Trip Abroad

Prologue

This is my first writing about my research internship in JAIST. JAIST campus is located in Nomi, a small town near Komatsu and Kanazawa city. During autumn, JAIST is really a beauty, but during winter, JAIST is really harsh. Rain of snow and even hail (rain of ice) happen. Well, this is my first time seeing snow, so I am really excited. However, it’s not what it seems. Thin snow layers mean slippery floor and this is dangerous. A mound of snow is like a playground. FYI, snow is divided into 2 types:

Dust snow is the snow which has lighter properties, easily swayed, and unable to mold into snowball. Appears after blizzard.
Heavy snow is the snow which held up together, easily made into snowball (and of course, snowman). Appears after snow is left in the ground for long time.

That aside, snow makes us harder to walk. It’s like walking in a quicksand pit (without the danger of quicksand, of course). Winter: everything is cold, frozen. The floor, the frame, the doorknob, etc.

So, where’s JAIST? For the detail, you can click here (sorry, new Google Maps Engine is not yet supported by wordpress.com).

The Facilities

So, maybe some of you wondering what are the facilities we receive in JAIST. Well, here they are:

Artificial Intelligence Lab, Dept of Information Science (my lab):

Desk with the view Nomi town, city of Kanazawa, and the sea
Thin-client PC, connected to JAIST Server
Japan high-speed network connection 😀
Two monitors
Free wireless printing service
Microwave, dispenser, refrigerator
Free-to-play board games, belongs to Ishitobi Taichi-san
Gaming room (PS3, Xbox 360, PC, but everything is Japanese Language)
Irregular free snacks and coffee

JAIST Facilities

24-hour Library (most the books written in Japanese character)
Refresh room in Information Science Dept., Material Science Dept., and Knowedge Science Dept. containing TVs, games, kitchen, cooking utensils, music sofa, etc.
Cafetaria (beware if you are muslim)
Free Japanese Class (with Yuko-sensei and Ellie-sensei)
Gymnasium containing table tennis , fitness , body building equipments and shower room
Convenience store
“Morgue” mushalla
Free ski equipments
JAIST Shuttle

Vainqueur Apartment

Single-bed + futon
Working desk
AC / heater
Kitchen
Wash machine
Bathtub
Cleaning equipments
Tutorial for living (for non Japanese residents)
About 15 minutes walk to JAIST or 10 minutes walk to JAIST Shuttle

What Has We Done?

First of all, we are accepted as researcher, so basically, we got our own desk. Alfian and I assigned in Artificial Intelligence Lab, Dept. of Information Science, while Faisal and Lio assigned in software engineering (I don’t know the lab’s name). We’re welcomed by Professor Hiroyuki Iida, then the Indonesian Students Union (Persatuan Pelajar Indonesia or PPI) taught us how to live here.

During the first week, we made a snowman near apartment, take a look at a temple nearby, and lab welcoming party.

At January 19th, we went to Toyama University to meet our fellow PPI in the event was called Hokuriku Science Forum. Toyama University was very beautiful, but also harsh. During our trip to Toyama, we were welcomed by blizzard, really, a blizzard (not this Blizzard). Trip to Toyama city from Komatsu costs 1440 yen, while from Toyama Station to Toyama University costs 440 yen (it’s quite pricey, compared to Nomi which no matter how far, 100 yen is enough).

At January 20th, we had our welcoming party and Ardimas Andi Purwita farewell party. What else we did? Party = feast, of course. We were introduce to each fellow Indonesian family who lived in JAIST. Most of them has already children, about 4-7 years old. The next day, it was time for Ardimas to go to Tokyo. We took several pictures as our memento.

At January 26th, we had a NIFA (Nomi International Friendship Students Association) New Year Party at Tatsunokuchi. We met several students from all over the world in this party. Some are from Canada, Brazil, Deutschland, Netherland, Italy, Egypt, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, and the rest I forgot. We had a lunch together, play games, singing, and write our own Kakizome (a Japanese calligraphy which denotes our own resoution, hope, or dreams to be achieved in the respective year). It was a very exciting day.

Well, our plan didn’t stop at there. We still have plenty activities to do later.

What Do I Do?

Okay, so I am here to do research. What kind of research? My current research is related to application of Game Information Dynamics in Endless, Survival Game. Game Information Dynamics is a quantification approach based on physics model of fluid mechanics applied in games. Uh-oh, what? Okay, I should not get ahead of myself yet and let me tell you my research in the next post. FYI, this reearch is totally unrelated to my current thesis, so I guess this will be my ex-gratia research.