Nara奈良： The beginning Pt 1...GO!

Ok, so I feel like I just went through one of the longest weekends ever, but I only skipped one class. Probably because for the past two days I have done nothing but walk around and saw all the greatest things in NARA!!!

But...back up. I actually had no real desire to go to Nara before this weekend and the only reason I was even in the area was because I volunteered my brain to take part in a study that compares the difference between the way a native Japanese speaker's brain works and the way a native English speaker's works. Cool right?

Best part, I got paid to go there, and got paid to get my brain scanned.

So Caty and I arrived at Sekiyama-sensei's office at 4:30pm so that we all could go to the airport together. Of course it had been raining all day long and she somehow got us to run across campus before we left so that we could buy a bus ticket to get from Fukuoka to Kumamoto...AND THEN we really were ready to head to the airport.

Sekiyama-sensei is a scary driver...and randomly starting to loudly say "Okashii, nande nande, Okashii yo!" does NOT help the fact that I have a semi-fear of being in cars!!!!

Finally we made it to the airport, through the rain and all, and I had a minor startle because the ticket machine started talking to me even before I had touched a button. And of course my response was to say, "WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ME MACHINE!!?!?!" outloud...and so I think Sekiyama-sensei thinks I am nuts.

So then on the plane, all of the flight attendants speak to me in English, and our flight was delayed for 1/2 hour due to bad weather. I tried to pass the time by reading an article about Whistler, Canada...in Japanese. I really gave it my best shot, that is my only comment. The plane took off, was pretty...scary, or so I heard because I slept through it. I'm still a little kid...put me in a moving object...machine? and I will eventually fall asleep. It's a gift, really.

After we arrived, it took a bus, okonomiyaki dinner, two train rides and another bus before we got to the hotel which was right across the street from the lab place. Sekiyama-sensei was really funny because she said, "Ok, now your only job tomorrow is to stay awake."

"NO Problem" I'm thinking to myself...fast-forward to the morning...semi-problem. If there is one thing that being abroad has taught me...it's that I am NOT a morning person. I want to get up when I want to get up, and do things at MY speed in the morning. So getting up at 8am is not my idea of a good time. We ate breakfast and there were eggs and KETCHUP. I only realized this fact after I had finished eating my eggs on rice...lame.

We walked across the street and that itself was an adventure. I didn't bring an umbrella, so I had to kinda huddle under Caty's small one and truck through the rain and wind, just to get across the street! So I was pretty wet by the time we got into the building.

We went downstairs and met the people who were leading the experiment. Now I thought that none of these people spoke English...but of course, they did. It's like, amazing how many people I find in Japan that can speak the language. No wonder there are so many native English speakers who never try to learn another language.

So we had to change into our "experiment gear" which essentially a sweatshirt/sweatpants concoction that had no metal in it, for sure. I was then labeled as Experiment: KM20091211. We had to take turns doing the tests, so I volunteered Caty first. While she was in the machine, I wrote Christmas cards...and even though I have put so much effort into them, they will still be late for some people. FORGIVE ME!!!

After 20 min, Caty's first experiment was finished, and it was my turn. I layed down on the bed, and had ear plugs put into my ears and then had to scoot back into the machine. I whacked the crap out of my head and I thought for a second that the noise that my brain would be making because of the pain would interfere with the test. Still in pain, the doctors left the room and I heard someone in my ears.

"Kristina-san, can you hear me?"

"Yep!"

"Now...I need you to blink."

So I blinked...easy.

"No...blink slower"

HOW COULD I ALREADY HAVE DONE SOMETHING WRONG?!?! So I blinked slower. He then told me to open and close my mouth, slowly, and then some other basic movements before I was left alone in the experiment room with me and my brain. My brain and I haven't really communicated like this in a while. It was weird to be in a place that was completely silent, and we would have been completely alone, but then I found what was to be my new companion.

The Little Red Dot.

There he was, on the ceiling that I was forced to look at continually for 20 minutes. And that is exactly what I did, just looked at the little red dot. At one point he definitely morphed into a few red dots, which was interesting. I tried not to blink, because that interferes with other signals that the machine is trying to read. Do you know how hard it is to not blink when you are told "Don't blink"? It's really hard!!

I finished my test and joined the living again. The next text was to look at these two guys, one Asian, one Caucasian and determine whether they were saying, "BA, DA, or GA" Let me tell you...DA and GA are pretty much the same. Especially when you have to hear these guys say the same syllable a million times in a row. We had to do "audio-visual, audio only, and visual only tests" Because of the visual only test, I think I'm pretty amazing at lip-reading. Hahaha.

Then it was lunch time and I ate kimchi. Surprise, suprise. Then back to the lab for more tests!! This next test was so freaking hard. The first thing they did though was take a 3-D image of my head, which was SUPER COOL! They lady goes, "Well..what do you think?"

"Uh," I responded, "I guess it's weird."

Her eyes narrowed as if she was kinda mad, "Why is it weird?"

"Because...it actually looks like my head...and all you did was poke my head with a stick!!"

She definitely chuckled then, "Well, it's supposed to look exactly like your, minus eyebrows and hair."

"Weird..." I mumbled as I walked out of the room.

I then sat in a chair so that I could have brain receptor things attached to my head. Then it was back into the brain scanning room. I did not whack my head this time, which was good. And I guess I have small ear holes, because they couldn't get the earphone into my ear until they went and got a way smaller size. I don't know what that means.

Then it was 40 minutes, all by my lonesome, with my thoughts only on "BA and GA" This time though I really had a "no blink" restriction. It is impossible to not blink!!! Because all you think about is 'ok...don't blink, don't do it, ah EFF, I blinked..."

After that test, I found it really weird to communicate with people. Who sits in a room listening only to sounds, with no meaning or anything behind them? It messes you up. But I was perky and well after a few minutes, so I'm glad that didn't last long.

We had another break then, and Caty, Sekiyama-san and I went across the street to a shopping mall (though I swear it wasn't there when we first arrived) and did a bit of shopping. I bought a bunch of really unneccesarily neccesary items. That is just how Japan works for me. Then it was back to the lab for our last test....dun dun DUN

THE fMRI!!!

You watch all those medical shows and see the MRI machine, and so I was really excited to get an MRI of my own!!! They had to give me special glasses to wear, because I'm essentially blind, and because you can't wear contact or have your glasses on in the MRI machine...because any kind of metal will shoot out of it's place and into the machine. Awesome...

It was another 40 minutes with "BA and GA" and this time, they almost put me to sleep. I was warm, and the bed for the machine is suprisingly comfy, so it was really hard to pay attention to them this time. AND these doctors had me up at a really unneccesary hour. Also I know my brain was running through so many different thoughts at this time...I know I just didn't answer some of the questions.

Then out of the machine...AND I GOT TO SEE AN IMAGE OF MY BRAIN!!! It was so cool! I loved it. My brain stem looks like a praying mantis!!! And of course I told the doctors that and I think I ruined something inside of them...being doctors and all.

We had our last meal with Sekiyama sensei and just kept cracking up at how many times we heard "BA and GA" and Sekiyama sensei thought we'd probably dream about the sounds and Caty and I heartily agreed. It was really fun to laugh about it and just a fun day of experiments. Maybe they'll invite us over again for their next tests! (They're almost done with this test and are about to compile their research.

We parted ways with Sekiyama-sensei and headed to Shin Omiya were our hotel awaited us! Yay for Toyoko Inns!! They are so nice and cheap and nice and good. Did I mention nice? Caty and I then planned on what places we wanted to visit in Nara...which will have to be another blog!!!

Part 2: Adventures in Nara! will be up shortly!!!