Japanese adventures - Part 2

Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

So I finally arrived in Hakodate, after a massive snowstorm that shut down the airport, thus diverting us to Sapporo airport. I didn't understand what was really going on, as most announcements were not in English. However, when we landed on a runway covered in packed snow (I mean, absolutely no exposed concrete anywhere - they groove the snow instead for traction in winter!) I figured it out. They gave us free train tickets to Hakodate (about 3 hr trip), so I got my train trip (and sightseeing from the window) started early! One big bummer, though: everyone also was traveling by train (due to snow), on Sunday afternoon, so the train was packed with people - my glasses immediately fogged up to major-dork level! Oh well...

So, the Pacific Seabird Group meeting was well underway by the time I finally got to Hakodate, but luckily there were still 3 solid days of talks. My talk was scheduled for the last day, very last session of the conference, which is great for re-working the powerpoint slides, but horrible for stress levels! There were a number of very good talks, a lot of interesting Japanese and Asian students, and great networking. I met some really great scientists and had a really fun time! (If you want to know more about my talk, ask sometime - no need to delve into it here). The highlight for me was on the final night, at the closing banquet. I had just used my last two drink tickets to negotiate getting an entire bottle of Asahi (large bottle) and spun around to announce this to my friends when right in front of me was one of the most preeminent seabird biologists, Dr. John Croxall (working in UK, former leader of British Antarctic Survey). I gracefully offered him a refill of beer (he was drinking sake) and before I knew it he said "I wanted to come over and tell you that I really enjoyed your talk today. Your work is very important and you should really publish these results. You mentioned at the end that you are now in Oregon - what are you doing?" To which I responded, "Um, thanks!" And blathered for a bit about my work, how great he is, etc. It was so surprising and exciting! We ended up having a great conversation about seabird bycatch in commercial fisheries (that was the topic of my talk) and it got me inspired to keep up my work!

After the conference, I had a couple of days to travel. It was great to be in one place for a couple of days and settle into Japanese culture, but I was ready to sightsee, too!

Downtown area of Hakodate, Hokkaido (after the snowstorm!)

Views of Hakodate, Hokkaido