Terry's Weekly Email Newsletter; 16 Aug 09

Hi all,

On Thursday, 02 July, it was another fairly rainy day - kind of on and
off most of the day. We went to see the Tokyo International Forum
(first picture), a very distinctive building that was completed in
1996. It is mainly used for business conferences and is very
interesting architecturally, with a curved glass atrium and glass
walkways. The ceiling in the atrium resembles a ship's hull. We
stopped at a bagel shop there for a quick lunch and then headed to the
Imperial Palace and the East Garden of the Imperial Palace. The
Imperial Palace is only open to the public twice a year: New Year and
on the emperor's birthday. The most famous landmark is the Nijubashi,
a double-arched stone bridge (second picture - you can see the Palace
in the distance (and Jenn in the foreground!)). The Garden was very
beautiful - very green, not many colored flowers - and there were some
interesting buildings such as the Hyakunin Basho where samurai lived
while standing guard in shifts, and a tea ceremony building (last
picture). After our sightseeing we met Mike and went to one of his
favorite Thai restaurants for dinner. This was Mike's last day of
classes - he had the final left to take on Friday.

It's been hot here this weekend - into the low 90's and very humid.
Yesterday I washed and waxed my car, and today I cleaned out the
inside of it. Jenn has been working the weekend, but she's off
tomorrow. Mike is starting classes tomorrow - he worked orientation
this past week. He's getting ready for the OCI's (on campus
interviews) - he applied for about 20 - so far he has been accepted
for 9 and rejected for 2. These interviews are for internships next
summer. There are less firms interviewing this year, but Mike is
hopeful that he can get something in the Bay Area. Jenn heads out for
Madrid on 09/09/09 - she's going to work 2 more weeks, and then visit
some friends before taking off.

Joe and I are pretty much the same - busy at work, which is good.

Hope everyone is well, and Happy Birthday to John and Congratulations
on the Humboldt Research Award!

Kind regards,
Terry