Presentation Day

Yesterday’s presentation went very well. There were some nice comments from others and a few questions. I feel like my work was appreciated, which is a nice feeling. Many people appreciated my approach and are interested in exploring it more, as well as reading more about Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly’s theory of borders which I base my approach on. If more people read and apply Emmanuel’s theory to their work, then I think that I can count this conference a success.

As for the other presentations, I only wish we had more time as everyone’s presentation was interesting. We had to get through each and every presentation, so we were very limited for time. As it was, even with tight moderation, we were one hour over schedule by the end of the day. Of the presentations that really stick out in my mind are Jabin Jacob’s presentation on how local provinces along the Indian and Chinese border need to start working together, and Andrew Burridge’s passionate and striking telling of the criminalization of immigration on the US-Mexico border and its human toll. Showing how 500 migrant deaths occur each year mainly due to hyperthermia chilled me to the bone. As well, I learned a lot about central Asia. The immigration problems from central Asian republics to Russia reminds me a lot of the Mexico-U.S. border, the trans-boundary water resource issues remind me of the multitude of Canada-US issues but with multiple governments.

After the presentations we went out for dinner and then went to a Karaoke Bar and sang songs until 2:00 in the morning. It was an authentic Japanese experience with about 15 people in a room singing and dancing away.  For those who know me, I am sure you are not surprised that I belted out more than a few tunes often with the enthusiastic help of others, as my choice in music is superb. Well, maybe it’s just superbly eclectic, but people really enjoyed the songs I chose. I can now take “Sing Karaoke in Japan” off my to do list.

I got back to the hotel at 2:15am and gave April a call since it was 10:00am in the yesterday back in Canada. I am impressed with Skype. It cuts in and out, but for the most part it works very well. It was late and I needed to go to bed. I made contact with the most important person, so I felt it would be in my best interest to steal a few hours of sleep. The group was meeting at 8:20 at the Sapporo Japan Rail Station to go to the city of Hakodate for the weekend.

Doing that thing I do

This was citrus sherbet in a plastic tube you squeeze out. It was refreshing.

They had these jelly packs at the University Co-op. They are essentially vitamins and supplements in Jello. Consuming lots of white rice can do a number on one's digestive system, so the "Fiber & diet" with 1100mg of fiber sounded like a good idea for 100 Yen. It was actually much tastier than I expected.