Hello from Sapporo! by Jean Claude Roegiers
As most of you know, I have been spending my sabbatical leave from The University of Oklahoma, here in Hokkaido University, as guest of Professor Yoji
Ishijima of the Department of Mineral Development Engineering. Upon arrival here on January 10th, I quickly realized that my clothes from Oklahoma would not suffice! I had also to "re-train" for sliding on snow and ice
rather than walk swifly...and after a few memorable falls, I followed the Dean's advise...and found some spikes to fit my leather soles. However, I have to
admit that winter had its charms, especially during the Snow Festival...for me it was Christmas all over again. Spring has now finally arrived and the cherry
trees are starting to blossom. After a few weeks of 'cultural shock', mainly caused by the fact that I could not relate japanese to any other language I knew, I started to settle down and
appreciate this very different culture. I also decided to take some Japanese lessons after getting frustrated from not understanding the messages on the phone,
nor when the Xerox machine wanted to tell me some obvious mistakes I was making! Although I am far from being able to converse, or even understand
Hiragana and Katakana, I have gained some appreciation for the way Japanese think and express themselves. As with French grammar, there are rules...but
as many exceptions. I can honestly say that "counting" is a nigthmare...and that the usage of 'wa, ga, no, ni, o' still leave me perplex! But the Japanese
language has intrigued me to the point that I will probably pursue its challenge as a hobby upon return to Norman...and write a Konnichiwa Oklahoma
Daigaku Kare in the near future. Most of my time was spent in starting to write a book on Rock Mechanics for Petroleum Engineers, based on the notes I have accumulated over the years.
Although this task will not be completed before I leave Japan, I still intend to have about 2/3 done by June. This would certainly not have been possible
without the moral and financial support provided by Professor Yoji Ishijima and the Japanese Ministry of Education. I was also fortunate to be in Sapporo
when the tragic accident of the Toyohama Tunnel occurred. I sincerely hope that the little help I could provide to elucidate the slope failure will contribute
somewhat to avoid such disasters in the future. From a professional point of view I like to thank the authorities for allowing me to visit the site at such early
and busy times. I like also to take this opportunity to thank the many colleagues and friends I met and made during this stay in Japan. Professor Ishijima gave me the
opportunity and arrange for a number of diversified visits. The welcome and the reception received at most sites was outstanding; often the projects were
new to me and broaden my scope. I can guarantee that I will become an "unofficial" japanese ambassador when talking in the future about some of the
projects I had the opportunity to visit. Special thanks should be extended to Professor Yoshiaki Mizuta from Yamaguchi University who, not only accepted
me to attend his traditional japanese wedding, but made me understand the real meaning of a 'sister unversity'. Last, but not least, I need to thank Dr.Yoshiaki Fujii...who had to suffer throughout my stay. He was always available and ready to solve my 'not so trivial
and regular' problems. He also tried to make me understand the difference between our cultures. There is no doubt that I will miss karaoke and sashimi when I return to Norman, but the memories will last forever. Itte-mairimasu...Sayoonara....Dewa,mata |
