Autumn is, without a doubt, my favorite season. I love the crisp air, the smell of the leaves as they start to decompose on the ground, and the deep sense of nostalgia that it brings every year. During my time in Malaysia, it was Autumn that I missed deeply. The seasons in Malaysia followed the monsoons – wet and wetter. They grew comfortable but never sparked the feelings that I have during the Autumn. Kyoto is stunning during this time of year. I am grateful to get the opportunity to be here.
Monday 11 October was Sports Day in Japan and my neighbour, Yoko, organised a short hike in the mountains north of Kyoto. We took the bus up there and hiked for a few hours. The trail ended at a nice little forest center with BBQ pits and hammocks along the river. The hike wasn’t particularly strenuous but very beautiful. I was hoping to see some big wildlife but we saw lots of little wildlife!
Wildlife!
At some points the trail got narrow and steep.
And it was a fun group!
Posted in Japan
This is the first post for a long time. Sorry for the absence. I am progressing on my studies… slowly. I have applied for some jobs recently but not getting many nibbles, so keep casting. During the last trip to Sabah, I got a great deal on a camera that can get some close up shots. The great Kyoto autumn weather has allowed for a few photo sessions lately. Here are some spiders and other critters from campus.
Andrew J Rotter.
This was the first book I have read about the atomic bomb. What a terrible, horrible weapon. I am hoping to visit Hiroshima some time this year.
I’ve finished the transcriptions of my raw data. I have 57 interviews and I’ve transcribed the 42 that were conducted in English. My research assistant is still working on the Malay and Chinese ones. The transcription now comes to 493 pages. I’ll spend the next month or so coding the data and trying to find some patterns.
Goodbye Transcriva! You were free and you worked great, but I will not miss you!
Posted in PhD Studies, Uncategorized
Tagged Bartas Technologies, hell, Semi-structured interviews, transcriptions, Transcriva
Patrick Rothfuss’ excellent first fantasy novels. Other than the Lord of the Rings, and recently, the Song of Ice and Fire, I have never been a fantasy fan. But these books distracted me quite a bit over the last few weeks.
The story of Kvothe. He spends a lot of time at the University. I spend a lot of time at the University. Does this count as PhD reading?
This may become one of the central theories in my PhD work. Taking it very slow to absorb as much as I can.
Matt Andrews
Posted in PhD Studies, Reading, Uncategorized
An English translation of a Japanese book. Not to my liking. It felt too much like the author was trying to be Haruki Murakami.
Evil and the Mask
I have had a long, but shallow, interest in the universe. I am now developing an interest in innerspace. This is one of my first forays.
Nationalism is one of the roots of many of humanity’s greatest atrocities. It also lies at the root of millions of tiny wrongs, insults and hurts issued on a daily basis. Imagine a world without borders. Without rulers. It is either paradise or Mad Max. (Just never, ever, imagine a map with no border. Ever.)
“A man’s nationality is not the whole of his identity, of course, but when he is removed from his language, his home, his favorite coffee house or beer hall, his tools and his newspaper and the streets where he once walked freely, he cannot help but lose something essential of himself…. Belonging no more to just one nation, the refugee has seen the tragedy of nationalism and the potentialities of cosmopolitanism. His perspective is broader, his sensibility more generous. The late Edward Said wrote several times of the twelfth-century Saxon Monk, Hugo of St Victor who once said, “The man who finds his homeland sweet is still a tender beginner; he to whom every soil is his native one is already strong; but he is perfect to whom the entire world is as a foreign land.”” Andrew Rotter. Hiroshima – The World’s Bomb
Hieronymus Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights. But even this triptych has borders. 😦
Weightless in the World 