Catching Up: Tokyo

On Tuesday I went to meet a professor (Tom Blackwood) at the University of Tokyo for help on my project. I was actually pretty lucky to find out about him (Fulbright sent me his info) because what he does is VERY similar to what I was thinking of doing. He's dissertation was on the socialization of high school baseball in Japan, pretty much my project proposal. The best part was that he was an American so I could speak to him in English and actually communicate what I wanted to do.

After the talk with him, I feel a lot better about my project, even though I will probably have to change my topic a bit. Honestly, with my limited language ability, I probably couldn't have completed my original project (well). Plus, as Professor Blackwood pointed out, a lot of the questions I was asking were already dealt with by him. Even though there is a lot more info on high school baseball, he suggested that I go with my strengths and research the baseball link between Japan and Taiwan or Little League baseball in Japan. Those two topics are actually why I became interested in studying baseball in Japan. So, even though I am not really sure how to go on with my project right now (even less so compared to before), I do feel a lot better about it.

He is still polishing his dissertation for publication so I haven't really seen his work yet but he said he would send me copies later on. Interesting fact for all of you sociologists out there, apparently the job market for you guys is CRAP. Right now, at least in Asia-related fields, it is close to impossible to find a job for a sociologist. He highly recommended history if I was considering grad school, which is actually very beneficial for me. Of course, I haven't decided on grad school yet, but it is still nice to know my future has some potential hope.

Oh, and while I was in Tokyo, I decided to stop by Burger King (they are only in the Greater Tokyo Area). The main reason, to try out their special Windows 7 Burger. Celebrating the release of Windows 7, Burger King in Japan released a HUGE burger...basically a Whopper with 7 patties. Not willing to back down from a challenge, I tried it. Honestly, I felt sick afterward and it took me maybe 45 minutes to finish it. In the end there were times I was just stuffing bland patties into my mouth. I almost gave up a few times but did not want a burger beating me, especially since I was stupid and ate (fries and tenders) beforehand. Taste if the burger, yuck. Sense of satisfaction after conquering it, nice. Pictures are on my facebook page.

Speaking of Windows 7, should I spend $30 and upgrade? I believe that if I am using Windows Vista Home Premium I can upgrade without losing my programs/setting? Anyone know anything about this?