. They're very excited. Next week, I find out whether or not their children feel the same...

Then it was back to the Ariake campus for some last minute finalising of conference matters.

[Camera : iPhone6S, 11.16am, 6.17pm; Lumix TZ-85, 4.13pm-4.17pm; 4 April 2017]


Dear reader...
There will be a short break between Day 94 and Day 100. I'm off to the US for a conference and will resume #project365 on my return. Given recent directives from the US about laptops being taken in and out of the country, I'm erring on the side of caution and leaving mine behind. I will keep taking pics however and will prepare a bumper edition on my return.

Day 93, 3 Apr 2017: How quickly passeth the day...

Day 93: ...when there is much on your plate

Forgive me, dear reader, if I appear somewhat distracted. My mind is now firmly turned towards this week's conference in Chicago, a presentation on Thursday, effectively, and yet I am still here at work in Tokyo. Time and the modern jet age continues to make me marvel at life. 

Today was also the induction ceremony for new staff and all-staff meeting for the rest of us--a 'stirring' three hours of plans and forward thinking for the university. Tomorrow is the welcome ceremony for all the new students entering university after a season of entrance exams. 

In fact, all around the place today we saw people beginning their working lives as the new financial year started (well, it started on Saturday actually, but today was the first working day...); never so obvious as on the train ride home tonight with new suits and outfits everywhere, young people carrying their orientation packages and working out their new commuting patterns. 

Good luck all.

The camellias in the bamboo grove, by the bus stop

On a mission

Into the clouds (on Wednesday)

And as a friend said to me today, I'm no longer the 'new person on the block', no excuses anymore. And that is true. It is really time to get stuck into doing all the things I must do...but first there is a conference to attend. 

[Camera : iPhone6S, 9.46am; Lumix TZ-85, 3.53pm; 3 April 2017]

Day 92, 2 Apr 2017: The waiting is just...

Day 92: ...bearable/unbearable

It was supposed to happen today...the final draft, the final read, the final considerations...then hit send. But not quite, there is still little work to be done. 

That's the conference paper. I fly out on Wednesday...

Then there's the cherry blossoms, the 'sakura'. Today was supposed to be their day, 'mankai' or full bloom. Not quite. A cold snap and a bit of rain has deferred the full bloom until, oh yes, about Wednesday, when I am due to fly out. 

So you see, these things are linked. Much more deeply than we think. How will I tell my panel colleagues that my paper in full bloom was delayed by unexpected cold and rain...

On the trunk

To the sky

Fallen

Truncated

Bunched

Beed

Folds

Branching out

Going up

Stand out

Busy busy

Bee bee

Blur sky, pink flowers

Posers

Waiting our turn

Sunlight, sun bright

Paired off

On sunset

Peeking at the moon

Over to the moon

Even so, when your afternoon stroll to clear the head and contemplate conclusions includes such marvellous sights as cherry blossoms on the go...who would complain if the paper is they're a day or two late.

[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 3.56pm-4.04pm, 5.54pm-5.57pm; 2 April 2017]

Day 91, 1 Apr 2017: It is Saturday...

Day 91: ...where fools dare to tread

Something about only fools work on a Saturday, especially when that Saturday is 1 April. Well, there is a paper to complete for next week's conference, so there is little choice really. 

It's funny how papers in the abstract always seem like a good idea at the time, until the conference draws ever closer and there are so many ideas rattling around the keyboard. 

Anyway, the work day is tempered by the cherry blossoms making their way across the city. We have a few within the campus grounds and they were doing their best despite the grey skies and unseasonable cold. 

Crowded branch

Budding in

Various states of being

Hanging about

Sakura-inspired afternoon tea

Outside the office window, getting there

It is also exactly one year since I started this new, now not so new, job here in Tokyo. One year down, four to go. The first day of April is also the start of the financial, academic and work year (for new employees). No April Fools here, we all know today as the day of new beginnings. (And, hopefully soon, conference paper endings.)

[Camera : Lumix TZ-85, 2.24pm-2.25pm, 2.34pm, 4.58pm; 1 April 2017]