Orientation in the Orient

Two days ago we had our official greeting here at KMUTT. This was a little more formal than I was expecting, as the Vice President of something-or-rather met us in an officially set up conference room complete with personal microphones at every seat. Needless to say, this was a little overwhelming, especially since we were told to wear, “the best clothes we have”, and I neglected to bring a tie. No one seemed to notice my lack of neckware, and afterwards we were taken to our respective labs. I’m working in the Institute for Field Robotics (I think), part of the Mechanical Engineering department, in a lab which is eerily reminiscent of the garages of many people I know, minus the three giant Robot arms which dominate the room. Here's the view from my desk:



The grad students in the lab are very welcoming, and they all speak English to varying degrees. However, between their thick Thai accents, and my rapid and inadvertent use of American slang, communication can be tough. Still, I think I’m able to talk to them relatively well, even if sometimes I have to write down what I’m trying to say.

Following the morning’s introductions, we came back to the conference room in the afternoon for lunch and an engrossing engineering ethics workshop. I don’t have much to say about this, since I was still drunk on jet lag and stabbing myself in the leg with a pen to stay awake. More interesting (and painful) than the workshop was its aftermath, which I think deserves its own post.

Meanwhile, in other news:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/05/27/space.toilet.ap/index.html