Quo vadis Japan?

It has been a long while (over a year) since my last post, so a lot of things have happened...

Internship at NII
This was last year from March till the end of August, and I consider it a great success. Not only did I manage to properly write my master thesis, I also found a research area in Service Oriented Computing, and came to the conclusion that doing a PhD would be an interesting experience, even if I plan to join a company afterwards. More over, as I liked working my professor and participating in my lab very much, I decided to apply for the PhD there.

Back in Germany
With finishing to write up my thesis, preparing everything for going back to Japan again, filling out applications, and preparing for the entrance exam this four month went by quite fast. I don't know when I will enjoy such a Christmas in Germany again - beautiful snow scenery everywhere you look, and the best (Christmas) cookies you can ever find :)

Back in Japan
I came back to Japan in January to adjust myself to the climate before the entrance exam and to finish my exam preparations. Quite fun reviewing your last 5 years of university and seeing how much you already have forgotten... While the exam was in early February, the result did not arrive till the end of said month. So while waiting for the result was a little bit unnerving, there was not much to do... which suddenly changed after actually getting it - filling out forms after forms (all in Japanese of course) I was quite happy to rely on the wonderful secretary at our lab ^^

PhD
Fast forward to today: My Phd started officially in April, and just recently I moved to the student dorm in which I can stay for 1 year and which, while quite small, is fairly OK, especially regarding the price. I'm still waiting for my student visa though, but I guess this time of year is just the most busy one in Japan, as many things start in April (school, university, even new company workers). On the research side I am back in the matter, and for now I am focusing on one particular idea for a while, and it will be interesting to see where it will take me over the course of the PhD. Regarding my lab, I am taking care of this term's English Workshop, and I hope I can continue to contribute something ;-)

Japanese
Being again quite busy I decided against joining a particular language course. Instead I will be learning and reviewing Japanese by myself - words and kanjis mainly. The next goal would be to take part in the 2nd level of the Japanese language exam, for which I still have a long way to go though, especially regarding my writing and reading skills...

So?
Summarizing, a lot has happened, and as of now I will be in Japan at least for the next 3 years doing my PhD. After that I wouldn't mind finding a job here, but who knows what the future will bring. So I don't know how often I will be back in Germany, thus, if any of you come to Japan, please say hi to me in Tokyo :)